Stealing the Mona Lisa: What Art Stops Us from Seeing

By Darian Leader

Book Overview

When the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre in 1911, it was twenty-four hours before anyone knew it was missing. Afterward, thousands of people flocked to see the empty space where it had once hung, many of them having never seen the painting in the first place. In Stealing the Mona Lisa, Darien Leader takes the intriguing story of the theft of the Mona Lisa and the public's reaction to it as a starting point to explore the psychology of looking at visual art. What do we hope to see in paintings, and what do they hide from us? Why should some artists feel compelled to live lives that are more colorful than their works? And why did the police bungle their long investigation into the theft of Leonardo's masterpiece? Leader combines anecdote, observation, and analysis with examples taken from classical and contemporary art to create a surprising and fearless interrogation of what we see in art and what we might hope to find.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1593760396
• ISBN13: 9781593760397
• Release Date: September 2004
• Publisher: Counterpoint LLC
• Length: 202 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 4.7" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Unique and well written

Here's a fascinating meditation on art, desire, value, and beauty as seen from the lens of the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre. The author, who is most obviously incredibly smart, uses a casual yet colorful voice that never reeks of self-importance or self-consciousness. So many great observations, this is a book I'll dip into again and again. The only complaint I have is that I wish it had been broken up into chapters, rather than one long narrative.

A rare treat

this book is great and I would recommend it to anyone. Its really rare to find a book written on art that manages to be fun and well written, this is both. Amazingly I couldnt put this book down, a total breath of fresh air, thank you Darian Leader!