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Title details for The Forger's Spell by Edward Dolnick - Available

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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"Mesmerizing account of an amateur artist who made millions selling forged paintings to art-obsessed Nazis and business tycoons" (Kirkus, starred review).
New York Times–Bestseller
A New York Times Staff Pick
"Dolnick brilliantly re-creates the circumstances that made possible one of the most audacious frauds of the twentieth century. . . . An incomparable page turner." —Boston Globe
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 . . .
"When it comes to forgery and its ability to fascinate, the bigger the better, and the greater the audacity the more compelling. . . . Author Edward Dolnick has hit the mother lode." —Los Angeles Times
"Dolnick's zesty, incisive, and entertaining inquiry illuminates the hidden dimensions and explicates the far-reaching implications of this fascinating and provocative collision of art and ambition, deception and war." —Booklist
"A fascinating analysis of the forger's technique and a perceptive discussion of van Meegeren's genius at manipulating people." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    February 27, 2024

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780061844591

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780061844591
      • File size: 5736 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from April 28, 2008
      Edgar-winner Dolnick (The Rescue Artist
      ) delves into the extraordinary story of Han van Meegeren (1889–1947), who made a fortune in German-occupied Holland by forging paintings of the 17th-century Dutch painter Vermeer. The discovery of a “new” Vermeer was just what the beleaguered Dutch needed to lift their spirits, and van Meegeren's Christ at Emmaus
      had already been bought by the Boymans Museum in Rotterdam in 1937 for $2.6 million. Collectors, critics and the public were blind to the clumsiness of this work and five other “Vermeers” done by van Meegeren. Dolnick asks how everyone could have been fooled, and he answers with a fascinating analysis of the forger's technique and a perceptive discussion of van Meegeren's genius at manipulating people. Van Meegeren was unmasked in 1945 by one of his clients, Hermann Goering. Later accused of treason for collaboration, he saved himself from execution and even became a hero for having swindled Goering. Dolnick's compelling look at how a forger worked his magic leads to one sad conclusion: there will always be eager victims waiting to be duped. Illus. not seen by PW
      .

Formats

  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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