The Forger's Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century
by: Edward Dolnick
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As riveting as a World War II thriller, The Forger's Spell is the true story of Johannes Vermeer and the small-time Dutch painter who dared to impersonate him centuries later. The con man's mark was Hermann Goering, one of the most reviled leaders of Nazi Germany and a fanatic collector of art.
It was an almost perfect crime. For seven years a no-account painter named Han van Meegeren managed to pass off his paintings as those of one of the most beloved and admired artists who ever lived. But, as Edward Dolnick reveals, the reason for the forger's success was not his artistic skill. Van Meegeren was a mediocre artist. His true genius lay in psychological manipulation, and he came within inches of fooling both the Nazis and the world. Instead, he landed in an Amsterdam court on trial for his life.
ARTnews called Dolnick's previous book, the Edgar Award-winning The Rescue Artist, "the best book ever written on art crime." In The Forger's Spell, the stage is bigger, the stakes are higher, and the villains are blacker.
As riveting as a World War II thriller, The Forger's Spell is the true story of Johannes Vermeer and the small-time Dutch painter who dared to impersonate him centuries later. The con man's mark was Hermann Goering, one of the most reviled leaders of Nazi Germany and a fanatic collector of art.
It was an almost perfect crime. For seven years a no-account painter named Han van Meegeren managed to pass off his paintings as those of one of the most beloved and admired artists who ever lived. But, as Edward Dolnick reveals, the reason for the forger's success was not his artistic skill. Van Meegeren was a mediocre artist. His true genius lay in psychological manipulation, and he came within inches of fooling both the Nazis and the world. Instead, he landed in an Amsterdam court on trial for his life.
ARTnews called Dolnick's previous book, the Edgar Award-winning The Rescue Artist, "the best book ever written on art crime." In The Forger's Spell, the stage is bigger, the stakes are higher, and the villains are blacker.
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Dolnick's Van Meegeren: an adventure
The Forger's Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century (P.S.)
Dolnick's book about the Dutch forger Van Meegeren, who not only cheated Dutch experts on the great Golden Century Dutch painters, but also Nazi leaders, is a story about the adventure of a forger. It sketches the techniques and psychology of the man who created various forged Vermeer paintings. Dolnick also sketches credibly the mentality who paid for being cheated. They wanted to ... Read More
Rating: - A page turner packed with interesting history
I couldn't put this book down. As an Art History major, I really appreciated the details Dolnick provided about both the forgery and the authentication process, as well as his detailed psychological portraits of the forger, Van Meegeren, and the world-renowned collectors and curators who authenticated his works (some still wouldn't admit Van Meegeren's paintings were forgeries even after being proven wrong in court!). One of the main points in the book is to take a step back and review your cultural ... Read More
Rating: - Interesting, entertaining and informative read
A thoroughly-researched and smartly written book that covers an interesting range of subjects related to the story of the forgeries, from Dutch history and character to Nazi machinations to the difficulty of attribution to psychological studies related to why we tend to see what we expect to see. I loved Dolnick's curiosity and his unwillingness to sneer and laugh at the people who were duped; instead he tries to put himself in their shoes and in their times and understand how it happened. That makes ... Read More
Rating: 
- A Master of Fact over Fiction
First of all, this book is a work of historical research, not a fictional invention. Yes it has a cast of characters, but this is a recount of what real people actually did and said and wrote in the 1930s, 1940s and builds upon those in the earlier centuries when the great Dutch painters Vermeer, Hals and Rembrandt were working. It is a fabulous and exciting book, exploring the greatest painting hoax of any time, and the roles of the people who were actually involved. Anyone truly interested in great ... Read More
Rating: - Ego the ultimate coin of the forger's spell
That's the ultimate thing I took from this book van Meegeren was as successful as he was because he knew how to play to the egos of a few top critics. I suspect that in one or two cases, these critics may have later had doubts, but to admit them in public would risk their ego too much, so they simply shut up.
That said, it was a bit of a breezy read. I don't know how relevant van Meegeren's Nazi sympathizing was, but the evidence of it is good enough, that with trimming elsewhere in the book, ... Read More
- Dolnick's Van Meegeren: an adventureThe Forger's Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century (P.S.)
Dolnick's book about the Dutch forger Van Meegeren, who not only cheated Dutch experts on the great Golden Century Dutch painters, but also Nazi leaders, is a story about the adventure of a forger. It sketches the techniques and psychology of the man who created various forged Vermeer paintings. Dolnick also sketches credibly the mentality who paid for being cheated. They wanted to ... Read More
- A page turner packed with interesting historyI couldn't put this book down. As an Art History major, I really appreciated the details Dolnick provided about both the forgery and the authentication process, as well as his detailed psychological portraits of the forger, Van Meegeren, and the world-renowned collectors and curators who authenticated his works (some still wouldn't admit Van Meegeren's paintings were forgeries even after being proven wrong in court!). One of the main points in the book is to take a step back and review your cultural ... Read More
- Interesting, entertaining and informative readA thoroughly-researched and smartly written book that covers an interesting range of subjects related to the story of the forgeries, from Dutch history and character to Nazi machinations to the difficulty of attribution to psychological studies related to why we tend to see what we expect to see. I loved Dolnick's curiosity and his unwillingness to sneer and laugh at the people who were duped; instead he tries to put himself in their shoes and in their times and understand how it happened. That makes ... Read More
- A Master of Fact over FictionFirst of all, this book is a work of historical research, not a fictional invention. Yes it has a cast of characters, but this is a recount of what real people actually did and said and wrote in the 1930s, 1940s and builds upon those in the earlier centuries when the great Dutch painters Vermeer, Hals and Rembrandt were working. It is a fabulous and exciting book, exploring the greatest painting hoax of any time, and the roles of the people who were actually involved. Anyone truly interested in great ... Read More
- Ego the ultimate coin of the forger's spellThat's the ultimate thing I took from this book van Meegeren was as successful as he was because he knew how to play to the egos of a few top critics. I suspect that in one or two cases, these critics may have later had doubts, but to admit them in public would risk their ego too much, so they simply shut up.
That said, it was a bit of a breezy read. I don't know how relevant van Meegeren's Nazi sympathizing was, but the evidence of it is good enough, that with trimming elsewhere in the book, ... Read More
