Wednesday, January 20, 2010

The Forger's Spell by Edward Dolnick

I had made a goal to read a book a week this year when I found out about 52 Weeks 52 Books. I started my own blog on the books I am reading, so if anyone wants to check that out, it's at eclecticreader1.blogspot.com. I especially like nonfiction, but I am always looking for recommendations of good books to read.

My first book of the year was The Forger's Spell by Edward Dolnick. I have checked out this book from the library several times, but didn't get it read until this year. What a gem! This is the story of how a painter who had been dismissed by the mainstream art community made $30 million selling his Vermeer forgeries to leaders of Nazi Germany and others. These are the things I particularly like about it:

  • short paragraphs make it a fast read
  • solid research on every angle of the story
  • lots of interesting information on a wide variety of subjects. (For example, do you know how to test a painting for forgery, when plastic was invented or who were Monuments Men?)

1 comment:

  1. This is an interesting story that has one that I found that is going on now. It may be the largest pinup art genre fraud in the last 50 years or more. Link as follows:
    http://knol.google.com/art-sorayama-v-tamara-bane-gallery-and-robert-bane#

    In 2007 the Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama (www.sorayama.net) obtained a nearly $2 million dollar judgment, including $1 million in punitive damages, against Robert S. Bane, his/his wife's publishing compnay, Robert Bane LTD, and his/his wife's gallery, the Tamara Bane Gallery. It is quite an interesting set of facts taking place in the federal courts from 2005 through 2010.

    ReplyDelete