Customer Reviews

I Was Vermeer: The Rise and Fall of the Twentieth Century's Greatest Forger

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In 1938 in Rotterdam there was a museum exhibition of masterpieces headlined by _The Supper at Emmaus_, a recently discovered painting by Jan Vermeer who had died over two hundred years before. It was being hailed as the masterwork of the famous artist, and the exhibit was a sensation. One man returned to view the painting repeatedly, day after day, standing before it and insisting he was not one of the awestruck viewers reverentially taking it in: "I can't believe they paid half a million guilders for this," he would declare. "It's obviously a fake." The other viewers, if they replied, would attempt to contradict him, but he could not be swayed. He was right, though, and he knew he was right, because he himself had painted the picture. _I Was Vermeer: The Rise and Fall of the Twentieth Century's Greatest Forger_ (Bloomsbury) by journalist Frank Wynne tells the astonishing story of Han van Meegeren, a complicated saga of art forgery that came to light merely because van Meegeren had to confess to the forgeries to avoid being convicted of collusion with the Nazis. Even then, some didn't believe his confession.

Van Meegeren was an artist outside of his time. "Peering into Han's studio," Wynne writes, "it was as though a century of artistic revolution never happened." He could not make his realistic paintings pay. He was angry at the critics, and he was broke, and he determined he would do something about both. He would make a name for himself by painting pictures that would be praised as lost masterpieces of famous past artists, and eventually he would let the world know how he had fooled the so-called experts. Han determined that he would paint a Vermeer, and in order to be sure that his forgery was accepted, he set technical demands for himself. Van Meegeren practiced different techniques in experimentation before beginning his masterwork, _The Supper at Emmaus_, on which he worked for six months after years of planning and research. He had picked the subject of the painting with as much care as he had his materials, so that it fit into a void in Vermeer's career that critics were happy to see filled. He made up a story about the painting's provenance, and got a stooge to present it to one of the top critics of the day, who was flabbergasted to see such a magnificent Vermeer, and announced it as such to the world. Van Meegeren went on to sell a Vermeer to Hermann Göring, for more than a million guilders and the return of hundreds of genuine old Dutch masters which the Nazis had looted. After the war, van Meegeren was arrested not for forgery, but for treason in dealing with the enemy. He was six weeks in custody before he accepted that there was only one way to clear himself, by admitting that he had sold no Vermeer but that he himself was the painter of Göring's canvas, as well as many others. When authorities didn't believe him, he was given a chance to paint a new Vermeer while in custody, and there was agreement that he had, indeed, turned out a Vermeer to rank with his others, but even so, not all the art critics consented, some complaining he was using a ruse in order to get out of the treason charges.

Van Meegeren was vindicated, in a way. He became known as "The Man who Swindled Göring", and bragged of his patriotism in bringing back the looted paintings the Nazis had stolen. He was convicted of minor fraud charges, but died in 1947 before serving any of his one year sentence. His lawyers had argued that there was no fraud; Van Meegeren had never said he was offering a real Vermeer, but the experts declared them to be real, so where was the fraud? The judge in the trial summed up, "The art world is reeling and experts are beginning to doubt the very basis of artistic attribution. This was precisely what the defendant was trying to achieve." This perceptive book can't make van Meegeren into any sort of hero, but instead he emerges a complicated con-artist with at least some goals that were not mercenary. The extent of his achievements and how much work they entailed are well documented, but the main fun of the book is enjoying, rather like co-conspirators of the forger himself, the readiness of smart and urbane authorities of the art world to be hoodwinked.

I am a huge Vermeer fan and already knew quite a bit about Van Meegeren before reading this. I agree with the reviewer who says that the author invents conversations or claims to know what Van Meegeren thought on a specific occasion, which is impossible -- but I think much of the book is based on fact, and it's a fabulous read. As far as I know, there are not many other places where Van M's works are reproduced in color, either - and I like it that the book includes appendices listing the whereabouts of all extant works by Vermeer and Van M.

The life of the scheming fraudster is by its very nature more interesting than that of the natural genius. Everyone loves an underdog, and Han van Meegeren was that most unusual of underdogs: a winner.

Wynne's book, described last weekend by [English Newspaper] The Observer as 'gripping and psychologically fascinating', seeks to do more than simply recount this most interesting of stories. It gets inside van Meegeren's head, and in doing so sheds new light on one of the most intriguing characters the art world has ever seen.

This is just a fascinating story, brilliantly told. Very highly recommended.

