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The Art Forger
A Barbara A. Shapiro tour de force.
On March 18, 1990, thirteen works of art worth today over $500 million were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. It remains the largest unsolved art heist in history, and Claire Roth, a struggling young artist, is about to discover that there’s more to this crime than meets the eye.
Claire makes her living reproducing famous works of art for a popular online retailer. Desperate to improve her situation, she lets herself be lured into a Faustian bargain with Aiden Markel, a powerful gallery owner. She agrees to forge a painting—one of the Degas masterpieces stolen from the Gardner Museum—in exchange for a one-woman show in his renowned gallery. But when the long-missing Degas painting—the one that had been hanging for one hundred years at the Gardner—is delivered to Claire’s studio, she begins to suspect that it may itself be a forgery.
Claire’s search for the truth about the painting’s origins leads her into a labyrinth of deceit where secrets hidden since the late nineteenth century may be the only evidence that can now save her life. B. A. Shapiro’s razor-sharp writing and rich plot twists make The Art Forger an absorbing literary thriller that treats us to three centuries of forgers, art thieves, and obsessive collectors. it’s a dazzling novel about seeing—and not seeing—the secrets that lie beneath the canvas.
On March 18, 1990, thirteen works of art worth today over $500 million were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. It remains the largest unsolved art heist in history, and Claire Roth, a struggling young artist, is about to discover that there’s more to this crime than meets the eye.
Claire makes her living reproducing famous works of art for a popular online retailer. Desperate to improve her situation, she lets herself be lured into a Faustian bargain with Aiden Markel, a powerful gallery owner. She agrees to forge a painting—one of the Degas masterpieces stolen from the Gardner Museum—in exchange for a one-woman show in his renowned gallery. But when the long-missing Degas painting—the one that had been hanging for one hundred years at the Gardner—is delivered to Claire’s studio, she begins to suspect that it may itself be a forgery.
Claire’s search for the truth about the painting’s origins leads her into a labyrinth of deceit where secrets hidden since the late nineteenth century may be the only evidence that can now save her life. B. A. Shapiro’s razor-sharp writing and rich plot twists make The Art Forger an absorbing literary thriller that treats us to three centuries of forgers, art thieves, and obsessive collectors. it’s a dazzling novel about seeing—and not seeing—the secrets that lie beneath the canvas.
355 pages, Hardcover
First published October 23, 2012
About the author
Barbara A. Shapiro
10 books216 followersAKA B.A. Shapiro and Barbara Shapiro.
I am the author of six novels (The Art Forger, The Safe Room, Blind Spot, See No Evil, Blameless and Shattered Echoes), four screenplays (Blind Spot, The Lost Coven, Borderline and Shattered Echoes) and the non-fiction book, The Big Squeeze. In my previous career incarnations, I have directed research projects for a residential substance abuse facility, worked as a systems analyst/statistician, headed the Boston office of a software development firm, and served as an adjunct professor teaching sociology at Tufts University and creative writing at Northeastern University. I like being a novelist the best.
I began my writing career when I quit my high-pressure job after the birth of my second child. Nervous about what to do next, I said to my mother, "If I'm not playing at being superwoman anymore, I don't know who I am." My mother answered with the question: "If you had one year to live, how would you want to spend it?" The answer: write a novel and spend more time with my children. And that's exactly what I did. Smart mother.
After writing six novels and raising my children, I now live in Boston with my husband Dan and my dog Sagan. And yes, I'm working on yet another novel but have no plans to raise any more children.
I am the author of six novels (The Art Forger, The Safe Room, Blind Spot, See No Evil, Blameless and Shattered Echoes), four screenplays (Blind Spot, The Lost Coven, Borderline and Shattered Echoes) and the non-fiction book, The Big Squeeze. In my previous career incarnations, I have directed research projects for a residential substance abuse facility, worked as a systems analyst/statistician, headed the Boston office of a software development firm, and served as an adjunct professor teaching sociology at Tufts University and creative writing at Northeastern University. I like being a novelist the best.
I began my writing career when I quit my high-pressure job after the birth of my second child. Nervous about what to do next, I said to my mother, "If I'm not playing at being superwoman anymore, I don't know who I am." My mother answered with the question: "If you had one year to live, how would you want to spend it?" The answer: write a novel and spend more time with my children. And that's exactly what I did. Smart mother.
After writing six novels and raising my children, I now live in Boston with my husband Dan and my dog Sagan. And yes, I'm working on yet another novel but have no plans to raise any more children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 7,150 reviews
November 19, 2012
I'll make a confession right off the bat: I didn't give The Art Forger 4 stars because I was blown away by the prose, scene, setting, or characterization. Had those been up to snuff I'd have given it an easy 5. There are some flat characters, relies somewhat on stereo typical thinking about artists and their studios, it sports some letters written by someone else in stand alone chapters which jar a bit with the first person view point (one would assume our heroine would have no knowledge of these letters and so these chapters intrude, come across as the author stepping into the novel herself to ensure our understanding).
B.A. Shapiro's debut novel asks one simple question: "what would any of us be willing to do to secure our ambitions?" The setting for the novel is the modern day art world where artists, critics, curators, galleries, gallery owners, and yes, forgers collaborate to create one of the most lucrative enterprises in the world. I mean, really! Today most of us don't bat an eye when we think of sport franchises and multiple million dollar annual salaries being handed out for working six months out of a year. But when one single painting goes for millions of dollars just because it survived time and was painted by a certain individual a slight eye brow is raised and as we lean closer to what appears to be a group of nubile and plump (I won't say fat!)bathers hanging out together we do wonder what the big deal is with this artist (as opposed to the plethora of current day painters). We know something's different, something photographs can't capture, something in the glow of the skin, something about the essence of the thing. But, millions of dollars? Give me a break, right? And what if you're a painter yourself and say: "Hell, I can do that." You proceed to paint it and yet do not secure your ambitions...or do you?
I am a painter myself. The very first time I knew I wanted to paint as a life's ambition was when, as a boy, I viewed the work of Maxfield Parrish, the 20th century american illustrator and fine artist. It rocked my world. The painting seemed to be lighted from the inside. Light didn't fall on it, it streamed from it. Have you ever viewed a kodachrome slide? Held it up to the light and felt the delicious wash of saturation, of color as you viewed it? That's what a Maxfield Parrish painting does. It was a view of the world, but a better one. In my twenties I spent years perfecting the Parrish technique (which harkens back to Bellini and later artist such as Degas) and to this day the paintings glow in my home, though, I don't paint in this manner anymore due to the incredible amount of time it takes in between glazings.
So, imagine picking up what you hope is a decent mystery surrounding the art world and discovering further clues on the very techniques I've attempted to master and discovering a solution to a gnarly problem that has long escaped me (Why isn't there a writer who exclusively authors mysteries taking place in the art world, as for example Francis does with horses and Dunning does with books?).
One of the things I love about this book is its verisimilitude. Shapiro is absolutely correct in communicating factual techniques, but also communicates very accurately the immense satisfaction that comes from painting in this style: techniques discovered in the 14th century, techniques for which most artists today do not have the patience. I know it, because I've done it myself. That she clued me in on a Dutch compatriot, on how to get around the drying time in between glazings will result in my picking up this style again, in my later years. So this book educates, displays a true compassion for the work while it entertains as is the case in the aforementioned works of Francis and Dunning.
The other thing that I love is Shapiro's plot: the whole concept of mysteries surrounding works of art. There are so many things we do not yet understand historically about the lives of various artists; so many paintings still missing after being plundered through war and outright theft. I mean, if a painting can be worth millions than it goes to follow that some would kill for it. Isn't that what drives most mystery/detectives? I mean: it's like walking into a second-hand bookstore with nothing but pristine, signed first editions, jacket flaps in impeccable order, on sale for $1. Right? Though no one is murdered in this one, Shapiro has given us an excellent Who-Dun-It, one that will surely spark your interest in the art world, in art, in what makes a painting beautiful, in the ambition that drives artists to do what they do, as well as what destroys them.
