Customer Reviews

FALSE IMPRESSIONS The Hunt for Big-Time Art Fakes

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book could have been one of the best books I read this year. The topic is very interesting, and I learned a huge amount from reading it. In fact, when I first read it, I thought it was a 4 1/2 start book. But later I changed my mind.

In looking back at the book, what I most imeediately recall about it are two things:

1. The writing is stodgy and detracts from the tale.

2. The author can't make up his mind who his audience is or what kind of book he is writing.

Sometimes, the book seems to be written for someone like me who doesn't know a whole lot about art and the business of art. In some parts of the book, there are lots aof background details to help a reader make sense of what is going on. However, in other parts of the book, he just writes like he assumes you share his common vocabulary. This makes it difficult for me to follow those parts of the book. By the same token, I expect that a person who found these parts of the book interesting and useful would find the explanations in the other parts tedious and useless. This book can't decide if it is a memoir of the author's life, a history of his career, or a book about art forgery. It would have worked better had it been more focused.

Having made these complaints, I must say that the book was interesting and packed with useful photos to help me make sense of some of the content. In addition, the topic of the book is interesting, and I am glad I read it. I'm just sorry, because I think it is a book on the verge of being a better book than it is, and I hate to see potential come up short.

Thomas Hoving seems to know his art, and doesn't have any qualms about sharing his knowledge. He may be a premier fakebuster, but as a writer, he could use a little more practice. While the subject matter was interesting, Hoving had a slightly difficult time keeping my attention. He seemed to jump around alot, and made a lot of assumptions regarding my knowledge of the art world. False Impressions is filled with all kinds of interesting tidbits about the world of art forgery and fakebusting. Unfortunately, it can be somewhat difficult to separate fact from opinion. As a novice to art appreciation, I found much of the material to be "above my head". Perhaps after a few years of study, I will be in a better position to fully benefit from all Hoving offers. Probably the simplest and most effective thing he could have done to improve the book would be to include more pictures, perhaps even some color photos, and have them more logically located in the chapters in which the pieces are discussed, as opposed to having a group of plates three-quarters of the way through the book. At the very least, the text could have referenced the plate section. Unfortunately, every time a new piece is mentioned, the curious reader has to flip to the plate section and hope that the piece is represented there. Overall, I would say that if you are really interested in fine art, you will find this book enlightening. But it's not something one would read just for fun.

This could have been a more interesting book, but often as not I found it a chore to read. The subject matter -- art fakery, the criminals who perpetrate it, and the curators and journalists who fall for it -- made for a fascinating glimpse into this other world. Hoving just can't write well, consistently.

Sometimes he gets into a mode, like when going over the medieval and renaissance works, where he would cover so many so quickly that it felt as if he were simply reciting names and dates, losing all the human charm it needs to keep your interest. Some of the text made no sense without the plates, and for some parts there were no plates to, I was never sure just what he was talking about. Other times he exhaustively goes over what everything means, sometimes well, but sometimes to the point of irritation. The biggest mistake I saw was that the ending was very rushed; one of the most interesting stories, about a prolific Mexican sculptor, was cut short and glossed over.

Hoving also has a reputation for... embellishing on his own accomplishments or criminals' cleverness. Some of the areas seem a little hazy and farfetched, so I don't know. He always claims his own explanation to be correct anytime there's room for many possible theories, rather than explaining each and giving the highs and lows of them. In tone he is quite full of himself and his accomplishments, always boasting of being a great fakebuster, often sneering at fellow curators and making snide remarks about journalists (who are really only expected to report whatever the curator says, after all, since most aren't trained in art). It washed off me but might irritate others.

Overall, the book does concentrate on the art and the people duped, and it will expand your fine art knowledge in many ways, covering many varied subjects. I'd still recommend it to art students or fanciers, but to most it would simply be too dense and uneven.

Hoving, former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, knows of which he speaks. He takes you on a fascinating journey as he relates his experiences with fakes and frauds in the art world---not just paintings, but great Medieval reliquaries, ancient Greek kouros statuary, Roman antiquities, and pre-Columbian art. He leaves nothing back in his narrative-----which is really refreshing. He details "standard" museum practices of smuggling objects and even names names! And if he doesn't like someone, he doesn't hold that back either.

I found the book informative, lively, and mostly fascinating. I wanted more pictures (there are only a few and none are in color)!! It was a farily easy read too---I read it in a day.

If you enjoy art, art history, or even detective stories, you will enjoy this one!

Stefani Koorey, Ph.D. professor of humanites, theatre, and film

This book is thoroughly entertaining, and makes the reader completely suspicious as to if anything they have ever seen in a museum is actually authentic. Thomas Hoving draws on his countless hours of investigation to illuminate the reader as to the frequency of fakes. Although he has occasion to assume the reader knows more about art & history than can be normally expected, he does make you want to read more on the subject. My next purchase will be " Fake?". A good read that lacks enough illustrations as to the subjects being discussd, it is equally valuable for its bibliography and end notes if nothing else.

For as long as there has been art there has been fakery. This book shows that fakery is an art form. This book also shows art through out history, from ancient Greece to the Roman Empire, from the middle ages to early Victorian Age. The New York bestselling author, Tomas Hoving, was the Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, if you want to see the thought process of a ¡§fake buster¡¨ or the inner workings of the Met, this book is for you. I liked it because he told the stories of fakers and fake busters throughout history. This man shows that anyone, even the best can be taken by a truly masterful fake. It is such a good read open it to any page and you will get hooked. He also shows that even well-known Artists like Renoir and Monet were known to fake there own pieces just to keep food on the table. He even has a picture section that allows you to see for your self. He will take you step by step on how to uncover a fake. Also this book shows how to prevent from being suckered by giving real life examples of when Hoving has been taken in by the charade.

Okay, art fakes make for interesting reading. Hoving has had a lot of amusing experiences, and, if he tells with relish the stories of his superior acumen, he doesn't neglect those in which he has been the dupe.

But did no one edit this book? Hoving has terrible trouble with pronouns. There are paragraphs that simply aren't worth the effort it takes to figure out which "him" refers to which person.

It's not that the writing is erudite or obscure; it's merely un-edited. Even on the simplest level, a bronze "casket" becomes a bronze "basket" for a couple of paragraphs, then reverts to a casket again.

Let's have some editing here, guys!

I have a degree in Art History, and I still found this book horridly boring and, frankly, condescending in tone. Also the photos in the paperback version of the book are indistinct and lack explanation. Boo.

Art fakes and how to detect them - a fascinating subject. Hoving has all the credentials and experience, yet his book is disappointing. A gee-whiz journalistic style, plenty of chutzpah and bragging, some snide comments about colleagues and competitors, gossip here and there among the name-dropping. He wants you to think that even after the many forgeries which have been detected, there are many many more on the walls of museums and in the glass cases of art dealers. And the experts are the real sleuths, not such things as X-ray (and other) analytic techniques.
It has a lot of information but is ultimately a superficial book. Not once does Hoving discuss the thorny and fascinating questions, such as - when paintings A and B are quite indistinguishable, what happens when it is conclusively shown that B is a fake- to you, to the painting's significance, to its "value" (financial or otherwise) - and why.

This cat definately knows the ins and outs of the art world. If for no other reason, this book is worth the money.