The Forger's Spell by Edward Dolnick

[Sarah]

The Forger's Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century by Edward Dolnick
Stars

This is the true story of Han van Meegeren who is considered to have pulled off one of the greatest art deceptions of the twentieth century. Taking place mainly during WWII when Nazi's were pillaging art left and right, begrudged artist Meegeren was looking to make a fool of the art world that had rejected him. Capitalizing on the chaos and confusion of the war, and the greed of the high ranking Nazi officials, Meegeren managed to make a small fortune doing forgeries of "undiscovered" paintings by well known Dutch artist Johann Vermeer.
The book itself is pretty short for a book of this type, being under 300 pages. The story covers more than just the intrigue of art and forgery. There are little biographies throughout the book of all the major players and some of the background for the history at that time, including Hitler and other high ranking Nazi's, Vermeer and other major artists, and lastly the art specialist from various museums and universities. I enjoyed this book as Vermeer is a personal favorite. In general learning about this part of history was nice as I had never heard of Meegeren, and knew a little about the Nazi's art theft of Europe as captured in books and movies like The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History. If you like art and history, especially if you are a WWII buff, than this would be a great read.

[Regina Lindsey]

I loved this book! It combines two things I love art history and WWII. It is an absolutely a fascinating tale.

[AsimovsZeroth]

I'm vaguely familiar with Meegeren, but I've never read a book about his forgeries. Sounds fascinating. Definitely going on my to read shelf.