As I said: this book is about ambition.
B.A. Shapiro's debut novel asks one simple question: "what would any of us be willing to do to secure our ambitions?" The setting for the novel is the modern day art world where artists, critics, curators, galleries, gallery owners, and yes, forgers collaborate to create one of the most lucrative enterprises in the world. I mean, really! Today most of us don't bat an eye when we think of sport franchises and multiple million dollar annual salaries being handed out for working six months out of a year. But when one single painting goes for millions of dollars just because it survived time and was painted by a certain individual a slight eye brow is raised and as we lean closer to what appears to be a group of nubile and plump (I won't say fat!)bathers hanging out together we do wonder what the big deal is with this artist (as opposed to the plethora of current day painters). We know something's different, something photographs can't capture, something in the glow of the skin, something about the essence of the thing. But, millions of dollars? Give me a break, right? And what if you're a painter yourself and say: "Hell, I can do that." You proceed to paint it and yet do not secure your ambitions...or do you?
I am a painter myself. The very first time I knew I wanted to paint as a life's ambition was when, as a boy, I viewed the work of Maxfield Parrish, the 20th century american illustrator and fine artist. It rocked my world. The painting seemed to be lighted from the inside. Light didn't fall on it, it streamed from it. Have you ever viewed a kodachrome slide? Held it up to the light and felt the delicious wash of saturation, of color as you viewed it? That's what a Maxfield Parrish painting does. It was a view of the world, but a better one. In my twenties I spent years perfecting the Parrish technique (which harkens back to Bellini and later artist such as Degas) and to this day the paintings glow in my home, though, I don't paint in this manner anymore due to the incredible amount of time it takes in between glazings.
So, imagine picking up what you hope is a decent mystery surrounding the art world and discovering further clues on the very techniques I've attempted to master and discovering a solution to a gnarly problem that has long escaped me (Why isn't there a writer who exclusively authors mysteries taking place in the art world, as for example Francis does with horses and Dunning does with books?).
One of the things I love about this book is its verisimilitude. Shapiro is absolutely correct in communicating factual techniques, but also communicates very accurately the immense satisfaction that comes from painting in this style: techniques discovered in the 14th century, techniques for which most artists today do not have the patience. I know it, because I've done it myself. That she clued me in on a Dutch compatriot, on how to get around the drying time in between glazings will result in my picking up this style again, in my later years. So this book educates, displays a true compassion for the work while it entertains as is the case in the aforementioned works of Francis and Dunning.
The other thing that I love is Shapiro's plot: the whole concept of mysteries surrounding works of art. There are so many things we do not yet understand historically about the lives of various artists; so many paintings still missing after being plundered through war and outright theft. I mean, if a painting can be worth millions than it goes to follow that some would kill for it. Isn't that what drives most mystery/detectives? I mean: it's like walking into a second-hand bookstore with nothing but pristine, signed first editions, jacket flaps in impeccable order, on sale for $1. Right? Though no one is murdered in this one, Shapiro has given us an excellent Who-Dun-It, one that will surely spark your interest in the art world, in art, in what makes a painting beautiful, in the ambition that drives artists to do what they do, as well as what destroys them.
As I said: this book is about ambition.
June 30, 2019
My predominant emotion while reading this book was irritation and I became much more interested in why it was irritating me so much than I was in the novel itself. I suppose principally because I thought it was going to be much more literary – a novel that creates the feeling that the characters are generating the plot rather than a novel whose plot creates the characters.
I’ve just looked at other reviews of this book and nearly everyone praises the research. I think what they mean though is simply that she told the story of Han van Meegeren. I first came across his story on the excellent BBC series Fake or Fortune and it’s a fabulous intriguing story. He was a master forger who had an almost foolproof technique of copying old masters. He might never have been discovered had it not been for the war. When the Dutch government found out he had sold a Vermeer, a national treasure, to the Nazis he was tried for treason. Therefore he had to prove to the court that he himself painted the picture.
What the author gives us is a kind of chick lit version of Van Meegeren.
There’s a suggestion this novel asks the question, what are the moral implications of forgery in a world where everyone sees what they want to see? That’s a fascinating question. Unfortunately the novel never really addresses it. It’s too busy trying to sell its film rights. But if you want to read a serious, well-crafted novel about an art forger I’d recommend The Last Painting of Sara de Vos
I’ve just looked at other reviews of this book and nearly everyone praises the research. I think what they mean though is simply that she told the story of Han van Meegeren. I first came across his story on the excellent BBC series Fake or Fortune and it’s a fabulous intriguing story. He was a master forger who had an almost foolproof technique of copying old masters. He might never have been discovered had it not been for the war. When the Dutch government found out he had sold a Vermeer, a national treasure, to the Nazis he was tried for treason. Therefore he had to prove to the court that he himself painted the picture.
What the author gives us is a kind of chick lit version of Van Meegeren.
There’s a suggestion this novel asks the question, what are the moral implications of forgery in a world where everyone sees what they want to see? That’s a fascinating question. Unfortunately the novel never really addresses it. It’s too busy trying to sell its film rights. But if you want to read a serious, well-crafted novel about an art forger I’d recommend The Last Painting of Sara de Vos
April 8, 2019
Since I have a Master's Degree in Art Education, I know a bit about art and history and this didn't pass the smell test for me. I was given this book as a gift so I finished reading it, but it didn't engage me much. I was angry with the main character for the entire book as she was a liar and a thief. I didn't believe from the first that she could create a masterpiece in her boyfriend/artist's style that was so good that it was accepted at MOMA. Who would first of all do this? No one. And one of her first works be so wonderful that it is hanging in one of the most prestigious museums in the world. No.
Then she tries to have the work authenticated as hers and is rejected, and is vilified by the art world for her efforts. So, then what does she do years later when she has finally lived down the scandal, she enters into a nefarious plot with an art gallery owner to paint a copy of a famous Degas work that was stolen from the Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. What!!!??? She has already been involved in one forgery scandal and then proceeds to copy another work. No, No, NO.
Plus, the author makes up a whole bunch of stuff that is not true about Degas, Stewart Gardner, and various other things and also throws in true stuff about art forgeries and such. With so much interesting history out there, I don't know why she bothered. One example made up for the book is that Degas cajoled Stewart Gardner into posing nude for him. The models for artists at the time were prostitutes and Degas never painted nude women for his love of them. He was a misogynist. He thought of women as animals and he was recording their movements, not for their beauty, but for their study. The whole episode is so uncharacteristic of either person and of the time period.
Then she tries to have the work authenticated as hers and is rejected, and is vilified by the art world for her efforts. So, then what does she do years later when she has finally lived down the scandal, she enters into a nefarious plot with an art gallery owner to paint a copy of a famous Degas work that was stolen from the Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. What!!!??? She has already been involved in one forgery scandal and then proceeds to copy another work. No, No, NO.
Plus, the author makes up a whole bunch of stuff that is not true about Degas, Stewart Gardner, and various other things and also throws in true stuff about art forgeries and such. With so much interesting history out there, I don't know why she bothered. One example made up for the book is that Degas cajoled Stewart Gardner into posing nude for him. The models for artists at the time were prostitutes and Degas never painted nude women for his love of them. He was a misogynist. He thought of women as animals and he was recording their movements, not for their beauty, but for their study. The whole episode is so uncharacteristic of either person and of the time period.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 26, 2017
I will start by saying that my experience reading The ART FORGER was like I sat down to watch the movie Heat, and for some reason the movie Quick Change ended up in my DVD player by accident.
Okay maybe I am exaggerating a bit, but it was a much lighter read than I had expected...
I kept looking at THE ART FORGER on other people's "to read" list and was kind of on the fence about it. Then I was sitting down watching Anderson Cooper on CNN, and he had a segment on the Gardner Museum Heist. Even though I knew that Barbara Shapiro's book was a work of fiction based on a factual event, I decided to buy it, and start reading it that night -that is the nice thing about e-books when you decide to read something, it is right there at your finger tips -like candy bars near a cash register.
