Long-time art critic Richard Dorment reveals the corruption and lies of the art world, and its mystifying authentication processLate one afternoon in the winter of 2003 art critic Richard Dorment answered a telephone call from a stranger.
From rock icons and film stars; art dealers and art forgers; to a murdered Russian oligarch and a lawyer for the mob; from courtrooms to auction houses: all took part in a bitter struggle to prove the authenticity of a series of paintings by the most famous American artist of the 20th century.
Part detective story, part art history, part memoir, part courtroom drama, Warhol After Warhol is a spellbinding account of the dark connection between money, power and art..
He wanted to know why and thought Dorment could help.
This call would mark the beginning of an extraordinary story that would play out over the next ten years and would involve a cast of characters straight out of fiction.
A committee of experts called the Andy Warhol Art Authentication Board had declared the two Warhols in his collection to be fake.
He was ringing at the suggestion of David Hockney, his neighbour in Malibu.
The caller was Joe Simon, an American film producer and art collector.
Long-time art critic Richard Dorment reveals the corruption and lies of the art world, and its mystifying authentication processLate one afternoon in the winter of 2003 art critic Richard Dorment answered a telephone call from a stranger