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The Art Forger

by B.A. Shapiro (Goodreads Author)

3.69 · Rating Details · 54,149 Ratings · 5,187 Reviews

On March 18, 1990, thirteen works of art today worth over $500 million were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. It remains the largest unsolved art heist in history, and Claire Roth, a struggling young artist, is about to discover that there’s more to this crime than meets the eye.

Making a living reproducing famous artworks for a popular online retai ...more

Hardcover, 360 pages

Published October 23rd 2012 by Algonquin Books (first published 2012)

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Nov 02, 2012 Harry rated it really liked it

Shelves: mysteries-art

I'll make a confession right off the bat: I didn't give The Art Forger 4 stars because I was blown away by the prose, scene, setting, or characterization. Had those been up to snuff I'd have given it an easy 5. There are some flat characters, relies somewhat on stereo typical thinking about artists and their studios, it sports some letters written by someone else in stand alone chapters which jar a bit with the first person view point (one would assume our heroine would have no knowledge of thes I'll make a confession right off the bat: I didn't give The Art Forger 4 stars because I was blown away by the prose, scene, setting, or characterization. Had those been up to snuff I'd have given it an easy 5. There are some flat characters, relies somewhat on stereo typical thinking about artists and their studios, it sports some letters written by someone else in stand alone chapters which jar a bit with the first person view point (one would assume our heroine would have no knowledge of these letters and so these chapters intrude, come across as the author stepping into the novel herself to ensure our understanding).

B.A. Shapiro's debut novel asks one simple question: "what would any of us be willing to do to secure our ambitions?" The setting for the novel is the modern day art world where artists, critics, curators, galleries, gallery owners, and yes, forgers collaborate to create one of the most lucrative enterprises in the world. I mean, really! Today most of us don't bat an eye when we think of sport franchises and multiple million dollar annual salaries being handed out for working six months out of a year. But when one single painting goes for millions of dollars just because it survived time and was painted by a certain individual a slight eye brow is raised and as we lean closer to what appears to be a group of nubile and plump (I won't say fat!)bathers hanging out together we do wonder what the big deal is with this artist (as opposed to the plethora of current day painters). We know something's different, something photographs can't capture, something in the glow of the skin, something about the essence of the thing. But, millions of dollars? Give me a break, right? And what if you're a painter yourself and say: "Hell, I can do that." You proceed to paint it and yet do not secure your ambitions...or do you?

I am a painter myself. The very first time I knew I wanted to paint as a life's ambition was when, as a boy, I viewed the work of Maxfield Parrish, the 20th century american illustrator and fine artist. It rocked my world. The painting seemed to be lighted from the inside. Light didn't fall on it, it streamed from it. Have you ever viewed a kodachrome slide? Held it up to the light and felt the delicious wash of saturation, of color as you viewed it? That's what a Maxfield Parrish painting does. It was a view of the world, but a better one. In my twenties I spent years perfecting the Parrish technique (which harkens back to Bellini and later artist such as Degas) and to this day the paintings glow in my home, though, I don't paint in this manner anymore due to the incredible amount of time it takes in between glazings.

So, imagine picking up what you hope is a decent mystery surrounding the art world and discovering further clues on the very techniques I've attempted to master and discovering a solution to a gnarly problem that has long escaped me (Why isn't there a writer who exclusively authors mysteries taking place in the art world, as for example Francis does with horses and Dunning does with books?).

One of the things I love about this book is its verisimilitude. Shapiro is absolutely correct in communicating factual techniques, but also communicates very accurately the immense satisfaction that comes from painting in this style: techniques discovered in the 14th century, techniques for which most artists today do not have the patience. I know it, because I've done it myself. That she clued me in on a Dutch compatriot, on how to get around the drying time in between glazings will result in my picking up this style again, in my later years. So this book educates, displays a true compassion for the work while it entertains as is the case in the aforementioned works of Francis and Dunning.

The other thing that I love is Shapiro's plot: the whole concept of mysteries surrounding works of art. There are so many things we do not yet understand historically about the lives of various artists; so many paintings still missing after being plundered through war and outright theft. I mean, if a painting can be worth millions than it goes to follow that some would kill for it. Isn't that what drives most mystery/detectives? I mean: it's like walking into a second-hand bookstore with nothing but pristine, signed first editions, jacket flaps in impeccable order, on sale for $1. Right? Though no one is murdered in this one, Shapiro has given us an excellent Who-Dun-It, one that will surely spark your interest in the art world, in art, in what makes a painting beautiful, in the ambition that drives artists to do what they do, as well as what destroys them.