This is a really fun book. It has a little bit of everything -mystery, romance, suspense, art history, and everything you would ever want to know about art forgery but were afraid to ask.
Okay maybe I am exaggerating a bit, but it was a much lighter read than I had expected...
I kept looking at THE ART FORGER on other people's "to read" list and was kind of on the fence about it. Then I was sitting down watching Anderson Cooper on CNN, and he had a segment on the Gardner Museum Heist. Even though I knew that Barbara Shapiro's book was a work of fiction based on a factual event, I decided to buy it, and start reading it that night -that is the nice thing about e-books when you decide to read something, it is right there at your finger tips -like candy bars near a cash register.
This is a really fun book. It has a little bit of everything -mystery, romance, suspense, art history, and everything you would ever want to know about art forgery but were afraid to ask.
August 30, 2022
Rating 4.85
Having recently enjoyed "Metropolis", Shapiro's latest, the topic and concept made this an obvious choice. Meticulously plotted, well researched and paced, we're brought into the world of art, forgery and theft.
We first meet Claire Roth, an MFA who like many artists struggles to gain notoriety. While in school she develops an intimate relationship with Isaac, one of her professors and their bond deepens over time. But when egos get in the way of artists, the outcome is rarely positive. Soon after the split, she learns his work has been selected for a gallery showing. Among the pieces is "4D" a contemporary piece about time, which alarms Claire since it was hers rather than Isaac's. Unable to prove she'd painted it, Claire becomes destitute and takes a job with a reproduction company where she learns the techniques of creating copies. Given her passion and skill with a paint brush, her reproductions are as good as the original, if not better.
Aiden Markel is a much sought after collector and gallery owner. He approaches Claire with a proposition to use her reproduction skills with a fine art piece rarely seen. A tidy sum along with a show at his gallery are the benefit. She experiences trepidation until he arrives with the Degas painting "After the Bath", claiming its the original that had been stolen decades previous. He tells her the copy will be sold to an anonymous buyer and the original be returned to its rightful home. Claire invests weeks researching forgery techniques and the painting's history and in the process, stumbles into a labyrinth of mystery.
In order to clarify the painting's history, the author inserts letters from one of Degas' lovers periodically. While the plot unfurls, Claire begins work on the copy and in the process falls head over heels for Markel. But like all good mysteries, darkness lurks in the corners.
Once the forgery is completed, emotions flair when Markel's story of the sale becomes suspect. Torn about her next move, she relies on her old friend Rik, an art museum curator who later becomes the white knight.
Shapiro's skill at building momentum and knowledge of the art world becomes obvious as is her ability to create believable, interesting characters. I couldn't help but think about similar plots in movies I'd seen, since art forgery has always been of interest. I would have given it 5 stars, but a tinge of predictability became evident early on, though she DOES throws a curveball toward the end.
There's little doubt the author has a knack for unique stories, characters, mystery and surprise. And those are the earmarks of good writing, Highly recommended in all respects.
Having recently enjoyed "Metropolis", Shapiro's latest, the topic and concept made this an obvious choice. Meticulously plotted, well researched and paced, we're brought into the world of art, forgery and theft.
We first meet Claire Roth, an MFA who like many artists struggles to gain notoriety. While in school she develops an intimate relationship with Isaac, one of her professors and their bond deepens over time. But when egos get in the way of artists, the outcome is rarely positive. Soon after the split, she learns his work has been selected for a gallery showing. Among the pieces is "4D" a contemporary piece about time, which alarms Claire since it was hers rather than Isaac's. Unable to prove she'd painted it, Claire becomes destitute and takes a job with a reproduction company where she learns the techniques of creating copies. Given her passion and skill with a paint brush, her reproductions are as good as the original, if not better.
Aiden Markel is a much sought after collector and gallery owner. He approaches Claire with a proposition to use her reproduction skills with a fine art piece rarely seen. A tidy sum along with a show at his gallery are the benefit. She experiences trepidation until he arrives with the Degas painting "After the Bath", claiming its the original that had been stolen decades previous. He tells her the copy will be sold to an anonymous buyer and the original be returned to its rightful home. Claire invests weeks researching forgery techniques and the painting's history and in the process, stumbles into a labyrinth of mystery.
In order to clarify the painting's history, the author inserts letters from one of Degas' lovers periodically. While the plot unfurls, Claire begins work on the copy and in the process falls head over heels for Markel. But like all good mysteries, darkness lurks in the corners.
Once the forgery is completed, emotions flair when Markel's story of the sale becomes suspect. Torn about her next move, she relies on her old friend Rik, an art museum curator who later becomes the white knight.
Shapiro's skill at building momentum and knowledge of the art world becomes obvious as is her ability to create believable, interesting characters. I couldn't help but think about similar plots in movies I'd seen, since art forgery has always been of interest. I would have given it 5 stars, but a tinge of predictability became evident early on, though she DOES throws a curveball toward the end.
There's little doubt the author has a knack for unique stories, characters, mystery and surprise. And those are the earmarks of good writing, Highly recommended in all respects.
May 28, 2013
This is a novel that is based on a true crime: a $500 million art heist at the Gardner Museum in Boston in 1990. The story centers around artist Claire Roth, who is good at making reproductions of famous paintings. Early in the book, a dealer asks Claire to make a forgery of one of the Edgar Degas paintings that was stolen from the Gardner. Claire recognizes that she's making a deal with the devil, and part of her payment is she gets her own art show.
The novel includes chapters about Claire's background, which involve a doomed love affair with an older artist, and there are also letters from Isabella Stewart Gardner to her niece. Isabella was the person who originally bought the paintings in the museum and was friends with numerous artists in the late 1800s. The flashback chapters, the letters and the present-day action slowly build toward solving the mystery of the stolen painting.
I enjoyed the artistic aspects of the novel, especially the details of different forgers and the skills they used to make such believable reproductions. However, I found the romantic parts of the story to be tedious and too much like chick-lit. There was also a critical decision in Claire's back story that I don't believe any self-respecting artist would make.
Despite these minor irritants, I enjoyed the novel and would recommend it to friends who are interested in the art world.
The novel includes chapters about Claire's background, which involve a doomed love affair with an older artist, and there are also letters from Isabella Stewart Gardner to her niece. Isabella was the person who originally bought the paintings in the museum and was friends with numerous artists in the late 1800s. The flashback chapters, the letters and the present-day action slowly build toward solving the mystery of the stolen painting.
I enjoyed the artistic aspects of the novel, especially the details of different forgers and the skills they used to make such believable reproductions. However, I found the romantic parts of the story to be tedious and too much like chick-lit. There was also a critical decision in Claire's back story that I don't believe any self-respecting artist would make.
Despite these minor irritants, I enjoyed the novel and would recommend it to friends who are interested in the art world.
August 24, 2018
Sorry, could not care if Claire was successful or not. I know we were supposed to be sympathetic toward her, why else for the youth prison volunteerism, but she was too untrustworthy. When I read it, it appeared as if she knew all along that she was making a forgery so that Aidan could sell it as the original but by the end of the book she had miraculously convinced herself that all she was doing was making a copy of a copy and that isn’t a crime. Of course she had her penance of never knowing if her paintings are selling because of her talent or her notoriety. Really? Tough break for a felon.
Few too many loopholes in the story, and the devotion of her friends seemed unfounded (most I could glean-- the men liked her because she was attractive—although Rik was thrown in as a gay man). Oh, and I almost giggled each time Aidan’s finger was in jeopardy.
Did like the art background, the explanation of techniques and the premise. Just couldn’t care if Claire was thrown in jail or not.
Few too many loopholes in the story, and the devotion of her friends seemed unfounded (most I could glean-- the men liked her because she was attractive—although Rik was thrown in as a gay man). Oh, and I almost giggled each time Aidan’s finger was in jeopardy.
Did like the art background, the explanation of techniques and the premise. Just couldn’t care if Claire was thrown in jail or not.
