Barbara Shapiro, or B.A., or Xixi Shapiro, is an American author. [1] Her initial works were published as Barbara Shapiro; her recent novels are styled as authored by B.A. Shapiro. [1] [2]
She has written novels, screenplays, and a non-fiction self-help book. [3]
Shapiro received the 2013 New England Book Award for Fiction, a 2013 Massachusetts Must-Read Book award, and a 2012 Boston Globe Best Crime Book award. She was nominated for a 2013 Massachusetts Book Award. [12]
Damien Francis Broderick is an Australian science fiction and popular science writer and editor of some 74 books. His science fiction novel The Dreaming Dragons (1980) introduced the trope of the generation time machine, his The Judas Mandala (1982) contains the first appearance of the term "virtual reality" in science fiction, and his 1997 popular science book The Spike was the first to investigate the technological singularity in detail.
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts, which houses significant examples of European, Asian, and American art. Its collection includes paintings, sculpture, tapestries, and decorative arts. It was founded by Isabella Stewart Gardner, whose will called for her art collection to be permanently exhibited "for the education and enjoyment of the public forever."
Art theft, sometimes called artnapping, is the stealing of paintings, sculptures, or other forms of visual art from galleries, museums or other public and private locations. Stolen art is often resold or used by criminals as collateral to secure loans. Only a small percentage of stolen art is recovered—an estimated 10%. Many nations operate police squads to investigate art theft and illegal trade in stolen art and antiquities.
Events from the year 1990 in art.
The PEN/Hemingway Award is awarded annually to a full-length novel or book of short stories by an American author who has not previously published a full-length book of fiction. The award is named after Ernest Hemingway and funded by the Hemingway family and the Ernest Hemingway Foundation/Society. It is administered by PEN America. Mary Hemingway, a member of PEN, founded the award in 1976 both to honor the memory of her husband and to recognize distinguished first books of fiction.
Barbara Louise Mertz was an American author who wrote under her own name as well as under the pseudonyms Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels. In 1952, she received a PhD in Egyptology from the University of Chicago. While she was best known for her mystery and suspense novels, in the 1960s she authored two books on ancient Egypt, both of which have remained in print ever since.
Neal Shusterman is an American writer of young-adult fiction. He won the 2015 National Book Award for Young People's Literature for his book Challenger Deep and his novel, Scythe, was a 2017 Michael L. Printz Honor book.
Jess Walter is an American author of seven novels, two collections of short stories, and a non-fiction book. He is the recipient of the Edgar Allan Poe Award, and was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2006.
Anne Hawley was the Norma Jean Calderwood Director of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts from 1989 until 2015. Founded in 1903 and one of Boston's most important cultural institutions, the museum is a highly unique installation of Gardner’s private collection, considered to be a work of art in totality. Hawley stepped down from the position at the end of 2015 with plans to continue working with artists and the artistic community. She has been named a Resident Fellow at Harvard's Institute of Politics, beginning in spring 2016.
The Concert is a painting by the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer depicting a man and two women performing music. It was stolen on March 18, 1990 from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and remains missing. Experts believe it may be the most valuable stolen object in the world; as of 2015, it was valued at US$250 million.
Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee is a 1633 oil-on-canvas painting by the Dutch Golden Age painter Rembrandt van Rijn. It was previously in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston but was stolen in 1990 and remains missing. The painting depicts the biblical story of Jesus calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee, specifically as it is described in the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Mark. It is Rembrandt's only seascape.
Jenna Blum is an American writer who has written two novels, Those Who Save Us and The Stormchasers. In 2013, she was selected by the Modern Scholar series to teach an audio lecture course entitled The Author at Work: The Art of Writing Fiction. Blum leads novelists as part of the Grub Street writing center, a Boston-based workshop for writers.
The PEN New England Award is awarded annually by PEN New England to honor a New England author or book with a New England setting or subject. The award was established in 1975 by The Boston Globe in conjunction with PEN to honor the veteran Boston Globe editor Laurence L. Winship.
Isabella Russell-Ides is an American poet, playwright, and novelist. She is the author of two novels of speculative fiction: White Monkey Chronicles and The Godma's Daughters, several award-winning plays, and one book of poetry: Getting Dangerously Close To Myself. Her first play, a country western musical, Nashville Road, premiered in Austin, Texas at Center Stage on Sixth Street . She was a notable voice in the Austin performance poetry scene in the 1980s. Her two-woman show, Jo & Louisa, won a 2019 DFW Critics Forum Award for Outstanding New Play. Coco & Gigi, her existential and feminist take on Waiting for Godot, won the 2008 DFW Critics Forum Award for Outstanding New Play and Outstanding Ensemble. She has also received critical acclaim for her works, Leonard's Car, Fortune Cookie Smash. She is noted for the poetic and heightened language of her texts.
Chez Tortoni is a painting by the French artist Édouard Manet, painted ca. 1875. The oil-on-canvas painting measures 26 by 34 centimetres. The painting hung in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, prior to being stolen in 1990.
Landscape with Obelisk is a painting by Dutch artist Govert Flinck, painted in 1638. The oil-on-wood painting measures 54.5 by 71 centimetres. It was formerly attributed to Rembrandt. The painting hung in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, prior to being stolen in 1990.
The Rape of Europa is a painting by the Venetian artist Titian, painted ca. 1560–1562. It is in the permanent collection of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum of Boston, Massachusetts. The oil-on-canvas painting measures 178 by 205 centimetres.
In the early morning hours of March 18, 1990, thirteen works of art were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Guards admitted two men posing as police officers responding to a disturbance call, and the thieves tied the guards up and looted the museum over the next hour. The case is unsolved; no arrests have been made and no works have been recovered. The stolen works have been valued at hundreds of millions of dollars by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and art dealers. The museum is offering a $10 million reward for information leading to the art's recovery, the largest bounty ever offered by a private institution.
Robert Donati – who went by Bobby and was also known by the nickname Bobby D – was an American career criminal. Along with his twin brother Richard, he was associated with the New England-based Patriarca crime family. His criminal history dates to 1958, when he was 17. He and his brothers were long believed to be part of the Angiulo Brothers' crew, with whom they carried out burglaries.
This Is a Robbery: The World's Biggest Art Heist is a 2021 American documentary miniseries about the March 18, 1990 robbery of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. The four-part series was directed by Colin Barnicle, who also produced alongside his brother Nick Barnicle. The series was produced over a seven-year period, beginning in 2014. It was released on Netflix on April 7, 2021, receiving generally positive reviews from critics.