The Forger's Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century by Edward Dolnick. As riveting as a World War II thriller, The Forger's Spell is the true story of three men and an extraordinary deception: the revered artist Johannes Vermeer; the small-time Dutch painter who dared to impersonate him years later; and the con man's mark, Hermann Goering, the fanatical art collector and one of Nazi Germany's most reviled leaders. 368 pages, softback
Edward Dolnick is the author of The Forger's Spell, the true but bizarre story of the twentieth century's greatest art hoax. His previous book, The Rescue Artist, looked at the thugs who snatch masterpieces off museum walls and the detectives who chase them. The Rescue Artist won the Edgar Award in 2006 for best non-fiction, and Art News declared that "there has never been a better book on art crime."
"When it comes to forgery and its ability to fascinate, the bigger the better, and the greater the audacity the more compelling. In the story of a two-bit Dutch painter, Han Van Meegeren, who had the nerve to take on that most rarefied of his artistic compatriots, Johannes Vermeer, author Edward Dolnick has hit the mother lode." -- Los Angeles Times
"Dolnick . . . tells his story engagingly and with a light touch. He has a novelist's talent for characterization, and he raises fascinating questions." --The New York Times
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