The Forger's Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century
by Edward Dolnick
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Book Summary Information
Author: Edward DolnickEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-07-01
ISBN: 0060825413
Number of pages: 368
Publisher: Harper
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780060825416
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Book Reviews of The Forger's Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century
Book Review: Fascinating
Summary: 4 Stars
I found this book most interesting. I am an art lover, but certainly no expert. I just know what I like and I enjoy reading about the art world.
What I found fascinating about this book was not just the story of the forger van Meegeren or even how Goering was duped, but how supposed experts were duped as well. The psychological aspects of how and why art critics and dealers cannot see beyond a terrible forgery made for very interesting reading, and I daresay are as true today as during the time of this narrative.
I loved the fact that so many so-called experts were (and continue to be) fooled by worthless imitations, therefore putting a big hole in the pretentiousness of so many in the art world.
In the end, this is not just a story of van Meegeren. It sheds light on some of the more unsavory aspects of the art world, and why people in that world act as they do.
More The Forger's Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century reviews:
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Summary of The Forger's Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century
As riveting as a World War II thriller, The Forger's Spell is the true story of Johannes Vermeer and the small-time Dutch painter who dared to impersonate him centuries later. The con man's mark was Hermann Goering, one of the most reviled leaders of Nazi Germany and a fanatic collector of art.
It was an almost perfect crime. For seven years a no-account painter named Han van Meegeren managed to pass off his paintings as those of one of the most beloved and admired artists who ever lived. But, as Edward Dolnick reveals, the reason for the forger's success was not his artistic skill. Van Meegeren was a mediocre artist. His true genius lay in psychological manipulation, and he came within inches of fooling both the Nazis and the world. Instead, he landed in an Amsterdam court on trial for his life.
ARTnews called Dolnick's previous book, the Edgar Award-winning The Rescue Artist, "the best book ever written on art crime." In The Forger's Spell, the stage is bigger, the stakes are higher, and the villains are blacker.
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