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The Man Who Made Vermeers: Unvarnishing the Legend of Master Forger Han van Meegeren by Jonathan Lopez/ Swindlers
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last updated Jul 03, 2009 05:42PM
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What Members Thought
From IMBd:
An artist is suspected of selling a valuable painting to the Nazis, but there is more to the story than meets the eye.
An artist is suspected of selling a valuable painting to the Nazis, but there is more to the story than meets the eye.
3.5 stars.
I made it to about page 148 before calling it quit.
The book is a story of a man named Han van Meegeren who made his living forging art works of dead masters, including Vermeers and Hals. The opportunities for fake arts arose as a side effect of the World War I. As homes were raided and destroyed, art works were also confiscated and sold. So more arts from great artists were "discovered" during 1920s and 1930s where it was easy to paint something similar to what the great artists would have paint ...more
The book is a story of a man named Han van Meegeren who made his living forging art works of dead masters, including Vermeers and Hals. The opportunities for fake arts arose as a side effect of the World War I. As homes were raided and destroyed, art works were also confiscated and sold. So more arts from great artists were "discovered" during 1920s and 1930s where it was easy to paint something similar to what the great artists would have paint ...more
So interesting. Read this as part of an on-line book group. It stunned me how successful Van Meegeren was at his forgeries for so long. I don't know much about the art world, especially it's history, so I loved learning a bit about how art was authenticated before all the technology we have today. I also liked reading about how Van Meegeren was actually an accomplished painter who could have had a rather successful career on his merit, and the psychologist in me kept thinking about what would le
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I found this whole story fascinating and one I knew nothing about before reading this book. I was amazed and awed by how Van Meegeren was able to turn himself into a folk hero in the Netherlands just after WWII despite his life as a forger, philanderer and Nazi collaborator. The story of his life was a great read, but the timing of his trial and how he continued to masterfully manipulate people was the part that was most interesting to me.
If you want a thoughtful, detailed review of this book, you can't do better than to read Ginnie's below. I'll just comment that I was fascinated by it. Never realized Han Meegeren was so cozy with the Nazis.
Jonathan, I'm overwhelmed by the amount of research you did for this book. Can you read Dutch? How long was the book in the works? How much travel was involved? Wow, what an undertaking.
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Jonathan, I'm overwhelmed by the amount of research you did for this book. Can you read Dutch? How long was the book in the works? How much travel was involved? Wow, what an undertaking.
...more
This is a great combination of history, the art world and true crime. Jonathan Lopez has used the facts and some great investigative work to spin a fascinating tale.
Aug 16, 2008
peg
marked it as to-read
Jan 12, 2009
Diane
marked it as to-read
Mar 05, 2009
Andrea
marked it as to-read
Nov 08, 2009
Monica
marked it as to-read
Mar 28, 2021
Geoffrey
marked it as to-read