As I said: this book is about ambition.

...more

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Jul 08, 2016 Katie rated it it was ok

Shelves: set-in-the-us, artists, published-2012

My predominant emotion while reading this book was irritation and I became much more interested in why it was irritating me so much than I was in the novel itself. I suppose principally because I thought it was going to be much more literary – a novel that creates the feeling that the characters are generating the plot rather than a novel whose plot creates the characters.

I’ve just looked at other reviews of this book and nearly everyone praises the research. I think what they mean though is si ...more

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Nov 04, 2012 Delee rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: past-and-present, suspense, mystery, art, romance, own, reviewed

I will start by saying that my experience reading The ART FORGER was like I sat down to watch the movie Heat, and for some reason the movie Quick Change ended up in my DVD player by accident.

Okay maybe I am exaggerating a bit, but it was a much lighter read than I had expected...

I kept looking at THE ART FORGER on other people's "to read" list and was kind of on the fence about it. Then I was sitting down watching Anderson Cooper on CNN, and he had a segment on the Gardner Museum Heist. Even tho ...more

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Oct 19, 2012 Diane rated it really liked it

Shelves: mysteries-thrillers, modern-fiction, art

This is a novel that is based on a true crime: a $500 million art heist at the Gardner Museum in Boston in 1990. The story centers around artist Claire Roth, who is good at making reproductions of famous paintings. Early in the book, a dealer asks Claire to make a forgery of one of the Edgar Degas paintings that was stolen from the Gardner. Claire recognizes that she's making a deal with the devil, and part of her payment is she gets her own art show.

The novel includes chapters about Claire's ba ...more

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May 17, 2013 Jodi rated it it was ok

Sorry, could not care if Claire was successful or not. I know we were supposed to be sympathetic toward her, why else for the youth prison volunteerism, but she was too untrustworthy. When I read it, it appeared as if she knew all along that she was making a forgery so that Aidan could sell it as the original but by the end of the book she had miraculously convinced herself that all she was doing was making a copy of a copy and that isn’t a crime. Of course she had her penance of never knowing i ...more

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May 02, 2013 Carol rated it really liked it

Reader know thyself and most of the time I do. The Art Forger has been on my list probably since the day it hit the shelves. Am I glad I finally picked it up and read it? You bet!

Mystery, intrigue, romance, history, art, there's something for everyone here. The foundation of the story is based on the 1990 theft of thirteen paintings from The Isabella Gardner Museum. Barbara Shapiro paints a tale of the who, why, what to explore a plausible explanation regarding one of the most famous art pieces ...more

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Jul 16, 2013 Anmiryam rated it it was ok · review of another edition

The best parts were the tidbits about the process of forging an old master painting. While the writing is never bad, it's bland. Lackluster prose really inhibits the narrative voice of Claire, the forger of the title, who never comes to life on the page. Her naïveté after having been burned once by a man, only to let it happen again is astonishing, yet we never understand why she seems to be so easy to dupe. On top of the her unexciting narrative tone, Shapiro includes an ongoing correspondence ...more

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Nov 24, 2012 Jennifer rated it really liked it

Recommended to Jennifer by: Random GR find - recommended by MBTB staff as well

Shelves: own, read-2012, fiction-literary-general

Fact meets fiction meets art history lesson meets… Faustian deal? Who doesn’t like the mystery of an unsolved heist, which to date is still the largest unsolved art heist in history? Throw in the world of struggling young artists, art collectors, art dealers, museum curators, art copyists, glitz and not so much glam and… Forgers. I was interested.

Claire, an art copyist by day, is a struggling artist working to clear a black mark against her name as a pariah in the Boston art scene. When she get
Fact meets fiction meets art history lesson meets… Faustian deal? Who doesn’t like the mystery of an unsolved heist, which to date is still the largest unsolved art heist in history? Throw in the world of struggling young artists, art collectors, art dealers, museum curators, art copyists, glitz and not so much glam and… Forgers. I was interested.

Claire, an art copyist by day, is a struggling artist working to clear a black mark against her name as a pariah in the Boston art scene. When she gets an offer she can’t refuse in the form of her own show in a top-notch art gallery plus a healthy monetary payment in return for forging a well known Degas stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in the famous 90s heist, morals be damned. Armed with the belief she’s doing something wrong for all the right reasons, Claire bites. The twist has been well publicized, so there’s no spoiler here, but Claire must decide what she’s going to do when she discovers the “original” Degas she’s presented with to copy from is a forgery.