August 14, 2019
This is an interesting book that takes a while to get going. The main character, Claire, is commissioned to make a copy of an original Degas that was among the extremely valuable works taken in the infamous robbery of Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Claire needs the job badly because her reputation was ruined. As the story plays out Claire has reasons to question whether the one she's been given to copy is not the real stolen Degas and is itself a forgery.
Throughout we learn a lot about how paintings are copied or forged and it's fascinating. But the story takes a while to get going because Shapiro provides a lot of detailed exposition: some history of Isabella Stewart Gardner and the Gardner museum, and of Degas, and other information about art and artists and process. I knew a lot about some things and little to none about others. It's better to read in non-fiction but I appreciate what Shapiro did and think she was wise to ensure every reader is equally informed. However, she should have found a better way to do it that gave the novel a more even pace.
Once the story gets going it moves quickly and the book gets better. As Claire continues her intricate work copying the other painting, she's increasingly consumed by the mystery of its authenticity and provenance, which give rise to her own moral and financial concerns.
As compelling as the bones of the story are, Shapiro's writing is flawed. Most of the book is first-person and too many sentences start with "I, which is tedious. And she gives her heroine no history except in the art world. Although Claire has spent her entire life in Massachusetts, we get no background on her childhood, family or friends. It's especially odd that Shapiro writes Claire without any history in a book that's about history. Claire needed a past to make her believable and because she doesn't have the support of a single trusted family member or long-time friend.
Despite its flaws "The Art Forger" is a worthwhile read. The story is original and thought-provoking. There are enough surprises to make it interesting and while the end is predictable, it's still satisfying.
Throughout we learn a lot about how paintings are copied or forged and it's fascinating. But the story takes a while to get going because Shapiro provides a lot of detailed exposition: some history of Isabella Stewart Gardner and the Gardner museum, and of Degas, and other information about art and artists and process. I knew a lot about some things and little to none about others. It's better to read in non-fiction but I appreciate what Shapiro did and think she was wise to ensure every reader is equally informed. However, she should have found a better way to do it that gave the novel a more even pace.
Once the story gets going it moves quickly and the book gets better. As Claire continues her intricate work copying the other painting, she's increasingly consumed by the mystery of its authenticity and provenance, which give rise to her own moral and financial concerns.
As compelling as the bones of the story are, Shapiro's writing is flawed. Most of the book is first-person and too many sentences start with "I, which is tedious. And she gives her heroine no history except in the art world. Although Claire has spent her entire life in Massachusetts, we get no background on her childhood, family or friends. It's especially odd that Shapiro writes Claire without any history in a book that's about history. Claire needed a past to make her believable and because she doesn't have the support of a single trusted family member or long-time friend.
Despite its flaws "The Art Forger" is a worthwhile read. The story is original and thought-provoking. There are enough surprises to make it interesting and while the end is predictable, it's still satisfying.
July 16, 2013
The best parts were the tidbits about the process of forging an old master painting. While the writing is never bad, it's bland. Lackluster prose really inhibits the narrative voice of Claire, the forger of the title, who never comes to life on the page. Her naïveté after having been burned once by a man, only to let it happen again is astonishing, yet we never understand why she seems to be so easy to dupe. On top of the her unexciting narrative tone, Shapiro includes an ongoing correspondence between the collector Isabella Stewart Gardner and her niece which is both stylistically unconvincing and a cheap trick -- the letters themselves are available to the reader, but are presumed to have been destroyed in the fictional universe they are meant to illuminate.
Most readers will know the conclusion long before Claire and the obtuse museum officials (the 1990 Gardner museum robbery seems to have done little to increase the saavy of the members of the Boston and New York art scene on display here). I have a couple of books about Han van Meegeren waiting for me back in Pennsylvania, which I expect will prove to be far more thrilling than this dull 'thriller'.
Most readers will know the conclusion long before Claire and the obtuse museum officials (the 1990 Gardner museum robbery seems to have done little to increase the saavy of the members of the Boston and New York art scene on display here). I have a couple of books about Han van Meegeren waiting for me back in Pennsylvania, which I expect will prove to be far more thrilling than this dull 'thriller'.
December 22, 2017
This book is not my usual cup of tea, but the impending holidays have a way of getting me out of my usual zone (including sampling tea I wouldn’t normally drink due to an Advent tea calendar) to indulge in a fast-paced, page-turning read.
What I liked most about the novel was learning of the fascinating, time-consuming (along with some shortcuts) techniques an artist of oil paintings (and a forger of them) uses: it’s not just drawing on the canvas and then painting over the sketch, though I’m not sure this narrator was the right vehicle for so much knowledge and talent: I suppose she’s some sort of artistic as well as detective genius. The Boston setting was a plus, since I visited there just a few months ago, including a day at MFA (Museum of Fine Arts), which is described in evocative detail during one narratorial visit. Described in even more loving detail is the Gardner Museum, which I didn’t have time to visit (and I so wish I had).
The ending felt anticlimactic. I realize I am perhaps being too critical, as well as contradictory, but I either wanted one more (fictional) letter or perhaps no letters at all, since I’m not sure the tone of them rang true from an aunt who has robbed her niece of happiness—and I don’t think that was their point.
The novel is billed as a ‘literary’ thriller and while not of the same order as What I Loved or The Goldfinch, it’s still an interesting glimpse into the art world, even appealing once to my childhood self who loved From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. And those who found The Goldfinch overwritten (I didn’t) may appreciate Shapiro’s more matter-of-fact (that is, plot-over-character) style.
What I liked most about the novel was learning of the fascinating, time-consuming (along with some shortcuts) techniques an artist of oil paintings (and a forger of them) uses: it’s not just drawing on the canvas and then painting over the sketch, though I’m not sure this narrator was the right vehicle for so much knowledge and talent: I suppose she’s some sort of artistic as well as detective genius. The Boston setting was a plus, since I visited there just a few months ago, including a day at MFA (Museum of Fine Arts), which is described in evocative detail during one narratorial visit. Described in even more loving detail is the Gardner Museum, which I didn’t have time to visit (and I so wish I had).
The ending felt anticlimactic. I realize I am perhaps being too critical, as well as contradictory, but I either wanted one more (fictional) letter or perhaps no letters at all, since I’m not sure the tone of them rang true from an aunt who has robbed her niece of happiness—and I don’t think that was their point.
The novel is billed as a ‘literary’ thriller and while not of the same order as What I Loved or The Goldfinch, it’s still an interesting glimpse into the art world, even appealing once to my childhood self who loved From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. And those who found The Goldfinch overwritten (I didn’t) may appreciate Shapiro’s more matter-of-fact (that is, plot-over-character) style.
May 2, 2013
Reader know thyself and most of the time I do. The Art Forger has been on my list probably since the day it hit the shelves. Am I glad I finally picked it up and read it? You bet!
Mystery, intrigue, romance, history, art, there's something for everyone here. The foundation of the story is based on the 1990 theft of thirteen paintings from The Isabella Gardner Museum. Barbara Shapiro paints a tale of the who, why, what to explore a plausible explanation regarding one of the most famous art pieces gone missing that day; a Degas. In the story the stolen painting is a fictional work by the famous artist named After the Bath. Claire Roth, an artist and reproductionist makes a deal to forge the stolen painting.
It's a very interesting story indeed. It left me craving more knowledge of the techniques described in the forgery, Isabella Gardner, the museum itself and the great artists.
The real heist has been in the news of late and seems to have ties to my own state Connecticut, making this the perfect time to explore the facts and fiction of the case.
There are many excellent reviews here and in the usual places. I won't bore you with more of my thoughts except to say I really enjoyed the book. Tense is places, enough mystery, characters that were vivid and that I liked, this was a fine read for me.
Mystery, intrigue, romance, history, art, there's something for everyone here. The foundation of the story is based on the 1990 theft of thirteen paintings from The Isabella Gardner Museum. Barbara Shapiro paints a tale of the who, why, what to explore a plausible explanation regarding one of the most famous art pieces gone missing that day; a Degas. In the story the stolen painting is a fictional work by the famous artist named After the Bath. Claire Roth, an artist and reproductionist makes a deal to forge the stolen painting.
