Confessions of an Art Dealer

Jack Swanson's autobiographical fast-paced book that powerfully captures the "art fever" that enthralled the American public over the past two decades. Swanson, a colorful entrepreneur & great storyteller, recalls his reckless youth in South Texas, Marine Corp days in the Far East, the opening of his own gallery chain at the age of twenty-eight, & his twenty-five years in the art gallery business. CONFESSIONS OF AN ART DEALER carefully reflects an insider's view into the art world combined with a firsthand account of the billion dollar Salvador Dali art fraud. Swanson's style is funny, provocative & uplifting as he tells of his romantic exploits laced with revealing tales about the changing stable of artists he worked with over the years. CONFESSIONS OF AN ART DEALER includes all the elements of great drama from sex, drugs, conspiracies, fame to courtroom face-offs. As we learn how Swanson turned his retail art gallery business into a multimillion dollar enterprise, we also discover how hundreds of gallery owners successfully conspired to sell bogus prints to an unsuspecting public--secrets the gallery industry would prefer to have swept under the rug. (Swanson is quick to point out that he never sold any of the bogus prints mentioned in his expose). This art scam went on for twenty years before the federal indictments were finally issued. As informative as it is entertaining, CONFESSIONS is an almost impossible autobiography to put down. This book has it all--the quest for love, the backdrop of San Francisco & Northern California, told by an art dealer who lives life to the fullest with his "Midas touch." Order from: Vitality Publications, 111 Maiden Lane, San Francisco, CA 94108. Telephone: (415) 433-9091; FAX (415) 433-1030.