There’s a lot for me to like in the book: Shapiro does her “facts” very well. I know next to absolutely nothing about art. I found the parts about techniques, methods, and Degas’ work one of the most intriguing aspects of the book. I can honestly say I learned something new. Perhaps I am a bit hesitant to believe that Claire could pull off a forgery (err, a copy of a copy) that fools the most trained eye just from reading on the internet. It’s almost as unbelievable as me building a nuclear bomb from blueprints found on the world wide web. As Shapiro states in her afterword, the methods that she discusses are, in fact, acceptable methods of recreating period pieces. There is no mistake that Shapiro has done her homework – and probably not all on the internet.

Even when Shapiro shifts to “fiction,” it’s believable fiction. (view spoiler) I’m grateful for Shapiro telling me exactly what was real and what was fabricated in her afterword. I really wouldn’t have known otherwise.

I enjoyed the descriptions of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (and the Boston setting itself, for that matter) the best. Isabella and her museum reminded me of Houston’s own Ima Hogg (really – try to say that without grinning). Ima was a philanthropist and lover of arts who converted her home, Bayou Bend, into her own personal museum showcasing American furnishings, silver, ceramics, and paintings – and acres and acres of beyoootiful gardens. Maybe Ima would have given Isabella a run for her money.

There were a few things for me not to like: Some characters fell flat like the crowd at Jake’s, but I could see why Shapiro felt no need to develop them in too much greater detail. I just wanted to know more about them. Claire plays superwoman: A talented painter, certified copyist, Degas expert, prison volunteer, with an eye trained well enough to spot forgeries. And of course, she has to turn up her sleuthing skills to figure out where the original Degas painting was hidden and successfully find it. Then we all get our predictable romantic interest, plot twist, and happy ending.

“We see what we want to see.” All in all, I was satisfied. This was a great, quick read about subject matter I knew little about and yet the story was accessible and not over my head.
...more

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Dec 03, 2015 Sara rated it liked it

Recommends it for: mystery fans and art world lovers

Shelves: pleasure-reading, contemporary-fiction, mystery

I confess to being wrapped up in the reading of this book and particularly the art of art forgery Shapiro unmasks. I have often wondered why a painting that has hung for hundreds of years on museum walls and been praised for its style and beauty is not just as valuable and just as precious when it is discovered that it was not painted by one of the greats but by his apprentice. Doesn't the art remain the same. Isn't it just as valuable as art even if it was painted by an unknown? We seem to carr I confess to being wrapped up in the reading of this book and particularly the art of art forgery Shapiro unmasks. I have often wondered why a painting that has hung for hundreds of years on museum walls and been praised for its style and beauty is not just as valuable and just as precious when it is discovered that it was not painted by one of the greats but by his apprentice. Doesn't the art remain the same. Isn't it just as valuable as art even if it was painted by an unknown? We seem to carry our love of celebrity back into the ages before us and it is the name that sells.

Shapiro's main character, Claire, is a bit conflicted on the morality issues and a little heavy on excusing her own part in the disasters in which she becomes involved, but she is very human in wanting to be recognized for her talents. She is so susceptible to praise from what she considers the right sources and she is all too willing to compromise where she knows she should not in order to obtain the recognition that eludes her. In the process, she becomes entangled and must untangle a hell of a gordian knot. Even though it seemed obvious to me what the ultimate solution would be to the "mystery" of the painting, it was a fun ride to the end.

Shapiro gets high marks from me for her research and attention to detail. She is writing about a complicated subject in the art field and she obviously knows her stuff. The details of Belle Gardner's invented life fit seamlessly into what is known to be true about her, and the personality of Edgar Degas is also in keeping with his known traits. I was completely fascinated by the procedure Claire uses to produce her copies and found none of the explanations dry or over-written.

