| Edition |
First edition. |
| Description |
xii, 349 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages [295]-330) and index. |
| Contents |
OCCUPIED HOLLAND. A knock on the door -- Looted art -- The outbreak of war -- Quasimodo -- The end of forgery? -- Forgery 101 -- Occupied Holland -- The war against the Jews -- The forger's challenge -- Bargaining with vultures -- Van Meegeren's tears -- HERMANN GOERING AND JOHANNES VERMEER. Hermann Goering -- Adolf Hitler -- Chasing Vermeer -- Goering's art collection -- Insights from a forger -- The amiable psychopath -- Goering's prize -- Vermeer -- Johannes Vermeer, superstar -- A ghost's fingerprints -- THE SELLING OF CHRIST AT EMMAUS. Two forged Vermeers -- The expert's eye -- A forger's lessons -- Bredius -- "Without any doubt!" -- The uncanny valley -- Betting the farm -- Lady and Gentleman at the Harpsichord -- Dirk Hannema -- The choice -- The Caravaggio connection -- In the forger's studio -- Christ at Emmaus -- Underground tremors -- The summer of 1937 -- The lamb at the bank -- "Every inch a Vermeer" -- Two weeks and counting -- Too late! -- The last hurdle -- The unveiling -- ANATOMY OF A HOAX. Scandal in the archives -- All in the timing -- Believing is seeing -- The men who knew too much -- Blue Monday -- He who hesitates -- The great changeover -- THE CHASE. The secret in the salt mine -- The dentist's tale -- Goering on the run -- The nest egg -- Trapped! -- "I painted it myself!" -- Command performance -- The evidence piles up -- The trial -- The players make their exits. |
| Summary |
As riveting as a World War II thriller, The Forger's Spell is the true story of Johannes Vermeer and the small-time Dutch painter, Han van Meegeren, who dared to impersonate Vermeer centuries later. The con man's mark was Hermann Goering, one of the most reviled leaders of Nazi Germany and a fanatic collector of art. |
| Subject |
Meegeren, Han van, 1889-1947.
|
|
Vermeer, Johannes, 1632-1675 -- Forgeries.
|
|
Art treasures in war -- Netherlands -- History -- 20th century.
|
|
World War, 1939-1945 -- Art and the war.
|
| ISBN |
9780060825416 hardcover |
|
0060825413 hardcover |
|
