Art Auction Mystery Download Free (EPUB, PDF)
Sixteen famous paintings from collections around the world have been stolen and replaced with clever forgeries. Now these fake paintings, along with sixteen others, are going up for auction. After an anonymous tip, the reader has to come to the rescue! By comparing the paintings to the originals, the reader has all the clues to figure out which paintings are real and which are fakes. Including work by the world's most famous artists, this book is part mystery, part puzzle, part art reference book, and all-over fun!
Hardcover: 48 pages
Publisher: Kingfisher (October 13, 2005)
ISBN-10: 075345842X
ASIN: B001QCX8WS
Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 9.6 x 0.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #3,517,647 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #78 in Books > Teens > Hobbies & Games > Games & Activities > Puzzles #99 in Books > Teens > Art, Music & Photography > Art > History #885 in Books > Teens > Mysteries & Thrillers > Historical
For those who enjoyed Where's Waldo and other "look and find" puzzles, this book takes it a notch higher. On the eve of an art auction, the auction house receives a tip that 16 of the paintings are forgeries. The reader is invited to view the paintings and compare them with the originals to determine the fakes, which gang of forgers are the culprits, and how much money was paid out to the forgers. You can spend hours looking for the mistakes in the paintings and it is enjoyable (and addictive)! For children, and adults, who enjoy art and/or picture puzzles, this is an ideal gift.
This book is very similar in theme and format to Anna Nilsen's other book "Art Fraud Detective", so if you liked that one, you can continue the feast here. As in "Detective", we are asked to compare original, catalogue pictures of famous paintings to current paintings on display to determine which display paintings are forgeries and who the forgers are. In this case, however, as the title suggests, the setting is an art auction rather than an art museum. As in "Detective", the forgers operate in gangs which use symbols to identify themselves, and each forger makes more or fewer mistakes on his or her paintings. In this case, the number of mistakes is related to the amount the forger gets paid, and we have to use these amounts to then figure out who commissioned these forgeries to nab our suspect.Compared to "Detective", this book is much easier to detect the forgeries vs. the non-forgeries. The gang symbols "hidden" in each forgery practically leap off the page. If you haven't found a gang symbol within a pretty brief period, you can probably safely assume the painting is one of the eighteen real paintings. But, like "Detective", finding the exact number of mistakes is a more dicey proposition. In this book we know that each forger is either "expert" (1-3 mistakes per painting), "very good" (4-6 mistakes) or "good" (7-9 mistakes). It's usually pretty easy to find enough mistakes to get to the lower end of the range, but finding another mistake or two to determine the exact number is a challenging venture. This process is further complicated by the fact that the current photos are larger and more brightly colored than the catalogue pictures, which can at times make it difficult to determine whether a difference is an intentional mistake, or just the result of these differences. But the intentional mistakes are generally pretty clear, so if you're in doubt, it's probably not one.Overall, this mystery is easier to solve than "Detective". It's very easy to figure out which forger painted each forgery; the big challenge is to figure out how much each was paid. In this regard, I have a criticism with how the end is laid out. There is a page entitled "A Helping Hand" which gives some hints, but then also provides a fully completed chart of each gang, which forger forged each painting and the amount each forger and each gang were paid. The next page then goes on to challenge you to find the suspect who paid for the forgeries, but if you so much as glanced at the chart, the answer is obvious, so the last step is rather a waste.In any case, aside from solving the mystery, this book provides hours of fun simply immersing yourself in the great works of Western art from Medieval and Renaissance times to modern times. Each page of the catalogue gives us a brief description of the artist, his or her times, the themes and intentions of each artist and a few details about the painting itself. This is about as close as you can get to spending an afternoon in the museum without leaving your home or spending a fortune for admission. In fact, these books may be better in some ways because nowhere else will you find all these works in one collection. Highly recommended for hours of art loving fun. 4.5 stars
I have always loved doing activities that we can ALL grow with and this definitely constitutes one of them. Its a great book with lots of twists for those who have a passion for art appreciation.
This books is one of several that show wonderful works of art to kids in a friendly style. I provides an overview or the art and artist. The kids have really enjoyed using these books and trying to solve the mystery.
This line of Art Detective books are very entertaining. Even as an adult it can take some time to solve the case. The little magnifiying glass attatched is not worth much but you don't really need it.Highly recommend for anyone, even adults recovering from surgery can enjoy as I did.
This seems to be written towards a 9-12 year old age range of interest with a reading level about the same range. There is not a lot of reading in this book but someone who is a poor reader might need help.This book starts wtih the premise that there is an art forger ring and you have to find out who forged what picture, what they were paid for the picture based on how many mistakes they made and in the end; put all that together to figure out who the mastermind is behind the crimes.It takes some time to solve the mystery but it is doable. For those who give up or just don't want to bother; there is an answer key in the back.This is an easy way to expose your child to art, develop critical thinking skills, and increase observation skills. If your child enjoyed the 'Where's Waldo' type books, he or she might enjoy this book.Enjoy
We have this book and the Art Fraud Detective. They are great to have kids compare information. My kids like finding the differences, but have not finished either story yet...
Great and interactive! Used with a group of students who really enjoyed getting to know the paintings and find out who did it.
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