Some books are great, some are worthless, and some fall right in-between. This is one of the later. It isn't erudite, but it does have some points to make about human nature and Faustian deals. I will confess to being pretty upset when my Kindle battery expired and I had to wait overnight before reading the last four chapters and putting the story to bed. I have had some fairly heavy reading of late, and this was just plain, unadulterated fun. ...more

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Feb 17, 2015 Vonia rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, historical-fiction, grief-death, beach-read, murder-crime, morality, art-world, friendships, unrequited-love, dreams, bipolar

I loved that I recognized many of the locations mentioned here, like The Back Bay, The South End, Newbury Street, The Mandarin Oriental Hotel, The Museum Of Modern Art, of course the Isabella Stewart-Gardner Museum. I have actually long held a little-known fascination with the Gardner heist, primarily because of the idea that her will induces the museum board to leave empty frames in their place, even decades after the only unsolved large-scale art heist. It is unsettling, moving, eye-opening, a I loved that I recognized many of the locations mentioned here, like The Back Bay, The South End, Newbury Street, The Mandarin Oriental Hotel, The Museum Of Modern Art, of course the Isabella Stewart-Gardner Museum. I have actually long held a little-known fascination with the Gardner heist, primarily because of the idea that her will induces the museum board to leave empty frames in their place, even decades after the only unsolved large-scale art heist. It is unsettling, moving, eye-opening, and an entire mix of feelings to stand in front of these empty frames, something that could not have been created in any other situation. Something I am sure Isabella Gardner never could have foreseen when she wrote her will that way, but, somehow, based on what I have read about her character, I am sure it is exactly the way she would have loved it to be.

One might guess Shapiro's background is in the arts, but, no, she simply has done her research. The detailed painting techniques Claire Roth, the protagonist, uses for her side commissions for "Reproductions.com" (from the stripping to the layers to the baking), the methods of detection used by Claire herself as well as the authorities (Stretcher bars, frames, paint fissures, paint stroke directions, but mostly a lot of experience and/or intuition), the way characters interact in the fine art world, the real-life characters John Myatt, Ely Sakhai, Han Van Meegeren (These characters each have amazing stories in their own right, the latter having become so masterful at reproducing Dutch paintings that, in order to evade prosecution, he had to confess a painting he had sold to The Nazis was one he had painted. As it was so good that they still did not believe him, experts watched as he went through the entire process, reproducing the painting again.)

I do greatly appreciate Impressionism, even "Realism", as art historians and Degas himself has been quoted to categorize his work. I have always been a fan of Degas' Dancer Series in particular.

The suspense level was about right. Although I do feel there was a little too much DaVinci Code. By this I mean a little overwhelming , unnecessary side plots, information, etcetera.

In all, a great read. ...more

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Dec 28, 2012 Jaylia3 rated it it was amazing

Based on a real life, still unsolved art heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, The Art Forger manages to include more details about brush strokes and forgery techniques than I knew existed in a gripping story of artistic obsession. Claire Roth is a struggling young artist, blacklisted by the art establishment for a perceived crime against one of their darlings. She pays her bills by copying famous works of art for an above board online retailer. Then she makes a devil's bargain ...more

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Mar 15, 2017 Pamela rated it liked it

Shelves: mystery, literary-fiction, book-club, art, massachusetts, fiction, historical-contemporary-duality

It was a love/hate relationship; a mixed bag reading experience.

"Without light nothing can be seen. And with it, still so much is unobserved.

I enjoyed the art techniques described succinctly - painting, curing, aging, framing. Quite fascinating! Time, talent, and eye-for-details. Art history, art appreciation, collector's obsessions, and the Gardner Art Museum heist were other founding plot-drivers that I found fascinating, along with literary elements.

The mystery, though thoroughly interestin ...more

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Mar 28, 2016 Carlos rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: adult-fiction-btw

I loved this book, all the art references and the art processes explained here are catnip to me. I love museums and art, therefore any book mixing both its going to my criteria. The only reason I'm not giving it 5 stars is because I hated the main characther personality , (so much so that I was rooting for her to get in trouble) but I guess all is well that ends well!!! :) I am completely satisfied with this book!

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Jun 12, 2013 Jeanette rated it liked it

This is the kind of mystery that would not make a good movie, but is an intirguing tale for a book. This taught me much about art- oil painting, especially, that I did not know. Next time I go to the Art Institute I sure will be looking closely at those Impressionists. LOL!

Enjoyable tale filled with excellent research. The plot, to me, was rather discernable, early on.

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Jun 18, 2013 Lance Charnes rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Readers who like to mix culture with their crime

Shelves: fiction-mystery-detective, fiction-crime

The Art Forger is many things: a mystery, an art procedural, a historical quasi-romance, inside-the-art-world dish, and the portrait of a young artist involved in things she ought not to be. You could also consider it a caper story and not be far wrong.

