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The Forger's Spell by Edward Dolnick
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The Forger's Spell by Edward Dolnick
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| HarperCollins, June 24 |
In The Forger’s Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century, Edward Dolnick delves into the lesser-known depths of the art world: He follows the story of Han van Meegeren, a painter turned forger, in his search of retaliation on the “expert” critics who had snubbed his work.
Van Meegeren found success painting portraits for wealthy customers, but his other paintings were often discarded as superficial and weak. Frustrated with their lack of enthusiasm for his talent, Van Meegeren decided to strike back at critics and create the fame he desired. What he chose to do was entirely illegal but wildly successful in achieving both celebrity and revenge. After completing some smaller scale forgeries, Van Meegeren took on the challenge of 17th-century master and fellow Dutchman Johannes Vermeer.
Soon enough, and even during World War II, a time of despair for many, Van Meegeren’s “Vermeers” were selling for the equivalent of millions to renowned museums, business tycoons and powerful Nazis — a tie that eventually exposed Van Meegeren. He confessed to forging the paintings to avoid charges of treason for sympathizing with the party. Scorned at first, Van Meegeren eventually earned praise for conning Nazi Luftwaffe commander Herman Goering and pompous art critics.
Dolnick’s book goes into extensive detail, at some points too much. His examples and anecdotes, while informational and relative, like maybe a third or fourth cousin is, are not all part of the immediate family that is the Van Meegeren story. Dolnick is clearly well-versed in the topic of art forgery and reveals to those of us who visit art museums to simply see a nice picture that there is much more involved than just artist and paint brush.
What promises to be a more compelling look at Han Van Meegeren and his life is Jonathan Lopez's "The Man Who Made Vermeers" out next month, which includes an incredible amount of new research into the top. www.themanwhomadevermeers.com
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