Benevolence and Blasphemy

the long version

Part memoir and part expose, Benevolence and Blasphemy is a wickedly funny memoir filled with anecdote, gossip, intelligence, and trenchant criticism, a hilarious romp through the glory days of the contemporary art market. J. Robert Orton Jr. loves art, particularly difficult art, but unlike most collectors he gives almost everything he collects to museums. What he loves best is the chase and the vibrant exchange of ideas that he has in his role as an open, imaginative patron of many of the top artists of our time. Orton gives the lowdown on everything from art world personalities to the byzantine back-office dealings of major American art museums and well known auction houses. Here is rare insight into the mind of a contemporary art collector. Orton's honesty and sense of the absurd make Benevolence and Blasphemy a delightfully subversive page turner.