Possession: The Curious History of Private Collectors from Antiquity to the Present

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Erin Thompson

Possession

The Curious History of Private Collectors from Antiquity to the Present

Erin Thompson

$56.95

Hardback

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English

Yale University
05 July 2016

Art & Architecture; Museums & museology; Social & cultural history

A riveting account of private art collectors' passion from Roman times to the present

Whether it's the discovery of $1.6 billion in Nazi-looted art or the news that Syrian rebels are looting UNESCO archaeological sites to buy arms, art crime commands headlines. Erin Thompson, America's only professor of art crime, explores the dark history of looting, smuggling, and forgery that lies at the heart of many private art collections and many of the world's most renowned museums.

Enlivened by fascinating personalities and scandalous events, Possession shows how collecting antiquities has been a way of creating identity, informed by a desire to annex the past while providing an illicit thrill along the way. Thompson's accounts of history's most infamous collectors—from the Roman Emperor Tiberius, who stole a life-sized nude Greek statue for his bedroom, to Queen Christina of Sweden, who habitually pilfered small antiquities from her fellow aristocrats, to Sir William Hamilton, who forced his mistress to enact poses from his collection of Greek vases—are as mesmerizing as they are revealing.

By: Erin Thompson
Imprint: Yale University
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 156mm, Spine: 22mm
Weight: 544g
ISBN: 9780300208528
ISBN 10: 0300208529
Pages: 232
Publication Date: 05 July 2016
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Erin Thompson is assistant professor in the Department of Art and Music at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY.

Reviews for Possession: The Curious History of Private Collectors from Antiquity to the Present

This slim volume is just bursting with read-them-to-a-friend anecdotes of collectors who'd stop at nothing... Art is passion; Thompson understands... The marvelous Possession offers a savvy history of passion as politics, a delightful collection of collectors and a love of art that might just send you to a museum. -Genevieve Valentine, NPR Books -- Genevieve Valentine NPR Books Timely and immensely enjoyable; ... a cavalcade of history's most ardent lovers of the antique... Thompson's brilliantly told tales create a sparkling tableau that invites further reflection on the politics of even the most solipsistic collectors. -James Delbourgo, The Atlantic Online -- James Delbourgo The Atlantic Online