Good book!  It’s older, published first in 2008, and it wasn’t quite what I expected either, but still, like I said, “Good book!”  

The Forger’s Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the  Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century
by Edward Dolnick 
Audible – 2023. (original print 2008) 
Read by Paul Heitsch 11h 46m
Rating:  9 / nonfiction, art 

I’ve read several books about art thieves and for some reason I was expecting something like them.  It’s categorized as “True Crime,” and yes, forgery is that, but I was expecting a bit more of the thriller type narrative.  

There are two kinds of forgery – one is simple copying – make a fake Renoir. – Do not do this with the works of any living artist because he will name them and claim them. Too bad.  There is also the forgery which is “original,” but said to be a “lost” or “very early” work of (famous artist) and yes it is “in the style of” and technically as accurate as can be ini terms of “canvas,” type of paint, effects of aging and all manner of things pertaining to the works of their “famous artist” who lived decades or centuries ago.   

This book is about forgery in general but far more specifically about the Vermeer forgeries of Han van Meegeren (Dutch, 1889-1947). Then it gets down to the exact point, his greatest forgery, “Supper at Emmaus.”   After I got about 1/3 through, I was fine with it and now I really wish I’d gotten the Kindle version,  listened more carefully.  I might still do that later anyway. Suffice it to say the book is about much more than the famous forger Han van Meegeren and I’ve been able to find quite a lot by googling. 

Much of this is gossip and scandal but there is also quite a lot of information and history regarding the art, skill and science of forgery as well as the story of Han van Meegeren.  There are also very brief biographical sketches of other  artists, critics, and historians.  If you enjoy reading this type of thing it’s quite fun.  

But the best part is the last third or so – when Meegeren’s “masterpiece,” “Supper at Emmasus’” is brought to the experts and the public and then examined. It was a forgery, a skill at which Meegeren excelled – technically.  Stylistically, as his own painter under his own name, he was not much good at all and we, in the 2020s can certainly see that. But folks, including the art experts, in Europe during WWII were more vulnerable for reasons Dolnick goes into.   And there’s more… 🙂

Enjoy –  

http://www.essentialvermeer.com/misc/van_meegeren.html