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

Synopsis

In 1945, a small-time Dutch art dealer was arrested for selling a priceless national treasure--a painting by Vermeer--to the Nazi commander Hermann Göring. The charge was treason; the only possible sentence, death. And yet Han van Meegeren languished in his dank prison cell, incapable of uttering the four simple words that would set him free: "I am a forger." I Was Vermeer is the outrageous true story of one of the greatest art forgers of all time. From his early childhood, Han had dreamed of being an artist, but in the electrifying world of modern art, critics ridiculed his art as hopelessly old-fashioned. Furious and embittered, he turned to forgery--and became a secret superstar of the art world. In his heyday as a forger, he earned the equivalent of fifty million dollars and the acclaim of the world's press, and saw his paintings hung alongside those of Rembrandt and Vermeer. The acceptance of his work was so complete that when he finally confessed, no one believed him--until, in a huge media event, the courts staged the public painting of what would be van Meegeren's last "Vermeer." Frank Wynne's gripping book exposes the life and techniques of the consummate forger, the fascinating work of the experts who try to track down the fakes, and the collusion and ego in the art establishment that, even today, allow forgery to thrive. Wry, surprising, and with the drive of a thriller, it is the first major book in forty years on this extraordinary episode in history. A real page-turner! FRANK WYNNE is a journalist and literary translator. He was awarded the 2002 IMPAC Prize for his translation of Michel Houellebecq's The Elementary Particles, and the 2005 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize for his translation of Frédéric Beigbeder's Windows on the World. He has also translated the work of Pierre Mérot, Philippe Besson, and Ahmadou Kourouma. He has written for the Sunday Times, the Independent, the Irish Times, Melody Maker, and Time Out. Born in Ireland, he is currently based in London.

Copyright:

2006

Book Details

Book Quality:

Excellent

Book Size:

286 Pages

ISBN-13:

9781582345932

Publisher:

Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Date of Addition:

08/04/21

Copyrighted By:

Frank Wynne

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

History, Nonfiction, Art and Architecture, Biographies and Memoirs, Psychology

Submitted By:

Terry Gorman

Proofread By:

Terry Gorman

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.