It's a very interesting story indeed. It left me craving more knowledge of the techniques described in the forgery, Isabella Gardner, the museum itself and the great artists.
The real heist has been in the news of late and seems to have ties to my own state Connecticut, making this the perfect time to explore the facts and fiction of the case.
There are many excellent reviews here and in the usual places. I won't bore you with more of my thoughts except to say I really enjoyed the book. Tense is places, enough mystery, characters that were vivid and that I liked, this was a fine read for me.
October 6, 2020
“A neon BUDWEISER sign hangs in the narrow window to scare the hip away.”
― Barbara A. Shapiro, The Art Forger
Interesting. I am not someone who knows alot about art and worried that I would not be able to get into the story because of that fact but I need not have worried.
I enjoyed Art Forger quite a bit. I loved how the author was able to weave bits of actual reality into modern fiction. I also learned much about what it is like to reproduce art for a living!
I saw a review or two that mentioned the book was not as literary as they hoped. I agree that it was not Literary in the same way as ...I don't know..The Gold Finch for example. But I do think The Art Forger had deeply literary aspects. Added to that, it was fast paced and fun.
The book is long but reads quickly and very enjoyable. You really get a crash coarse in Art as well.
The characters are quite interesting and complex. There is also romance in this book which may or may not please the reader. It is woven in very skillfully and is not a distraction..it is vital for the story line and plays a huge role in itself.
The only type of person I'd say would not like it would be people who have zero interest in art. You do not have to KNOW about art but if you dislike the world of art..you may want to skip this because Art breathes on every page! I actually liked it way more then I thought I would.
So to summarize.....I'd recommend it. It was an exhilarating and fun read and one that I think many will like very much.
― Barbara A. Shapiro, The Art Forger
Interesting. I am not someone who knows alot about art and worried that I would not be able to get into the story because of that fact but I need not have worried.
I enjoyed Art Forger quite a bit. I loved how the author was able to weave bits of actual reality into modern fiction. I also learned much about what it is like to reproduce art for a living!
I saw a review or two that mentioned the book was not as literary as they hoped. I agree that it was not Literary in the same way as ...I don't know..The Gold Finch for example. But I do think The Art Forger had deeply literary aspects. Added to that, it was fast paced and fun.
The book is long but reads quickly and very enjoyable. You really get a crash coarse in Art as well.
The characters are quite interesting and complex. There is also romance in this book which may or may not please the reader. It is woven in very skillfully and is not a distraction..it is vital for the story line and plays a huge role in itself.
The only type of person I'd say would not like it would be people who have zero interest in art. You do not have to KNOW about art but if you dislike the world of art..you may want to skip this because Art breathes on every page! I actually liked it way more then I thought I would.
So to summarize.....I'd recommend it. It was an exhilarating and fun read and one that I think many will like very much.
July 11, 2019
It's always interesting to pick up a book that has widely varying reviews on Goodreads. This book was one of those "loved it, liked it or hated it" kind of books.
I'm firmly in the "liked it but didn't love it" category. It was well-written, great research, and despite the long descriptions of how forgery is done technically, I actually was intrigued by where it was going.
But I think in the end, it was the characters that kept me from caring - I actually would rather have read more about Belle than any of the modern day characters, especially Claire. And if you don't fall in love with or at least care about the main character, there's no way you can "love" the book, no matter how interesting or well-written.
If you love Degas or the art of painting, you may love this book, but if you're looking to get swept away, I don't think this book delivers.
I'm firmly in the "liked it but didn't love it" category. It was well-written, great research, and despite the long descriptions of how forgery is done technically, I actually was intrigued by where it was going.
But I think in the end, it was the characters that kept me from caring - I actually would rather have read more about Belle than any of the modern day characters, especially Claire. And if you don't fall in love with or at least care about the main character, there's no way you can "love" the book, no matter how interesting or well-written.
If you love Degas or the art of painting, you may love this book, but if you're looking to get swept away, I don't think this book delivers.
April 29, 2018
I enjoyed this so much that I will have to read it again sometime. I also need to get more of her books.
December 13, 2012
Fact meets fiction meets art history lesson meets… Faustian deal? Who doesn’t like the mystery of an unsolved heist, which to date is still the largest unsolved art heist in history? Throw in the world of struggling young artists, art collectors, art dealers, museum curators, art copyists, glitz and not so much glam and… Forgers. I was interested.
Claire, an art copyist by day, is a struggling artist working to clear a black mark against her name as a pariah in the Boston art scene. When she gets an offer she can’t refuse in the form of her own show in a top-notch art gallery plus a healthy monetary payment in return for forging a well known Degas stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in the famous 90s heist, morals be damned. Armed with the belief she’s doing something wrong for all the right reasons, Claire bites. The twist has been well publicized, so there’s no spoiler here, but Claire must decide what she’s going to do when she discovers the “original” Degas she’s presented with to copy from is a forgery.
There’s a lot for me to like in the book: Shapiro does her “facts” very well. I know next to absolutely nothing about art. I found the parts about techniques, methods, and Degas’ work one of the most intriguing aspects of the book. I can honestly say I learned something new. Perhaps I am a bit hesitant to believe that Claire could pull off a forgery (err, a copy of a copy) that fools the most trained eye just from reading on the internet. It’s almost as unbelievable as me building a nuclear bomb from blueprints found on the world wide web. As Shapiro states in her afterword, the methods that she discusses are, in fact, acceptable methods of recreating period pieces. There is no mistake that Shapiro has done her homework – and probably not all on the internet.
Even when Shapiro shifts to “fiction,” it’s believable fiction. I’m grateful for Shapiro telling me exactly what was real and what was fabricated in her afterword. I really wouldn’t have known otherwise.
I enjoyed the descriptions of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (and the Boston setting itself, for that matter) the best. Isabella and her museum reminded me of Houston’s own Ima Hogg (really – try to say that without grinning). Ima was a philanthropist and lover of arts who converted her home, Bayou Bend, into her own personal museum showcasing American furnishings, silver, ceramics, and paintings – and acres and acres of beyoootiful gardens. Maybe Ima would have given Isabella a run for her money.
There were a few things for me not to like: Some characters fell flat like the crowd at Jake’s, but I could see why Shapiro felt no need to develop them in too much greater detail. I just wanted to know more about them. Claire plays superwoman: A talented painter, certified copyist, Degas expert, prison volunteer, with an eye trained well enough to spot forgeries. And of course, she has to turn up her sleuthing skills to figure out where the original Degas painting was hidden and successfully find it. Then we all get our predictable romantic interest, plot twist, and happy ending.
“We see what we want to see.” All in all, I was satisfied. This was a great, quick read about subject matter I knew little about and yet the story was accessible and not over my head.
November 3, 2017
I loved that I recognized many of the locations mentioned here, like The Back Bay, The South End, Newbury Street, The Mandarin Oriental Hotel, The Museum Of Modern Art, of course the Isabella Stewart-Gardner Museum. I have actually long held a little-known fascination with the Gardner heist, primarily because of the idea that her will induces the museum board to leave empty frames in their place, even decades after the only unsolved large-scale art heist. It is unsettling, moving, eye-opening, and an entire mix of feelings to stand in front of these empty frames, something that could not have been created in any other situation. Something I am sure Isabella Gardner never could have foreseen when she wrote her will that way, but, somehow, based on what I have read about her character, I am sure it is exactly the way she would have loved it to be.
One might guess Shapiro's background is in the arts, but, no, she simply has done her research. The detailed painting techniques Claire Roth, the protagonist, uses for her side commissions for "Reproductions.com" (from the stripping to the layers to the baking), the methods of detection used by Claire herself as well as the authorities (Stretcher bars, frames, paint fissures, paint stroke directions, but mostly a lot of experience and/or intuition), the way characters interact in the fine art world, the real-life characters John Myatt, Ely Sakhai, Han Van Meegeren (These characters each have amazing stories in their own right, the latter having become so masterful at reproducing Dutch paintings that, in order to evade prosecution, he had to confess a painting he had sold to The Nazis was one he had painted. As it was so good that they still did not believe him, experts watched as he went through the entire process, reproducing the painting again.)
