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.

Customer Reviews:

Short course in psychology, art and forgery

Not having read Edward Dolnick's previous book, "The Rescue Artist", I did not come to read "The Forger's Spell" with primed expectations. Mr. Dolnick succeeds in what many writers on this subject fail to do by showing and not telling the finer points of his subject. Far from being pedantic, the author's storyteller's style draws the reader into the world of art connaisseurship,forgers and dupes with ease. The only pan is the author's light treatment of Goerring, Hitler and their Nazi band of thieves. The cover clearly implies that there will be Nazis getting their comeupance as a result of their own greed and stupidity. And they do, but not in a way that satisfies.

Most well done, Forger's Spell leads through the psychological differences between the 17th and 20th century approaches to art. A backdrop is well set for understanding what appeals to the beholder, both expert and amateur. One comes to understand how a past generation could find beauty and authenticity in a fake that looks so ugly and kitschy to us today. "The Forger's Spell" gives us an appreciation we can take with us on our next visit to the art museum.

2008-09-07

the forger's spell

The Forger's Spell is a delightful romp through and around the Han Van Meeregen phenomenon, even if some of the chapters are repetitious. I especially enjoyed the description of the work that went into developing materials to mislead so-called experts and high points of the 1947 trial. It was the best book I have read in this genre since a book I read in the 1980's explaining how forgers build 18th century antique furniture from wood salvaged from old houses on the east coast.

For anyone who has had to listen too much to the fine arts chattering class crowd this book is proof that fine arts are only entertainment, that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and, (on the pop psychology level) that while seeing is believing, believing is also seeing.

2008-08-24

Very readable, hard to put down!

This was a lot of fun and very hard to put down, even though -- Lord! -- so many books and articles have been written about Van Meegeren already! My only quibble was that it dragged a bit in the second half. The author spent WAY too much time rejoicing in the stupidity and self-delusion of the "experts" (especially Abraham Bredius) who never should have been fooled by Van M's ugly fakes -- but who instead spent a huge amount of time celebrating and publicizing paintings like "The Supper at Emmaus." Yes, the art world is full of phonies and the whole system of connoisseurship is fraught with problems, but enough already. On the plus side, though, the author has done copious research, and the technical info on exactly how Van M. accomplished his fakes was very interesting. P.S.: I saw the big retrospective of Van M. years ago at the museum in Rotterdam, and indeed, the fake "Vermeers" were SO ugly, you just can't believe that anyone would have been fooled by them.

2008-08-22

Spell?

Interesting, but many parts are boring. Seems to repeat the same things over and over again.

2008-08-15

Book club recommends

My book club read this, and even those who did not expect to enjoy this book found it to be engaging, enjoyable, and well written. Sometimes one thread of the story seemed too dominant, but all in all we recommend it.

2008-08-12