Claire Roth is a Boston artist in bad odor with the art establishment, eking out a living creating reproductions of classic works for an online art mill while her own paintings languish. Her call to adventure comes in the form of a prominent galle The Art Forger is many things: a mystery, an art procedural, a historical quasi-romance, inside-the-art-world dish, and the portrait of a young artist involved in things she ought not to be. You could also consider it a caper story and not be far wrong.

Claire Roth is a Boston artist in bad odor with the art establishment, eking out a living creating reproductions of classic works for an online art mill while her own paintings languish. Her call to adventure comes in the form of a prominent gallery owner who offers her a one-woman show in exchange for a tiny favor: create an exact copy of a Degas masterpiece that just happens to have been stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990 in the largest theft in American history.

That we actually buy this is a tribute to author Shapiro’s skill in setting up Claire’s character and her world. Claire has the seismic temperament you’d expect of a young artist – by turns driven, romantic, flighty, bitter, euphoric and terrified. The tragic incident in her past that’s left her on the outs with the East Coast art establishment also illustrates her bona fides for pulling off this caper. She’s a Degas obsessive, and we feel her joy and awe at having one of the master’s missing gems in her studio. The first time she touches the painting is in spirit a sex scene, the forbidden and the sensual wrapped up in a simple gesture. Likewise, when the job starts going to pieces and the authorities close in, we can sense her rising panic and paranoia in a way entirely consistent with her character.

Claire’s narration of the copying process sounds detailed and authentic without becoming a textbook. She details her research at enough length to make it all credible, but you won’t feel like you’ve absorbed the archival mold spores by the end of it. When she discovers that the supposed masterpiece may itself be a forgery, her decision to track down the real painting feels organic. For once we have an amateur detective whose involvement in the case is actually credible.

It’s good that Claire is as well-drawn as she is, because she’s on nearly every page of the book. Those pages from which she’s absent are given over to the painting’s backstory as told by Isabella Stewart Gardner (one of the first important female collectors in America) herself. Her flirtation with Degas and the genesis of the painting is revealed through chatty letters supposedly written by Gardner to her favorite niece. While important to the overall plot, these letters are perhaps the weakest part of the book; they often sound too writerly, and you’ll wonder why a woman of Gardner’s station would commit to paper some of the things she tells her niece. You’ll also guess her secret long before the author reveals it to you. It’s a nice device and works okay, but it’s not as compelling as Claire’s story.

Claire is periodically attended by a group of arty chums, two of whom become prominent characters: Rik, the snappy gay friend, occupies a useful position in the Gardner Museum, while Mike, a fellow artist, is a handy lawyer. There’s nothing groundbreaking about either of them, but they’re good-enough company and don’t sound any significant false notes. Adrian, the gallery owner, is perhaps a bit too dreamboaty – my mind wandered to Roarke in J.D. Robb’s …in Death series – but at least Claire takes a while to realize her attraction to him. The settings work well, and a few (such as Claire’s studio and Adrian’s gallery) feel realistic and well-observed.

The ending is the one major misstep. It’s pure Hollywood, tying up everything over-neatly with way more happiness than the preceding sturm und drang would seem to support. It’s also not as surefooted as what led up to it, as if Claire’s voice is meant for disappointment and can’t properly convey sunniness.

Art crime isn’t a subject that often turns up in a mystery. It’s refreshing to be dealing with stakes that don’t involve yet another murder (better, not yet another serial killer). Even though there’s no blood, this isn’t a cozy. The mystery is twisty enough to keep you occupied without feeling like homework. You’ll even learn some stuff. If you’re looking for a break from tough-guy heroes, slimeball villains and dead bodies but still need your crime fix, give The Art Forger a try. Our Heroine’s life is an interesting place to spend a few hours, and you might feel like visiting a museum afterwards.
...more

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Dec 14, 2012 Susan Johnson rated it it was ok

This review is from: The Art Forger: A Novel (Hardcover)
Claire Roth is an artist that has been involved in an art work scandal and has found herself blackballed in the artistic world. She is forced into reproducing famous paintings to make a living.This career choice gives her an opportunity to salvage her reputation when she is offered the chance to copy a stolen Degas painting. The story also intertwines the story of the founding of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and the place ...more

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Nov 28, 2013 Jan Rice rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: creativity, fiction, detective-mystery-crime

"We can only talk about the bad forgeries, the ones that have not been detected. The good ones are still hanging on museum walls." The instructor backed this up with a New York Times estimate that 40 percent of all the artworks presented for sale in any given years are forgeries. I assumed this was completely overblown. I don't now.