I do greatly appreciate Impressionism, even "Realism", as art historians and Degas himself has been quoted to categorize his work. I have always been a fan of Degas' Dancer Series in particular.
The suspense level was about right. Although I do feel there was a little too much DaVinci Code. By this I mean a little overwhelming , unnecessary side plots, information, etcetera.
In all, a great read.
One might guess Shapiro's background is in the arts, but, no, she simply has done her research. The detailed painting techniques Claire Roth, the protagonist, uses for her side commissions for "Reproductions.com" (from the stripping to the layers to the baking), the methods of detection used by Claire herself as well as the authorities (Stretcher bars, frames, paint fissures, paint stroke directions, but mostly a lot of experience and/or intuition), the way characters interact in the fine art world, the real-life characters John Myatt, Ely Sakhai, Han Van Meegeren (These characters each have amazing stories in their own right, the latter having become so masterful at reproducing Dutch paintings that, in order to evade prosecution, he had to confess a painting he had sold to The Nazis was one he had painted. As it was so good that they still did not believe him, experts watched as he went through the entire process, reproducing the painting again.)
I do greatly appreciate Impressionism, even "Realism", as art historians and Degas himself has been quoted to categorize his work. I have always been a fan of Degas' Dancer Series in particular.
The suspense level was about right. Although I do feel there was a little too much DaVinci Code. By this I mean a little overwhelming , unnecessary side plots, information, etcetera.
In all, a great read.
March 7, 2021
The Art Forger is a riveting journey in the art world based on a true crime of a theft in Boston, Massachusetts in 1990 of over $500 million of priceless masterpieces of art, including Degas' "After the Bath" from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Claire Roth is a young and gifted artist but a very poor judge of character as evidenced by her being ostracized by the art community and her resorting to making a living by painting art reproductions known in the industry as "OTC" (over the couch) art.
But twenty-five years after the heist of the art, a gallery owner comes to Claire with a proposal. As she makes a Faustian bargain for her own art show of a project of her "window series" that she has been working on for some time is too tempting. Not to mention having an original Degas' piece of art, although fleetingly, in her possession.
"My heart races. I'm going to have the incredible good fortune of living with a work by Degas, touching it, breathing it in, studying its every last detail, ferreting out the master's secrets. It's a great gift. Perhaps the greatest. One that will inform my painting forever. Sweet. Incredibly sweet. Now I really can't breathe."
But as Claire researches Degas' art in depth and his brushstrokes (a signature in the art world), there are questions about whether this is the original work of art or not. Hang on as you see what unfolds as we are plunged deeper into the world of art forgery. I loved this book and while Boston has been on my bucket list for some time, now, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is now at the top of the list.
But twenty-five years after the heist of the art, a gallery owner comes to Claire with a proposal. As she makes a Faustian bargain for her own art show of a project of her "window series" that she has been working on for some time is too tempting. Not to mention having an original Degas' piece of art, although fleetingly, in her possession.
"My heart races. I'm going to have the incredible good fortune of living with a work by Degas, touching it, breathing it in, studying its every last detail, ferreting out the master's secrets. It's a great gift. Perhaps the greatest. One that will inform my painting forever. Sweet. Incredibly sweet. Now I really can't breathe."
But as Claire researches Degas' art in depth and his brushstrokes (a signature in the art world), there are questions about whether this is the original work of art or not. Hang on as you see what unfolds as we are plunged deeper into the world of art forgery. I loved this book and while Boston has been on my bucket list for some time, now, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is now at the top of the list.
August 29, 2023
The Isabelle Gardner Museum/Palace is an art museum known for its empty frames; the several great paintings and sketches that were taken in a one of the most famous recent(1990) art heists that has yet to be solved. I know that is what initially drew me to the museum--to see the paintings that are missing. But what I did see there and what surprised me was what a wonderful museums/house the Gardner is. Isabelle Gardner was rich genteel and living in Boston with her wealthy in-his-own-right husband in the late 1800's to the early 1920's. Isabelle fell in with a young art critic and convinced her husband that Art by the Masters was a great investment for their wealth. She fell in love with collecting and rumor has it, into bed with a few of these artists (maybe Degas, John Singer Sargent). Then build a beautiful home/palace to show off her collection. At her death it was donated to the public.
I wanted to read more about the heist or the Gardner and this book came to mind as I remember it was in my Audible library.
It is the story of an a woman painter who makes a living reproducing and copying works by the great Masters to make money while she pursues her own art and hopes to be discovered. It is not a crime to copy famous works as long as they are sold as a copy. An art dealer she knows brings her one of the stolen paintings he was asked to sell on the black market. He talks her into making a copy of it so it can be sold as the original. The plan is the robbers would be paid for their painting and the buyer of the copy would never go to authorities and tell them he thought he was buying an original stolen invaluable piece of Art and instead got a copy. Then the original painting could go back to the Gardner.
Needless to say this plan goes wrong in many ways. If the writing had been better and the story crafted without so many coincidences I would have loved it more. I liked the premise and some of the comments and thoughts about Art ethics, who gets to own Art and the great information about art forgery and how new paintings are made old but the plot strained believability many times and stretched to make the pieces fit together in the end. A mystery of sorts but frequently the pacing felt off and the dialogue stilted.
3 stars. Good for a type and an intriguing premise that in the end just felt missed. The audio was narrated by Xe Sands who did an excellent job. I would recommend it in that form if you have an interest in an art heist type mystery and there is some good info on the Gardner museum and Isabelle woven into the story. And take a trip to the Gardner next time you are in Boston. You will not be sorry you did.
I wanted to read more about the heist or the Gardner and this book came to mind as I remember it was in my Audible library.
It is the story of an a woman painter who makes a living reproducing and copying works by the great Masters to make money while she pursues her own art and hopes to be discovered. It is not a crime to copy famous works as long as they are sold as a copy. An art dealer she knows brings her one of the stolen paintings he was asked to sell on the black market. He talks her into making a copy of it so it can be sold as the original. The plan is the robbers would be paid for their painting and the buyer of the copy would never go to authorities and tell them he thought he was buying an original stolen invaluable piece of Art and instead got a copy. Then the original painting could go back to the Gardner.
Needless to say this plan goes wrong in many ways. If the writing had been better and the story crafted without so many coincidences I would have loved it more. I liked the premise and some of the comments and thoughts about Art ethics, who gets to own Art and the great information about art forgery and how new paintings are made old but the plot strained believability many times and stretched to make the pieces fit together in the end. A mystery of sorts but frequently the pacing felt off and the dialogue stilted.
3 stars. Good for a type and an intriguing premise that in the end just felt missed. The audio was narrated by Xe Sands who did an excellent job. I would recommend it in that form if you have an interest in an art heist type mystery and there is some good info on the Gardner museum and Isabelle woven into the story. And take a trip to the Gardner next time you are in Boston. You will not be sorry you did.
December 3, 2015
I confess to being wrapped up in the reading of this book and particularly the art of art forgery Shapiro unmasks. I have often wondered why a painting that has hung for hundreds of years on museum walls and been praised for its style and beauty is not just as valuable and just as precious when it is discovered that it was not painted by one of the greats but by his apprentice. Doesn't the art remain the same. Isn't it just as valuable as art even if it was painted by an unknown? We seem to carry our love of celebrity back into the ages before us and it is the name that sells.
Shapiro's main character, Claire, is a bit conflicted on the morality issues and a little heavy on excusing her own part in the disasters in which she becomes involved, but she is very human in wanting to be recognized for her talents. She is so susceptible to praise from what she considers the right sources and she is all too willing to compromise where she knows she should not in order to obtain the recognition that eludes her. In the process, she becomes entangled and must untangle a hell of a gordian knot. Even though it seemed obvious to me what the ultimate solution would be to the "mystery" of the painting, it was a fun ride to the end.