This book gives a graphic represenation of the false values people place on the value of "art." A painting thought to be a Vermeer is highly valued until it is discovered that it is a forgery. Do we value the art or the created super-star aspect of the false values created by so called experts of taste. Is a painting more valuable because someone signs his or her name? In this case Goering acquires a Vermeer which is to be the superstar of his collection to rival Hitler and his collection. Most of these paintings are stolen from Jews and conquered museums, another book THE RAPE OF EUROPA also should be read. It is an adventure story of greed and corruption and the depravity of man under the guise of created tastes and the frality of man. It reemphasizes the importance of creating your own taste and value system while observing the actions of the trend setters of society. It also demonstrates the importance of ART to society..

Usually when I find a book with as many factual and editorial errors as this one, I stop reading. However, the subject matter was interesting enough to keep me going until the end.

Clearly the book lacked a competent editor. Unwarranted and sloppy shift changes within a single sentence or paragraph weren't uncommon. Compound words broken in two also were a common occurrence. I know that there are British conventions (such as the closed quotation mark with punctuation outside, or the usage of a single one where we Yanks would use doubles) but the text therein exhibited poor usage in any form. Picture names were also spotty--the cover art, "Woman Reading a Letter," became "A Woman Reading Music" on the inside color plate section (and later, "A Young Woman Reading"). Finally, there was reference to a class offered at "Huntingdon University, Pennsylvania." There is no such place; there is a Juniata College in Huntingdon, PA, and a Huntingdon College in Alabama.

For a journalist who has written for the esteemed publications claimed on the jacket (Sunday Times, Independent, Irish Times), I'd expect him to have paid a lot more attention to such details. However, as the story is so compelling, I have to give it two and a half stars--a pity, as better attention to detail would have earned it double that in my review.

This is a very interesting and well-written account of the "great" (if that word can be applied to a crook!) art forger Han van Meegeren, who during and before WWII made himself about $100,000,000 (in today's money) by painting and selling fake paintings by Vermeer and other Dutch Masters. The story is well-known in art history circles, but author Frank Wynne has made it accessible and entertaining to the general reader, and has brought it up to date as of 2004, with the famous (or infamous) Sotheby's sale, for $30,000,000, of a questionable Vermeer.

Even people who don't know a Vermeer from a Picasso are likely to be captivated by this story of high finance and low cunning. Hans van Meegeren was such an audacious rogue (artist, forger, con man, ladies' man, alcoholic) that he seems almost larger than life, especially in Wynne's witty and pointed retelling.

The book's appendices include a useful bibliography, list of websites, and summary of the present locations and status of Vermeer paintings and forgeries.

An artist friend suggested this title to me. Not being an artist, nor well-educated in art history, I began to read it only on the strength of his recommendation.

I was pleasantly surprised to find I Was Vermeer both interesting and educational. I was fascinated by Van Meegeren's methods and the politics of the art world. I'm intrigued by the fact that his forgeries still hang in prominent museums attributed to him. How ironic that his talent should be acknowledged after the fact (and fiction).

I've recommended I Was Vermeer to several of my friends.

I enjoyed reading the book. Gave me a better understanding of forgery and the art world. If you are interested in knowing more about Vermeer, this is not the book for you.

Van Meegeren succeeded to paint exactly as Vermeer by not only using the precise Vermeer techniques but by moving himself into the 17th century Dutch painter's mindset. As the title indicates, Han van Meegeren became in several aspects Vermeer. This excellent book reveals how difficult it is to judge authenticity of paintings. It took the professional art world by complete surprise that a large number of authenticated artworks are Van Meegeren forgeries. And very likely among what hangs in museums and galleries today as masterpieces could be nothing more than fraudulent imitations passed on as if they were the real thing.
This then raises the question why an authentic product is worth millions while a forgery - even one that is virtually impossible to distinguish from the real article is hardly worth the frame it was sold in.

I found this book delightful and fascinating. Van Meegeren was not only a great artist in his own right but he could do it like Vermeer. And he was so meticulous. This was not someone who slapped paint on a canvas or forged a signature. Van Meegeren was a researcher, a scientist, who did everything right. I enjoyed reading the details of how he replicated the materials and techniques of Vermeer.

The greedy motivation of agents and curators came as a revelation to me. Yes, they are all wanting desperately to believe. The book has become my motivation for more reading about forgeries and art fraud. I've read False Impressions, Fakes and Forgeries: The True Crime Stories of History's Greatest Deceptions: The Criminals, the Scams, and the Victims, and several more. If you enjoy this, try Orson Wells old documentary F is for Fake.

I'm including some of this skullduggery in my own writing.

Fairlee Winfield