There's not too much that can be said about this story without coming up against spoilers. Even the publisher's blurb says more than necessary, but, then, I often fee ...more

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Mar 28, 2014 John rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, library_books

I'm going to start with a bit of a spoiler, because I just can't discuss the book without mentioning it: the "forgery" itself blows up in their faces; the more Markel said "there's layers, babe, they can't get to me ..." the more certain I became he would be wrong.

What I liked --

The Boston setting is probably the book's strongest feature.

Overall, I liked Claire. I get that it was her bad decision to let Isaac have credit for her painting that went on to critical acclaim, but when he didn't leav ...more

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Apr 17, 2017 Jacob rated it really liked it

Shelves: from_library

This is one of the few times I have been driven to read a book by sheer curiosity after reading the back text. Go on and look at it. Go on. I'll wait.

Checked it out? Good, isn't it? Historical fiction based on the largest unsolved art heist in history? An artist agreeing to forge a famous painting from the original? And the original might actually *already* be a forgery? Seriously, how can I not read this book? The back text here is a great example of what back text should be: enough to really p ...more

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Jan 17, 2017 Colleen D rated it it was amazing

I think she got the (main character Claire Roth) typical artist's neurotic personality down pat.

A writer friend once told me that when she walks into a library anywhere in the world, the smell makes her feel instantly at home.

It takes my mind a moment to catch up with my body, and I realize I'm feeling dread.

If Rik were around he'd say 'I'm getting old here.'

Six weeks is a long time. It's long enough to develop headaches, insomnia, digestive issues, fear of success, fear of failure, fear of fea ...more

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Mar 13, 2015 Diane rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is a 3.5 star read for me. The beginning drug along a bit, the characters were so-so, and artwork is something I know little to nothing about. Then, the storyline picked up and I quickly became engaged in it. I really enjoyed the backstory of the painting and the letters from Belle Gardner were interesting. The author did a good job of writing about the more technical elements of painting without it being boring for non-artistic readers (like me). It took a bit, but I did warm up to the mai ...more

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May 08, 2013 Mary Ronan Drew rated it it was amazing

On the night of St Patrick's Day in 1990 when the attention of Boston was focused elsewhere, thieves entered the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and made off with art valued at $500 million, including three Rembrandts, one of only 34 known paintings by Vermeer, and works by Manet and Degas. Because the eccentric Isabella insisted in her will that nothing be changed in the museum (nothing!), the empty frames remain on the walls as a sad reminder of what has been lost.

This story, which fascinates On the night of St Patrick's Day in 1990 when the attention of Boston was focused elsewhere, thieves entered the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and made off with art valued at $500 million, including three Rembrandts, one of only 34 known paintings by Vermeer, and works by Manet and Degas. Because the eccentric Isabella insisted in her will that nothing be changed in the museum (nothing!), the empty frames remain on the walls as a sad reminder of what has been lost.

This story, which fascinates the art world still, is at the heart of the 2012 novel by B A Shaprio, The Art Forger. Our heroin, Claire Roth, is a painter who has been blackballed by the art world because of an incident three years earlier that earned her the sobriquet The Great Pretender. The reason she became burdened with this reputation emerges slowly in the course of the novel.

While painting her own works (but not selling them), Claire makes her living copying famous paintings for Reproductions.com, a fictional website, and has become an expert in creating what would be called forgeries if an attempt were made to sell them as originals. She is also an expert on Edgar Degas.

So when Aidan Markel, owner of Boston's preeminent (fictional) art gallery, arrives at her studio offering to give her a one man show at his gallery and a great deal of money if she will do him a favor she is tempted even when she discovers that the favor is to forge one of the (fictional) paintings stolen from the Gardner. She faces an ethical choice. But she agrees.

Watching Claire employ the techniques used by a painter of high-quality reproductions (or forgeries) is engrossing, and the examination in the course of the story of what constitutes truth in art, the development of a relationship between Claire and Aiden, Claire's dilemma as she begins to suspect that the Degas she is copying is itself a forgery keep the pages of this book turning at a brisk clip.