Shapiro gets high marks from me for her research and attention to detail. She is writing about a complicated subject in the art field and she obviously knows her stuff. The details of Belle Gardner's invented life fit seamlessly into what is known to be true about her, and the personality of Edgar Degas is also in keeping with his known traits. I was completely fascinated by the procedure Claire uses to produce her copies and found none of the explanations dry or over-written.
Some books are great, some are worthless, and some fall right in-between. This is one of the later. It isn't erudite, but it does have some points to make about human nature and Faustian deals. I will confess to being pretty upset when my Kindle battery expired and I had to wait overnight before reading the last four chapters and putting the story to bed. I have had some fairly heavy reading of late, and this was just plain, unadulterated fun.
Shapiro's main character, Claire, is a bit conflicted on the morality issues and a little heavy on excusing her own part in the disasters in which she becomes involved, but she is very human in wanting to be recognized for her talents. She is so susceptible to praise from what she considers the right sources and she is all too willing to compromise where she knows she should not in order to obtain the recognition that eludes her. In the process, she becomes entangled and must untangle a hell of a gordian knot. Even though it seemed obvious to me what the ultimate solution would be to the "mystery" of the painting, it was a fun ride to the end.
Shapiro gets high marks from me for her research and attention to detail. She is writing about a complicated subject in the art field and she obviously knows her stuff. The details of Belle Gardner's invented life fit seamlessly into what is known to be true about her, and the personality of Edgar Degas is also in keeping with his known traits. I was completely fascinated by the procedure Claire uses to produce her copies and found none of the explanations dry or over-written.
Some books are great, some are worthless, and some fall right in-between. This is one of the later. It isn't erudite, but it does have some points to make about human nature and Faustian deals. I will confess to being pretty upset when my Kindle battery expired and I had to wait overnight before reading the last four chapters and putting the story to bed. I have had some fairly heavy reading of late, and this was just plain, unadulterated fun.
August 12, 2019
What would any of us be willing to do to secure our ambition?
SUMMARY
On March 18, 1990, thirteen works of art worth over $500 million were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. It remains the largest unsolved art heist in history. Claire Roth a struggling young artist is about to discover that there’s more to this crime than meets the eye.
Claire makes a living reproducing famous artwork for a popular online retailer and she is desperate to improve her situation. Claire is lured into a bargain with Aiden Markel a powerful gallery owner. She agrees to forge a painting, a Degas masterpiece stolen from the Gardner Museum, in exchange for a one woman show in his renowned gallery. But when missing Degas paining is delivered to Clare studio, she begins to suspect that it may itself be a forgery. Her desperate search for the truth leads Claire into a labyrinth of deceit were secrets hidden since the late 19th century maybe the only evidence that can now save her life.
“Without light nothing can been seen. And with it, still so much is unobserved.”
REVIEW
THE ART FORGER was as captivating as a Degas canvas. The story cleverly weaves a plot that includes both facts and fiction that seems ripped from the headlines real. But only a few parts are real. The famous art collector and museum founder Isabella Stewart Gardner, her museum in Boston, and the 1990 art heist are of course real. But the specific After the Bath painting referenced here, and the art forgery and surrounding events, are not real. I alway appreciate when an author who is writing historical fiction clearly identifies what is and isn’t factual. Author B. A. SHAPIRO did a great job of this at the end of the book.
Claire Roth’s character is superbly developed. She’s impressively talented and ambitious but she can’t catch a break, that is until she meets Aiden Markel. She’s vulnerable and in need of money and she finds herself making a Faustian bargain to secure her own art show...her future. Don’t judge her to harshly...she draws you into the story and teaches you a thing or two about art. She keeps you on the edge of your seat...is she good enough to forge a Degas? What if she is?
If you like art, you’ll love this book. It’s entertaining, compelling and clever. B.A. Shapiro is a bestselling author of The Muralist (2015) and The Art Forger (2012), both stories of works of art, mystery, history with a little romance thrown in. I listened to the audio version of the book, and Xe Sands does a fabulous job with narration.
Publisher Algonquin Books/Highbridge Audio
Published October 23, 2012
Narrated Xe Sands
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com
SUMMARY
On March 18, 1990, thirteen works of art worth over $500 million were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. It remains the largest unsolved art heist in history. Claire Roth a struggling young artist is about to discover that there’s more to this crime than meets the eye.
Claire makes a living reproducing famous artwork for a popular online retailer and she is desperate to improve her situation. Claire is lured into a bargain with Aiden Markel a powerful gallery owner. She agrees to forge a painting, a Degas masterpiece stolen from the Gardner Museum, in exchange for a one woman show in his renowned gallery. But when missing Degas paining is delivered to Clare studio, she begins to suspect that it may itself be a forgery. Her desperate search for the truth leads Claire into a labyrinth of deceit were secrets hidden since the late 19th century maybe the only evidence that can now save her life.
“Without light nothing can been seen. And with it, still so much is unobserved.”
REVIEW
THE ART FORGER was as captivating as a Degas canvas. The story cleverly weaves a plot that includes both facts and fiction that seems ripped from the headlines real. But only a few parts are real. The famous art collector and museum founder Isabella Stewart Gardner, her museum in Boston, and the 1990 art heist are of course real. But the specific After the Bath painting referenced here, and the art forgery and surrounding events, are not real. I alway appreciate when an author who is writing historical fiction clearly identifies what is and isn’t factual. Author B. A. SHAPIRO did a great job of this at the end of the book.
Claire Roth’s character is superbly developed. She’s impressively talented and ambitious but she can’t catch a break, that is until she meets Aiden Markel. She’s vulnerable and in need of money and she finds herself making a Faustian bargain to secure her own art show...her future. Don’t judge her to harshly...she draws you into the story and teaches you a thing or two about art. She keeps you on the edge of your seat...is she good enough to forge a Degas? What if she is?
If you like art, you’ll love this book. It’s entertaining, compelling and clever. B.A. Shapiro is a bestselling author of The Muralist (2015) and The Art Forger (2012), both stories of works of art, mystery, history with a little romance thrown in. I listened to the audio version of the book, and Xe Sands does a fabulous job with narration.
Publisher Algonquin Books/Highbridge Audio
Published October 23, 2012
Narrated Xe Sands
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com
March 29, 2024
I read this in Spanish the first time around a few years ago. I enjoyed it, but I think my eye was a lot less critical then than now as I reread this. It’s probably a combination of my much improved Spanish as well as
It made no sense why she didn’t go to the police immediately after she received the stolen painting. The reward would have kept her in the high life for a couple lifetimes. Instead, she risks jail every moment she is in complicity with Markel and the stolen painting. Doesn’t make much sense. Also, he has her open several bank accounts to deflect suspicion about her finances. Nope. I’m no money laundered, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work like that. If anything, that would make her more conspicuous to regulators.
And what artist would destroy another’s work, even one as lowly as poor Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier?
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Lo...
Why couldn’t they use the canvas of an even lesser artist of the time, like someone without a Wikipedia page in his honor?
“Meissonier,” I say. It makes sense. Ernest Meissonier was a second- or third-tier late-nineteenth-century painter. His specialty was military subjects rendered with meticulous realism. He painted in oil in the classical style and, if I remember correctly, considered himself the second coming of Rembrandt, even though no one else did. But what about Meissonier’s painting could make a million people happy?
“They say,” Markel tells me, “that Degas claimed that everything Meissonier painted looked like metal except the armor.”
I laugh and step closer to inspect the painting.
So, she is not only a forger but a vandal.
Original Review:
I read this novel by mistake. I picked it up thinking it was a nonfiction book about art forgery. I started reading it thinking, wow, this is a cool first-person account of the shady world of art thieves. I’ll admit that I’m not the brightest color on the palette, but it didn’t take me long to realize I’d been deceived, but by that time I was already drawn into the story, eager as I was to learn more about art fakes.
