Tod Michael Volpe

Tod Volpe - Mansfield
Tod with Mansfield at Oct. 2004 book signing

Tod Volpe - Sterling Lord
Tod Volpe with Sterling Lord

Review from Booklist
This true tale of a man of humble beginnings, spurred by a love of beauty and the scars left from his parents' bitter fights over money, who secures a degree in art history and succeeds beyond his dreams, is irresistible. When the art dealer to such stars as Jack Nicholson and Madonna tells all, he reveals a high-powered world of deals-within-deals to keep a delicately balanced mix of cash infusions, inventory, and payments afloat, all to create and maintain a market, and all leading, in the manner of Greek tragedy, to his fall from grace. An equally dangerous mixture of high living, drugs, and booze helped him maintain his image, so when the feds come knocking, we know from headlines as well as heroic tradition that a jail cell can't be far off. Volpe reinvented himself in New York, Los Angeles, and now in the pages of a book wherein he repents and comes to realize that people, not things, matter. The TV movie can't be far behind--with Volpe as producer, no doubt.

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FRAMED can be purchased in all major bookstores and is published by Mainstream Publishing, Edinburgh (www.mainstreampublishing.com) and ECW Press, Toronto.

From Barnes and Noble
Framed: America's Art Dealer to the Stars Tells All

This shocking blow-by-blow account chronicles the rise and fall of international art dealer Tod Volpe who, at the height of his success, had a clientele that included such stars as Andy Warhol, Barbra Streisand, Bruce Willis, and Jack Nicholson. He is known as the man behind the Mission / Arts & Crafts craze of the 1970s. Volpe details how his life spiraled out of control in the 1990s and erupted in the scandalous fraud accusations that earned him two years in federal prison. This revelation into the shadowy world of art dealing exposes how high culture and civility conceal boardroom swindling, illegal price-fixing, and money laundering.

SYNOPSIS
Despite his humble beginnings in Yonkers, Tod Volpe secured a degree in art history and rose to become one of the world's foremost art dealers, with clients such as Jack Nicholson, Barbra Streisand, Robert Daly and Terry Semel (former CEOs of Warner Brothers). This memoir chronicles his melodramatic career and reveals much about the inner workings of the art world. Distributed in the U.S. by Independent Publishers Group. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

About the Author:
Tod Volpe is the author of Treasures of the American Arts and Crafts Movement, 1890-1920. He lives in New York City.

Click here to buy from Barnes and Noble.