All That Glitters: A Story of Friendship, Fraud, and Fine Art
by Orlando Whitfield
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"A dazzling insider look at the contemporary art world and the meteoric rise and fall of the seductive, charismatic, utterly amoral young, American art dealer, Inigo Philbrick, told through the eyes of his former partner and set in London, New York, Miami and Vanuatu Orlando Whitfield and Inigo Philbrick met in 2006 at Goldsmiths University where, though total opposites, they became best friends. By 2007, they were art dealing together having formed I&O Fine Art and two years later, upon show more graduation, were looking for a gallery space. While they continued to work together, Inigo was also taking on work for the prestigious London Gallery, White Cube. Orlando would set up his own gallery with a partner and watch as Inigo quickly immersed himself in a world of private jets, lavish trips, and close multimillion-dollar deals for major clients. To those who did not know, Inigo seemed a brilliant art world hotshot. But underneath the extravagant façade, his complicated financial schemes were unraveling. Monthly interest installments of $150k were left unpaid; calls were dodged; letters from auction houses faked. With debt, lawsuits, and court summons piling up, Inigo went into an inescapable tailspin of lies and subterfuge. By 2019, things had spiraled enough out of control for Inigo to flee to the remote island of Vanuatu, 300 miles off Fiji. There, in 2020, he was arrested by US Marshals and flown to Guam where he was arraigned in a military court and eventually moved to Brooklyn where he was denied bail and sentenced to seven years in prison for over $86 million in fraud. This unique, shocking, and page-turning story is compulsively readable as it sweeps you up in both adventure and downfall. A close-up of two very young players in the contemporary art world who would each pay a big price, in very different ways, make it an irresistible cautionary tale"-- show lessTags
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Member Reviews
A little pompous. A lot of the book felt like fluff. The actual, interesting bit; as in Inigo's crimes, doesn't really show up until the very end. It wasn't uninteresting. I did like reading about Whitfield's relationship with Inigo Philbrick, but I had been expecting more...depth. Especially as it relates to Philbrick's widespread fraud.
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Author Information
1 Work 94 Members
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Awards and Honors
Awards
Distinctions
Notable Lists
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2024-08-06
- People/Characters
- Inigo Philbrick; Orlando Whitfield; Jay Jopling; Hugo de Ferranti
- Important places
- London, England, UK; Miami, Florida, USA; Port Vila, Vanuatu
- Epigraph
- 'The art market is a fever chart. Its zigs and zags call less for explanation than for diagnosis'
- Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker
'No one seemed to have thought through the implications of a world in which everyone cheated'
- Martin Amis, London Fields
'All that glisters is not gold;
Often have you heard that told.
Many a man his life hath sold
But my outside to behold.
Gilded tombs do worms infold.
Had you been as wise as bold,
Young in limbs, in judgemen... (show all)t old,
Your answer had not been enscrolled.
Fare you well; your suit is cold.'
Cold indeed, and labour lost.
Then farewell heat, and welcome frost.
- William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, II. vii. - Dedication
- For my mother
- First words
- In late February 2018 I woke up in the psychiatric ward of a hospital in west London.
- Blurbers
- Keefe, Patrick Radden; Shteyngart, Gary; Nolan, Megan; Finkel, Michael; Kanon, Joseph; Boyd, William
- Original language
- English
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 94
- Popularity
- 341,999
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.19)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 8
- ASINs
- 2
