Friday, March 27, 2009
The Forger's Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century
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.
Product Details
Editorial Reviews
From Bookmarks Magazine
“‘Idiots!’ he yelled. ‘You think I sold a Vermeer to that fat Goering. But it’s not a Vermeer. I painted it myself!”’ With lines like that, it’s clear Dolnick has found the nonfiction equivalent of a Vermeer, buried under other (and more hackneyed) tales of World War II. Critics had nothing but praise for this book, noting that Van Meegeren raised a number of questions about the value of art, especially when the same art critics who had clasped the fake Vermeers to their chests later mocked them as obvious, ugly fakes. At a time when art museums are taking in record crowds, The Forger’s Spell will undoubtedly cause many a viewer to squint a bit closer at the “masterpiece” hanging on the wall.
Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.
About the Author
Edward Dolnick is the author of Down the Great Unknown, The Rescue Artist, and Madness on the Couch. A former chief science writer at the Boston Globe, he has written for the Atlantic Monthly, the New York Times Magazine, and many other publications. He lives with his wife near Washington, D.C.
Customer Reviews
Ego the ultimate coin of the forger's spell
That's the ultimate thing I took from this book van Meegeren was as successful as he was because he knew how to play to the egos of a few top critics. I suspect that in one or two cases, these critics may have later had doubts, but to admit them in public would risk their ego too much, so they simply shut up.
That said, it was a bit of a breezy read. I don't know how relevant van Meegeren's Nazi sympathizing was, but the evidence of it is good enough, that with trimming elsewhere in the book, or else just trimmed the book even more by not even mentioning that.
Unlike several one- and two-star reviewers, I'm not sure the style of the "Rescue Artist" is totally relevant here.
Well Written and Interesting....
A well written and informative story of one of the greatest hoaxes in art history. Being a novice to the art world, I was worried upon beginning the book that I might not understand the complexities of art forgery. However Dolnick's writing was understandable and intriguing even to a novice.
Thoroughly enjoyable
I'm a reader of non-fiction, and too many non-fiction books suffer from the author's need to sensationalize the story. Not so here: the story is sensational on its own. I found it to be uniformly interesting and enjoyable.
If I were to complain about anything, it would be Dolnick's apologies for the art experts who were fooled. But this is minor carping.
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