All That Glitters

Description

A dazzling insider’s account of the contemporary art world and the stunning rise and fall of the charismatic American art dealer Inigo Philbrick, as seen through the eyes of his friend and fellow dealer

Orlando Whitfield and Inigo Philbrick met in 2006 at London’s Goldsmiths University where they became best friends. By 2007 they had started I&O Fine Art.

Orlando would eventually set up his own gallery and watch as Inigo quickly immersed himself in a world of private jets and multimillion-dollar deals for major clients. Inigo seemed brilliant, but underneath the extravagant façade, his complicated financial schemes were unraveling. With debt, lawsuits, and court summonses piling up, Inigo went into a tailspin of lies and subterfuge. At around the same time, Orlando would himself experience a nervous breakdown and leave the art world for good. By 2019 things had spiraled enough out of control for Inigo to flee to the remote island nation of Vanuatu, 300 miles west of Fiji. Within a year, he was arrested by the FBI and extradited to America, where he was sentenced to seven years in prison for having committed more than $86 million in fraud.

All That Glitters is at once a shocking and compulsive story of ambition and downfall, a cautionary tale, and an intimate portrait of friendship and its loss.“Sharp-eyed, knowing, witty, this one of a kind memoir is a treat. Whitfield may have burned his bridges to the glittery art world he skewers here, but his book shines with solid gold.”
—Joseph Kanon, author of The Good German

“A tremendous book. A fantastically entertaining and brutally honest account of the scurrility of the contemporary art world. A brilliant, devastating exposé.”
—William Boyd, author of The Romantic

“Juicier than a bottle of Gamay at lunchtime and even more intoxicating, All That Glitters is an amazing takedown of a world that desperately needed taking down.”
—Gary Shteyngart, author of Our Country Friends

“The culture of discretion that enshrouds the art market obscures a multitude of sins, so it is bracing (and great fun) to watch Orlando Whitfield flout the code of silence to name names, cite prices, and reveal scams. All That Glitters is an art world Great Gatsby, deliciously withering and dishy, a parable about the price of beauty, the power of charisma, and the limits of friendship.”
—Patrick Radden Keefe, author of Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks

“The art world revealed in this delicious, sharp and often breathtaking memoir is one of excess and illusion those of us outside it can barely imagine, and Whitfield unveils it nimbly and wisely. Funny, juicy, wistful and sad, it’s destined to be one of the books of 2024.”
—Megan Nolan, author of Acts of Desperation and Ordinary Human Failings

“Orlando Whitfield is the ideal tour guide through the seamy underbelly of the global art market. All That Glitters is a wildly propulsive, gorgeously written, and wickedly perceptive romp. It feels like a friend is whispering fiendish secrets in your ear. I tore through it, transfixed.”
—Michael Finkel, best-selling author of The Art ThiefORLANDO WHITFIELD is a failed art dealer. His writing has appeared in The Paris Review, The White Review, and The Sunday Times. This is his first book.US

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