In The Scientist and the Forger: Probing a Turbulent Art World the author draws upon an enthralling range of case studies, from Botticelli to Leonardo, Campendonk to Pollock and Chagall to Freud, equipping the reader with a holistic understanding of an art world shaped by fast-moving trends, and increasingly permeated by science. We are taken on a gripping journey, becoming witness to the attempts currently being made to safeguard a partly complicit art market virtually under siege.How can we determine whether it was Leonardo's hand that created Salvator Mundi? How can we prove that a suspected Pollock is a forgery? And how can Man in a Black Cravat be seemingly incontrovertibly attributed to Lucian Freud, despite this artist's adamant refusal to recognize it as one of his own? This book reveals how art historians and scientists collaborate conclusively to authenticate paintings or demonstrate that they are forgeries, and as the enigma of La Bella Principessa continues to baffle, the question remains: do we have enough reason to hope that we shall one day know her true story? Building on the first edition, a more in depth look is taken at some of the greatest scandals to date — with an interpretation of the psychological behavior of Ann Freedman the former president and director of the Knoedler Gallery.

Don't miss B. A. Shapiro's new novel, The Collector's Apprentice, available now! “[A] highly entertaining literary thriller about fine art and foolish choices.” —Parade “[A] nimble mystery.” —The New York Times Book Review “Gripping.” —O, The Oprah Magazine Almost twenty-five years after the infamous art heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum—still the largest unsolved art theft in history—one of the stolen Degas paintings is delivered to the Boston studio of a young artist. Claire Roth has entered into a Faustian bargain with a powerful gallery owner by agreeing to forge the Degas in exchange for a one-woman show in his renowned gallery. But as she begins her work, she starts to suspect that this long-missing masterpiece—the very one that had been hanging at the Gardner for one hundred years—may itself be a forgery. The Art Forger is a thrilling novel about seeing—and not seeing—the secrets that lie beneath the canvas.

The goal of this unique manual is to arm criminal investigators with tools and weapons that are suitable and effective against art theft and forgery. The author, with over 25 years' experience in the art theft investigation field, presents comprehensive techniques, tips, and ideas to help dimish the level of frustration experienced by criminal investigators required to handle the growing number and magnitude of art crimes. The structure of the manual is simple and direct. The first part guides the reader in the use of the text and introduces the art world environment. The second part discusses the investigator's interaction with the victim, including interviewing, crime scene investigation, and identifying and developing suspects. Part three deals with offenders and covers such topics as art theft methods, forgery techniques, methods of distribution, and investigative countermeasures. The final section presents a comprehensive review of solutions and recoveries, including chapters on legal weapons, insurance and rewards, the use of experts, universal and variable contact group classifications, object bulletins, art criminal photo albums, informant development, undercover methods, unidentified victims, and recovery and seizure of stolen or fake art. In addition, the book is complemented by an extensive glossary and bibliographic resources. This exceptionally unique manual is intended to function at an intensely practical level and is intended for both study and immediate reference.

"[P]rovides a treasure trove of information that will engage readers intrigued by but new to the subject of art forgery as well as those with an art or art history background." Booklist, Starred Review Forgery is a provocative presence in the art world that captures attention in the press and inspires books about the exploits of famous fraudsters as well as scholarly articles and monographs. But missing until now has been a big-picture look at the phenomenon of art forgery. The Many Faces of Art Forgery provides a uniquetreatment that features historical highlights, philosophical insights, psychological profiles, economic theories, and legal statutes and cases. Key features include: The story of art forgery from antiquity to the present, including 80 named forgers, the tricks of their trade, and the social forces that ensure the existence of their enterprise. How scientific analysis is both effective and limited in exposing art fakes. Multiple definitions for the term “forgery” as applied to art. The effect on authenticity in legal terms, philosophical terms, and public opinion when an artwork undergoes extensive restoration, or artists hire surrogates to make their works, or they appropriate images from otherartists or styles from indigenous cultures. Forgers’ mentalities: their motivations, rationalizations, and strategies. The ethics of art forgery: from criminality to esteem for fooling experts. The possibility and aesthetic worth of a “perfect fake.” In all, readers will understand the substantial place forgery occupies in the realm of art, as well as that what constitutes authentic versus inauthentic is not always clear-cut, nor are legal and moral judgments about forgery. In conveying this message, the author provides a wealth of information in an accessible and engaging style suitable for experts and general readers alike.