The Art Forger should send readers off to visit the Gardner museum, which is near the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and which I visited as a child when my family would make a visit to Boston every July to see the Red Sox play and to visit the MFA, the Gardner, or the Agassiz Museum at Harvard (to see the glass flowers.) From the street the Gardner looks like a not very prepossessing factory; inside is a fairy-land courtyard with palms that reach almost to the four-story glass ceiling, and gallery after gallery of more than a thousand works of art acquired by Mrs Gardner with the help of Bernard Berenson.

The museum, by the way, admits for free anyone with the name Isabella and anyone at all on his or her birthday. Mrs Gardner's eccentricity lives on.

I first heard about this book in a review by Carol here on Goodreads. ...more

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Nov 20, 2012 Larry H rated it it was amazing

Part mystery, part art history lesson, part novel about rebuilding your self-confidence after it has been shattered, B.A. Shapiro's The Art Forger is a well-written, intriguing, and well-researched look at the world of art forgery.

Claire Roth is a young artist whose promising career was derailed after a scandal involving a former lover and fellow artist. She now makes a living working for a website called Reproductions.com, creating perfect copies of famous art masterpieces, but she dreams of en Part mystery, part art history lesson, part novel about rebuilding your self-confidence after it has been shattered, B.A. Shapiro's The Art Forger is a well-written, intriguing, and well-researched look at the world of art forgery.

Claire Roth is a young artist whose promising career was derailed after a scandal involving a former lover and fellow artist. She now makes a living working for a website called Reproductions.com, creating perfect copies of famous art masterpieces, but she dreams of entering the legitimate art world once again. One day she is approached by gallery owner Aiden Markel, who offers her an opportunity that is too good to pass up: forge a copy of a famed Degas painting stolen as part of a 1990 art heist from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the largest unsolved art heist in history, and in exchange, Markel will hold a one-woman show of Claire's work in his famed gallery. He also ensures Claire there is no way either of them can get caught.

When the original painting, which Markel apparently gained possession of through a shadowy transaction, arrives in Claire's studio, she is transfixed by its beauty and its idiosyncrasies when compared to Degas' earlier work. The more research she does to ensure her forgery is a perfect copy of the original, the more she begins to suspect that the painting delivered to her studio isn't the original either. She begins doing her own investigation into where the original painting could have been switched for a forgery, delving into both Degas and Gardner's histories, while trying to remain above suspicion for the work she is doing.

I don't know much about art history (and not all of the history that Shapiro shares in the book is true), but I found this book tremendously intriguing, both for its look at works I've seen and heard about, and its terrific portrayal of a woman interested in rebuilding her life, but determined to uncover truths that may lead to her life being shattered even further. I really wondered how Shapiro would tie everything up, and while some of what occurred wasn't necessarily surprising, her storytelling ability really hooked me, and I read the entire book very quickly.

If you're intrigued by art history with a little bit of mystery thrown in along with a well-told story, definitely pick up The Art Forger. You may even learn something along the way! ...more

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Apr 27, 2013 Lynda rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: from-bookpage

B.A. Shapiro's The Art Forger is an exciting art mystery that kept me guessing almost to the end. Claire Roth is the main character who has been living under the shadow of false accusations and the emotional repercussions of the death of her bi-polar, married lover who just happened to be her former professor and the credited artist of a famous painting purchased by MOMA.
The tale of the lover and the painting are told in flashbacks while the current drama of Clare's life as an art "reproduction ...more

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Apr 15, 2013 Leslie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mysteries, contemporary, bingo-2016

3.5 stars
I thought that this was a) historical fiction and b) a mystery. Both those things turned out to be true in part but essentially this was a contemporary literary fiction novel. I think my rating may reflect in part my sense of disappointment about that misconception so I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt and round up.

However, being from the Boston area, I enjoyed all the local color and I found the information about art very interesting. In particular, seeing the "art scene" i ...more

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May 27, 2013 Annie rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013-reading-goal

It took almost half the book to finally focus on the primary plot and that's when the story became more involving and satisfying, though I never had much connection with any of the characters (they were basically flat and predictable).

The most engaging things here were the information about art forgery and the aspects of art history that were the center of the story. I think the author did a good job of weaving together her research and her fictionalization.

