Jonathan Lopez

This was an excellent book, well written, intriguing, and interesting in a lot of different ways and not just because of the forgery business. Lopez also covers war time collaboration, why forgeries work (when you look at the forged Vermeers now, it seems impossible that anyone could have taken them for genuine paintings by Vermeer, and yet at the time, the greatest experts were fooled) that has to do with people looking at art to some degree through the filter of their own times, and also the ability (or disability) of seeing what you want to see. The book is about much more than just the man van Meegeren and the forged paintings.… (mere)

Hmmm. This turned out to be a very interesting book, especially about the immediate post-war period in Europe. My quibble is that there are many characters who appear only very briefly and various organizations (in Dutch- not my language) which are piled on in the setting of the stage at the beginning of the book that the details overwhelm the purpose. As the story progresses, it gets more interesting and more compelling. Maybe it did not have to be told in strict chronological order. Overall, it is certainly worthwhile for both the forgery aspects and the historical aspects. I would have liked to know much more about the young Dutch grad student who uncovered the true story- the one which turned van Meegeren from forger/hero to forger/Nazi sympathizer through her diligent research. In all fairness, Lopez does give her credit, but I wanted more information.… (mere)