With the recent advent of technologies that make detecting art forgeries easier, the art world has become increasingly obsessed with verifying and ensuring artistic authenticity. In this unique history, Thierry Lenain examines the genealogy of faking and interrogates the anxious, often neurotic, reactions triggered in the modern art world by these clever frauds. Lenain begins his history in the Middle Ages, when the issue of false relics and miracles often arose. But during this time, if a relic gave rise to a cult, it would be considered as genuine even if it obviously had been forged. In the Renaissance, forgery was initially hailed as a true artistic feat. Even Michelangelo, the most revered artist of the time, copied drawings by other masters, many of which were lent to him by unsuspecting collectors. Michelangelo would keep the originals himself and return the copies in their place. As Lenain shows, authenticity, as we think of it, is a purely modern concept. And the recent innovations in scientific attribution, archaeology, graphology, medical science, and criminology have all contributed to making forgery more detectable—and thus more compelling and essential to detect. He also analyzes the work of master forgers like Eric Hebborn, Thomas Keating, and Han van Meegeren in order to describe how pieces baffled the art world. Ultimately, Lenain argues that the science of accurately deciphering an individual artist’s unique characteristics has reached a level of forensic sophistication matched only by the forger’s skill and the art world’s paranoia.

Publisher Description

'The scientific techniques described encompass relevant examples of forgery detection and of authentication. The book deals, to name a few, with the Chagall, the Jackson Pollock and the Beltracchi affairs and discusses the Isleworth Mona Lisa as well as La Bella Principessa both thought to be a Leonardo creation. The authentication, amongst others, of two van Gogh paintings, of Vermeer's St Praxedis, of Leonardo's Lady with an Ermine and of Rembrandt's Old Man with a Beard are also described.'Over the last few decades there has been a disconcerting increase in the number of forged paintings. In retaliation, there has been a rise in the use, efficiency and ability of scientific techniques to detect these forgeries. The scientist has waged war on the forger.The Scientist and the Forger describes the cutting-edge and traditional weapons in this battle, showing how they have been applied to the most notorious cases. The book also provides fresh insights into the psychology of both the viewer and the forger, shedding light on why the discovery that a work of art is a forgery makes us view it so differently and providing a gripping analysis of the myriad motivations behind the most egregious incursions into deception.The book concludes by discussing the pressing problems faced by the art world today, stressing the importance of using appropriate tools for a valid verdict on authenticity. Written in an approachable and amenable style, the book will make fascinating reading for non-specialists, art historians, curators and scientists alike.

When Art Mimics Life, Somebody’s Going to Get What’s Coming to Them Henry Lindon's flight across the north Atlantic was turbulent and sleepless. His plane has just touched down in Amsterdam, where he’s come to work as a visiting professor. Lindon is torn about leaving his troubled wife, Marylou, behind in Dallas, but relieved and excited to start a new chapter in a lively city. The taxi drops him off at an elegant building at Roetersstraat 8-1, where he’s greeted by his university liaison and soon-to-be neighbor, the lovely and spunky art professor, Bernadette Gordon. After settling into his apartment, Lindon changes clothes and sets out to explore canals and cafés, wondering what the dinner invitation from Bernadette means for his fresh start. But troubles from the past soon cross the Atlantic. Lindon discovers that notorious Dutch art forger Han van Meegeren, born in 1899, is about to play a part in Lindon’s own personal drama. With evil closing in, Lindon, Bernadette, and Marylou find that secrets of the art world may hold the key to settling old scores and putting a predator away for good. Whether you are familiar with the world of Henry Lindon from author Clay Small’s first book, Heels Over Head, or this is your introduction to his works, you’re in for an exciting and unusual international adventure with characters that will live on in your memory long after you’ve finished the book.

Published in 1999, this work offers a balanced interdisciplinary account of literary and criminal forgery as they were practised, constructed and theorized in the 18th century as a corollary of the new documents of the financial revolution: banknotes, bills of exchange and promissory notes. The book surveys the crime and its mythology, placing well-known cases such as that of Dr. William Dodd within the pattern of 400 prosecutions from the period 1715-1780. In parallel, accounts of some major instances of literary forgery are rooted in a more pervasive culture in which "forgery" was discovered in many developing areas of literary practice: scholarly editing, historiography and antiquarianism. One surprising aspect of this study is the extent to which literary figures were involved in matters of criminal as well as literary forgery. It is suggested that the two kinds of forgery have unexpected connections with each other through the economy of literature which, following the development of copyright, regarded the signature of authorship as the legal site of literary authenticity, and through the economic and legal culture of forgery prosecutions, in which bogus "writing" came to signify a whole range of problems of personal and literary character. The study is based on a very large body of diverse material, from major texts such as "The Dunciad" and "Lives of the English Poets" to hundreds of minor poems, controversial pamphlets, criminal biographies, newspapers, legal records and manuscripts.