I have to say -- again and again -- th ...more

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Oct 19, 2012 Ariel rated it really liked it

Shelves: art-fiction

This was the first book I read from the cache I purchased at the Miami International Book Fair. I wish I had a chance to read it before hearing B.A. Shapiro speak. After reading The Art Forger I am a fan. B.A. Shapiro gave a talk about her writing process with M.J. Rose, author of The book of Lost Fragrances, another novel I grabbed. I don't know if they were put on a panel together because they both go by their initials but it seemed a good pairing and their discussion was very insightful. I re This was the first book I read from the cache I purchased at the Miami International Book Fair. I wish I had a chance to read it before hearing B.A. Shapiro speak. After reading The Art Forger I am a fan. B.A. Shapiro gave a talk about her writing process with M.J. Rose, author of The book of Lost Fragrances, another novel I grabbed. I don't know if they were put on a panel together because they both go by their initials but it seemed a good pairing and their discussion was very insightful. I remember B.A. Shapiro revealing that she writes in a highly successful group that consists of other published authors. She also mentioned that her next book would also be set in the art world. I really enjoyed getting to hear both authors speak and will treasure my signed copies of their novels. Okay, on to the review.

Claire Roth is a disgraced artist barely making ends meet when we meet her. A disastrous affair of the heart has left her name mud in the art world. She spends her time painting reproductions of famous paintings for a company and skating by on very little money or goodwill. All of her past mistakes have make her very vunerable when Aiden Markel comes knocking with an offer she can't refuse. She will receive a large sum of money plus her own gallery show if she agrees to paint a reproduction of a a famous Degas painting. The catch is that is one of the paintings stolen during the notorious and unsolved Isabella Stuart Gardner heist. Markel holds the keys to everything Claire has ever wanted. All she has to do is paint and not ask any questions. The story moves deftly back and forth between the period where Claire is in love with Isaac who ruins her life, the present, and letters Isabella Stuart Gardner writes to her niece from her art purchasing trip. All three stories tie togther in a wonderful way and I kept turning the pages with anticpation until the end.

B.A. Shapiro weaves an engaging tale that combines fictional aspects of the story with factual ones. The Isabelle Stuart Gardner heist is one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of the art world. This is a fictional imagining of part of that story. After reading this story I would love to get to visit the Gardner museum in person one day. Although the mystery may never be solved as to who stole the paintings from the Gardner we can all imerse ourselves in the art world with the irrestible characters B.A. Shapiro has created. ...more

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May 15, 2013 P.D.R. Lindsay rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites, mystery-thrillers

I've a soft spot for stories about art and artists and hoped to enjoy this novel. I did. It was clever, the plot an original twist on so many real artist novels. Based on a real theft from a famous American Art Gallery Shapiro gives us a possible alternative history of Degas and the art theft. It is entirely believable.

Clair Roth is a young artist with a past and few sales. She makes money by working for reproductions.com as their Degas specialist, copying his paintings for wealthy buyers. She' ...more

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Oct 10, 2012 Terri Lynn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mystery-suspense-thrillers, art-theater-film-ballet-symphony, fiction, arts-and-crafts, drama-fiction, historical-fiction

This book is just so delicious, I wanted to crawl inside it and become a character myself.

Twenty-five years earlier, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum was robbed of a number of paintings including the Degas "After the Bath".

Three years ago, artist Claire Roth allowed an older artist, once her professor and later her lover, make a fool out of her and derail her art career by claiming that a painting she did was his work. Hardly anyone would believe her and thought she wanted to ruin him bec ...more

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May 18, 2014 Christopher Hicks rated it really liked it

At first I dreaded reading this book, it is a selection for my book club. The first 80 pages kind of dragged to me, then I couldn't put it down. The twists in the plot fascinated me. I did enjoy the letters from Belle to her niece best of all. The main character, Claire got on my nerves A lot and the art lingo on how to forge a painting was a bit much. All in all, I enjoyed it and am glad I read it.

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About B.A. Shapiro

B.A. Shapiro is the award-wining, NYT bestselling author of THE MURALIST and THE ART FORGER, both stories of art, mystery and history with a bit of romance thrown in.

She's also written five suspense novels -- THE SAFE ROOM, BLIND SPOT, SEE NO EVIL, BLAMELESS and SHATTERED ECHOES -- four screenplays and the nonfiction book, THE BIG SQUEEZE.

In her previous career incarnations, she directed researc ...more

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“So many good uses for ill-begotten gains” — 7 likes

“Did you ever hear of cognitive dissonance?” she asked. “No.” “Basically, it’s a theory that people subconsciously reinterpret their motives and actions in a way that makes them feel better about themselves afterward. And then they start to believe that the basis of the reinterpretation is also true.” — 5 likes

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