Ocean State Libraries

Vicky Bliss, art historian and college professor finds a reference in a book that might lead to the discovery of a missing masterpiece by Tilman Riemenschneider, a very famous German sculptor. Tony, Vicky's boyfriend and colleague, challenges her to see which of them can locate the missing treasure first. Their information leads them to visit Rothenberg, Germany, and an ancient castle. Several other people are also on the trail of the missing treasure,...

"Whenever I'm in survival mode I find myself magnetised by museums and galleries, like people running for air raid shelters in wartime." The narrator of Optic Nerve is an Argentinian woman whose obsession is art. The story of her life is the story of the paintings, and painters, who matter to her. Her intimate, digressive voice guides us through a gallery of moments that have touched her. In these pages, El Greco visits the Sistine Chapel and is appalled...

"Who gets to leave a legacy? 1985. Anita de Monte, a rising star in the art world, is found dead in New York City; her tragic death is the talk of the town. Until it isn't. By 1998 Anita's name has been all but forgotten - certainly by the time Raquel, a third-year art history student is preparing her final thesis. On College Hill, surrounded by progeny of film producers, C-Suite executives, and international art-dealers, most of whom float through...

A whodunit set in the art world. The protagonist is Julia, an art restoration expert in Madrid who is cleaning a 15th Century painting. The painting shows a duke and his knight playing chess and the story begins when, with the aid of x-rays, Julia discovers an inscription hidden in a corner, "Who killed the knight?"

"A comedic novel about an American woman leaving her 20-year marriage to her French husband, returning to her native San Francisco to pick up the life she left behind, and the entwining lives of her children and grandchildren." --

In this elegant and sensual love story set in Paris and New York, Dominique, an art historian, is at a turning point in her life, torn between her love for Rex, a passionate idealist, and Eric, who offers security and devotion.

"As chronicler of the life and work of brilliant artist Lorin Jones, Polly Alter - museum curator and would-be painter - at first has it all figured out. Lorin, left to die alone in Key West, was done in by the white, male art establishment. But as Polly's interviewing progresses, Lorin comes down from her pedestal, and her "villains" emerge as likeable persons; at the same time, some of the truths about Polly's life are shattered or realigned"--Library...