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The Man Who Made Vermeers: Unvarnishing the Legend of Master Forger Han van Meegeren |
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Amazon Sales Rank: 2832
Publication Date: 2008-08-15
Publisher: Harcourt
ISBN: 0151013411
Type: Hardcover
Number Of Pages: 352
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It's a story that made Dutch painter Han van Meegeren famous worldwide when it broke at the end of World War II: A lifetime of disappointment drove him to forge Vermeers, one of which he sold to Hermann Goering, making a mockery of the Nazis. And it's a story that's been believed ever since. Too bad it isn't true. Jonathan Lopez has drawn on never-before-seen documents from dozens of archives to write a revelatory new biography of the world’s most famous forger. Neither unappreciated artist nor antifascist hero, Van Meegeren emerges as an ingenious, dyed-in-the-wool crook who plied the forger's trade far longer than he ever admitted—a talented Mr. Ripley armed with a paintbrush. Lopez also explores a network of illicit commerce that operated across Europe: Not only was Van Meegeren a key player in that high-stakes game in the 1920s and '30s, landing fakes with powerful dealers and famous collectors such as Andrew Mellon, but he and his associates later offered a case study in wartime opportunism as they cashed in on the Nazi occupation. The Man Who Made Vermeers is a long-overdue unvarnishing of Van Meegeren’s legend and a deliciously detailed story of deceit in the art world.
Average Rating: 
Review: 2008-10-21
The Essential faux-Vermeer
Aside from being the most finely researched and best written study on the spectacular forgery case of Vermeer paintings by Han van Meegeren, "The Man Who Made Vermeers" holds a gem. Perhaps its most far-reaching accomplishment is that for the first time Lopez provides the answer to the central question which has either been tactfully avoided or inadequately addressed by those who has taken up the subject: how could have the most renowned museum curators, art dealers and private collectors been taken by fakes which appear almost laughable today?
Lopez reveals, with unusual perspicacity, that Van Meegeren discovered "first and foremost, that a fake doesn't necessarily succeed or fail according to the fidelity with which it replicates the distant past but on the basis of its power to sway the contemporary mind." Armed with this knowledge Van Meegeren ruthlessly exploited the vanity, greed and visual vulnerability of his time cynically turning them into immense profit.
Time will tell if we have learned more from art history studies and scientific progress than Van Meegeren did from the foibles of his time. Until then, we have been adequately warned.
"The Man who Made Vermeers" is a striking book in most every respect even for someone like myself, who loves Vermeer but has been coldly immune to the case at hand.
Review: 2008-09-30
Super pleasure reading
Nicely told, and the story's completely new to me. Gives very nice historical background details and good observations and comments on paintings. Excellent historical photos illustrating the text. Fun book.
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Amazon List Price: $26.00
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