Skulduggery in the Art World

The Great Stradivarius Swindle

One of the world’s most eminent violin dealers, accused of defrauding and embezzling clients and businesses to the tune of millions, is finally facing the music in court … The Great Stradivarius Swindle, at The Telegraph.

Selling the Dead

The sale for up to $30 million of the rights to Marilyn Monroe's image has put the spotlight on who makes money from stars whose names are worth more dead than alive – Selling the Dead, at The Telegraph.

The Renoir Wars

"In his frail last years, the impressionist master Auguste Renoir created a series of sculptures with the help of an assistant, Richard Guino. Their descendants have been embroiled in a messy battle of ownership, copyright and authenticity that has gone on for over forty years." Read more about The Renoir Wars.

(on The Telegraph web site).

A Very Bad Night at the Opera

The Crying Game

The inferno at Venice's exquisite opera house in 1996 posed an intractable mystery: was it arson? Or was the Mafia to blame? Its legacy is a bureaucratic imbroflio that has dogged all efforts to rebuild.
Read about the Plight of the Phoenix
.

Feud in C Major

Strauss

To the Austrians, Johann Strauss is the 'Waltz King', whose music epitomises the old-world elegance of Vienna. But the controversy over the fate of the composer's priceless legacy, looted by the Nazis and only now being returned to their rightful owner, is a reminder of a less glorious era in the city's history.
Read about the Feud in C Major
.

Glittering Prize

Klimt

The world-record sale in June 2006 of this Gustav Klimt portrait marked the culmination of its sensational journey from the salons of Vienna to an LA auction room, via the hands of Nazi looters. Alix Kirsta traces its story and meets the woman who fought to reclaim her inheritance.
Read about the Glittering Prize
.

Martha Graham School

Martha Graham

Martha Graham was the queen of modern dance. The New York school she founded 75 years ago is still a globally respected institution. So why is the man she left her legacy totaking steps to close it down?
Read about the Martha Graham New York School

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

New Jersey Symphony Orchestrs

Did something fishy go on when the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra splashed out on some ‘great’ antique instruments?
Read about the New Jersey Symphony Orchestral

Strung Along

Strung Along

Gerald Segelman spent a lifetime amassing one of the world's finest collections of violins. The events that followed his death would blow the lid off the 'genteel' world of violin dealing.
Read about the violin trade
.

Web site content © Alix Kirsta. Web site design by alano design.