Brought up in a workingclass family on the outskirts of New York City Tod Volpe was a tailors son with an appetite for the finer things in life a former undertaker who rose from obscurity to become a tastemaker to the Hollywood glitterati including Jack Nicholson Barbra Streisand Bruce Willis Matrix producer Joel Silver Andy Warhol Paul Stanley of KISS and many more.

Referred to as The Oracle for two decades he created a global feeding frenzy in the art world.

Appearing to live the Amercian Dream his highmaintenance wheelerdealer lifestyle became a dark path to selfdestruction.

At the height of his success Volpe crashed and burned in a scandalous case of fraud.

Defended by leading attorneys Nathan and Alan Dershowitz of Claus von Bulow trial fame his story made international headlines and threatened to blow the lid off Hollywood and the secret world of art dealing in a starstudded trial.

Opting instead to remain silent he pleaded guilty and spent two years in a federal prison.

As a master player in the art underworld Volpe is able to draw back the curtain to reveal how auctions dealers collectors and museums manoeuvre art around the globe and he talks candidly about organised crime money laundering and trafficking art like drugs.

Seduced by the power of illusion but determioned to discover the truth Volpe learned the hard way that nothing on earth is worth the price of your soul.

After losing everything he realised that when you deceive yourself life is a pictureless frame.