I Was Vermeer: The Rise and Fall of the Twentieth Century's Greatest Forger
by Frank Wynne
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Book Summary Information
Author: Frank WynneEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-10-03
ISBN: 1582345937
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Book Reviews of I Was Vermeer: The Rise and Fall of the Twentieth Century's Greatest Forger
Book Review: A Fascinating Account
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a very interesting and well-written account of the "great" (if that word can be applied to a crook!) art forger Han van Meegeren, who during and before WWII made himself about $100,000,000 (in today's money) by painting and selling fake paintings by Vermeer and other Dutch Masters. The story is well-known in art history circles, but author Frank Wynne has made it accessible and entertaining to the general reader, and has brought it up to date as of 2004, with the famous (or infamous) Sotheby's sale, for $30,000,000, of a questionable Vermeer.
Even people who don't know a Vermeer from a Picasso are likely to be captivated by this story of high finance and low cunning. Hans van Meegeren was such an audacious rogue (artist, forger, con man, ladies' man, alcoholic) that he seems almost larger than life, especially in Wynne's witty and pointed retelling.
The book's appendices include a useful bibliography, list of websites, and summary of the present locations and status of Vermeer paintings and forgeries.
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