The Forger's Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century [Hardcover]

Edward Dolnick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 24, 2008

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.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Bookmarks Magazine

“‘Idiots!’ he yelled. ‘You think I sold a Vermeer to that fat Goering. But it’s not a Vermeer. I painted it myself!”’ With lines like that, it’s clear Dolnick has found the nonfiction equivalent of a Vermeer, buried under other (and more hackneyed) tales of World War II. Critics had nothing but praise for this book, noting that Van Meegeren raised a number of questions about the value of art, especially when the same art critics who had clasped the fake Vermeers to their chests later mocked them as obvious, ugly fakes. At a time when art museums are taking in record crowds, The Forger’s Spell will undoubtedly cause many a viewer to squint a bit closer at the “masterpiece” hanging on the wall.
Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

From Booklist

How we love stories of audacious con artists, and doesn’t Dolnick love to tell the tales. His art-theft chronicle, The Rescue Artist (2005), won an Edgar Award, and now he vividly portrays a staggeringly successful Dutch art forger. Han van Meegeren was a “dreadful” painter, and yet he managed to fake Vermeer, the most sublime of artists. Between 1938 and 1945, when Van Meegeren was caught, his Christ at Emmaus was “the most famous and the most admired Vermeer in the world.” Van Meegeren’s “Vermeers” are actually hideous and trite, yet this dapper, cunning, and patient man bamboozled top critics and museum directors and swindled the world’s most monstrous collector, the Nazi Hermann Göring. How to explain this mass delusion, the “forger’s spell”? Dolnick covers it all, from Van Meegeren’s technical brilliance to his shrewd choice of subject matter to his extraordinary manipulation of egos and perceptions. Dolnick’s zesty, incisive, and entertaining inquiry illuminates the hidden dimensions and explicates the far-reaching implications of this fascinating and provocative collision of art and ambition, deception and war. --Donna Seaman

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Harper; 1St Edition edition (June 24, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060825413
• ISBN-13: 978-0060825416
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #661,713 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Edward Dolnick is the author of Down the Great Unknown and the Edgar Award-winning The Rescue Artist. A former chief science writer at the Boston Globe, he has written for The Atlantic Monthly, the New York Times Magazine, and many other publications. He lives with his wife near Washington, D.C.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as the Rescue Artist, July 9, 2008

By 

Patsy (Freeport, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Forger's Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century (Hardcover)

When I saw this book mentioned in the New York Times, I went out and bought a copy because I had really enjoyed Edward Dolnick's previous book, The Rescue Artist. I wasn't anywhere near as impressed with The Forger's Spell. What made The Rescue Artist so good was the way Dolnick described the detective Charlie Hill on the hunt for a stolen painting. Hill was a really great, quirky character that Dolnick made come to life on the page. In The Forger's Spell, there's no character like that. The forger, Hans Van Meegeren, is interesting for what he was able to do - sell a forged Vermeer to Hermann Goering - but you never get much sense of who he was. Dolnick presents Van Meegeren as a greedy, second-rate painter who managed to fool a bunch of art experts and rich people because they were stupid and easy marks. It's not so compelling, and there's way too much padding here - a lot of chapters that don't advance the plot, and are pretty easy to skip. I would recommend buying Tom Hoving's book, False Impressions, which is a really good book about forgery. The Forger's Spell is nowhere near as good or interesting

33 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars interesting story, disappointing book, July 3, 2008

By 

Amy Smith - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Forger's Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century (Hardcover)

I am a fan of Edward Dolnick's book The Rescue Artist, but I have to say that I was disappointed in The Forger's Spell. I bought it as soon as it came out because I was interested in the story of Han Van Meegeren. Van Meegeren was a fascinating crook who figured out how to fool people into seeing what they wanted to see. But I had already read Van Meegeren's story in John Kilbracken's book The Master Forger and, unfortunately, I didn't learn anything new in Dolnick's book. Anyone interested in Van Meegeren should look at Kilbracken's book, which does a better job of bringing the story to life. I wouldn't recommend The Forger's Spell.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Put it On Your Paperback List for Summer 09, August 1, 2008

By 

J. A. Walsh (Boston, MA, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Forger's Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century (Hardcover)

Dolnick has a good story with a lot of hooks: big money, Vermeer, Nazi intrigue, etc. And, I think he delivers with an interesting core story and a lot of good side notes on Nazi personalities, art forgery and art history -- especially of the Dutch school in the 17th cent.

But, where his more frenetic style payed dividends in "The Rescue Artist," I think it takes something away from this subject. The book is composed of dozens of very short chapters and bounces around -- sometimes without real solid continuity.

Which is why I recommend the paperback. If you're looking for something to read in short bursts on the train or at the beach, this book is very manageable, tells a good story and brings you out of the Evanovich-level mass market fiction zone.