内容简介
It's a story that made Dutch painter Han van Meegeren famousworldwide when it broke at the end of World War II: A lifetime ofdisappointment drove him to forge Vermeers, one of which he sold toHermann Goering, making a mockery of the Nazis. And it's a storythat's been believed ever since. Too bad it isn't true. JonathanLopez has drawn on never-before-seen documents from dozens ofarchives to write a revelatory new biography of the world's mostfamous forger. Neither unappreciated artist nor antifascist hero,Van Meegeren emerges as an ingenious, dyed-in-the-wool crook whoplied the forger's trade far longer than he ever admitted--atalented Mr. Ripley armed with a paintbrush Lopez also explores anetwork of illicit commerce that operated across Europe: Not onlywas Van Meegeren a key player in that high-stakes game in the 1920sand '30s, landing fakes with powerful dealers and famous collectorssuch as Andrew Mellon, but he and his associates later offered acase study in wartime opportunism as they cashed in on the Nazioccupation. The Man Who Made Vermeers is a long-overdueunvarnishing of Van Meegeren's legend and a deliciously detailedstory of deceit in the art world.