This book gets my five stars simply because it has a cool concept for a thriller. I’ve read WAY fucking too many “thrillers” in the past couple of years as I have been trying to educate myself on this genre. I’ve written a few crime novels and a collection of crime stories the past couple of years so everything I read is an education. I’m sick to death of the usual genre novel of a woman who has disappeared, or a woman who has a husband who isn’t the man she thought he was or whatever, and forget about all of the choppy-slicey books about women being brutally murdered for our entertainment. So forgive me if a novel about a high-concept forgery seemed like a good way to pass a few hours in semi-confinement (cafés are only open until 18:00 and no inside dining—how long can this go on?).
I remember the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum theft of March 18, 1990. It wasn’t exactly “man walks on moon” news, but it was a huge story. And then nothing was ever recovered, no leads, no arrests. It was thought to be something of a ham-fisted heist, nothing of a slick operation like The Thomas Crown Affair, but then the thieves and their booty simple vanished. The reward for information is now at ten million dollars. No takers,
Where in the hell are these thirteen pieces? Why were the stolen if they could never be shown?
This novel has another layer of deception added to it, then another. It was fun and interesting, especially as I’ve been looking into the art world for the past six months with John Singer Sargent among my targets, an artist touched on in the novel.
My biggest complaint in the novel are the fin de siècle letters fictitiously penned by Isabella which were really bad reproductions of letters of this era. They reminded me of the phony accents of southern belles you hear in movies in which the actresses speak in tortured accents and say shit like “I do declare” or some other tripe. It’s not a big complaint. I have read lots of letters of dead folks from that era and no one wrote like that, no one was as explicit in writing, not ever.
It made no sense why she didn’t go to the police immediately after she received the stolen painting. The reward would have kept her in the high life for a couple lifetimes. Instead, she risks jail every moment she is in complicity with Markel and the stolen painting. Doesn’t make much sense. Also, he has her open several bank accounts to deflect suspicion about her finances. Nope. I’m no money laundered, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work like that. If anything, that would make her more conspicuous to regulators.
And what artist would destroy another’s work, even one as lowly as poor Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier?
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Lo...
Why couldn’t they use the canvas of an even lesser artist of the time, like someone without a Wikipedia page in his honor?
“Meissonier,” I say. It makes sense. Ernest Meissonier was a second- or third-tier late-nineteenth-century painter. His specialty was military subjects rendered with meticulous realism. He painted in oil in the classical style and, if I remember correctly, considered himself the second coming of Rembrandt, even though no one else did. But what about Meissonier’s painting could make a million people happy?
“They say,” Markel tells me, “that Degas claimed that everything Meissonier painted looked like metal except the armor.”
I laugh and step closer to inspect the painting.
So, she is not only a forger but a vandal.
Original Review:
I read this novel by mistake. I picked it up thinking it was a nonfiction book about art forgery. I started reading it thinking, wow, this is a cool first-person account of the shady world of art thieves. I’ll admit that I’m not the brightest color on the palette, but it didn’t take me long to realize I’d been deceived, but by that time I was already drawn into the story, eager as I was to learn more about art fakes.
This book gets my five stars simply because it has a cool concept for a thriller. I’ve read WAY fucking too many “thrillers” in the past couple of years as I have been trying to educate myself on this genre. I’ve written a few crime novels and a collection of crime stories the past couple of years so everything I read is an education. I’m sick to death of the usual genre novel of a woman who has disappeared, or a woman who has a husband who isn’t the man she thought he was or whatever, and forget about all of the choppy-slicey books about women being brutally murdered for our entertainment. So forgive me if a novel about a high-concept forgery seemed like a good way to pass a few hours in semi-confinement (cafés are only open until 18:00 and no inside dining—how long can this go on?).
I remember the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum theft of March 18, 1990. It wasn’t exactly “man walks on moon” news, but it was a huge story. And then nothing was ever recovered, no leads, no arrests. It was thought to be something of a ham-fisted heist, nothing of a slick operation like The Thomas Crown Affair, but then the thieves and their booty simple vanished. The reward for information is now at ten million dollars. No takers,
Where in the hell are these thirteen pieces? Why were the stolen if they could never be shown?
This novel has another layer of deception added to it, then another. It was fun and interesting, especially as I’ve been looking into the art world for the past six months with John Singer Sargent among my targets, an artist touched on in the novel.
My biggest complaint in the novel are the fin de siècle letters fictitiously penned by Isabella which were really bad reproductions of letters of this era. They reminded me of the phony accents of southern belles you hear in movies in which the actresses speak in tortured accents and say shit like “I do declare” or some other tripe. It’s not a big complaint. I have read lots of letters of dead folks from that era and no one wrote like that, no one was as explicit in writing, not ever.
October 20, 2015
This is the kind of mystery that would not make a good movie, but is an intirguing tale for a book. This taught me much about art- oil painting, especially, that I did not know. Next time I go to the Art Institute I sure will be looking closely at those Impressionists. LOL!
Enjoyable tale filled with excellent research. The plot, to me, was rather discernable, early on.
Enjoyable tale filled with excellent research. The plot, to me, was rather discernable, early on.
December 15, 2012
This review is from: The Art Forger: A Novel (Hardcover)
Claire Roth is an artist that has been involved in an art work scandal and has found herself blackballed in the artistic world. She is forced into reproducing famous paintings to make a living.This career choice gives her an opportunity to salvage her reputation when she is offered the chance to copy a stolen Degas painting. The story also intertwines the story of the founding of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and the place the stolen Degas was exhibited.
Claire is throughly involved in the orginal scandal and in the decision to copy the Degas picture. No one holds a gun to her head. In fact, she created the scenario for the original scandal. Still she envisions herself as a victim and spends too much time feeling sorry for herself. She's not sympathetic and, frankly, she felt like nails on a chalkboard. Annoying. I think this is why the book does not succeed. You are never in Claire's corner. You never feel sorry for her as she created her own mess. She's not someone you care about what happens to her. I did not care that she got a new couch which takes up way too much page space.
It was interesting to learn how paintings are forged. It is shocking to learn how many frauds are hanging in international museums. It was also interesting to read how the art world works. Still this book features such an unlikable protaganist that I would never recommend it to anyone.
Claire Roth is an artist that has been involved in an art work scandal and has found herself blackballed in the artistic world. She is forced into reproducing famous paintings to make a living.This career choice gives her an opportunity to salvage her reputation when she is offered the chance to copy a stolen Degas painting. The story also intertwines the story of the founding of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and the place the stolen Degas was exhibited.
Claire is throughly involved in the orginal scandal and in the decision to copy the Degas picture. No one holds a gun to her head. In fact, she created the scenario for the original scandal. Still she envisions herself as a victim and spends too much time feeling sorry for herself. She's not sympathetic and, frankly, she felt like nails on a chalkboard. Annoying. I think this is why the book does not succeed. You are never in Claire's corner. You never feel sorry for her as she created her own mess. She's not someone you care about what happens to her. I did not care that she got a new couch which takes up way too much page space.
It was interesting to learn how paintings are forged. It is shocking to learn how many frauds are hanging in international museums. It was also interesting to read how the art world works. Still this book features such an unlikable protaganist that I would never recommend it to anyone.
March 6, 2021
It appears I’m in a Bermuda Triangle of sorts with authors peddling a great concept, but somewhere the writing falls very flat. As a Bostonian, as all Rhode Islanders link themselves to because we feel too small to have our own identity or sports team for that matter, I am infatuated with the story of the museum heist. Unfortunately, I found the writing to be too dull, too elementary. You may enjoy the intricacies of art forgery (the how to) and the history of some of the most famous forgers. If you can look past the style and structure of the writing, the storyline is interesting enough.
April 1, 2014
I'm going to start with a bit of a spoiler, because I just can't discuss the book without mentioning it: the "forgery" itself blows up in their faces; the more Markel said "there's layers, babe, they can't get to me ..." the more certain I became he would be wrong.
What I liked --
The Boston setting is probably the book's strongest feature.
Overall, I liked Claire. I get that it was her bad decision to let Isaac have credit for her painting that went on to critical acclaim, but when he didn't leave a suicide note saying so, I don't blame her for pursuing the matter. I wasn't wild about the way that she went into it with Markel on a personal level, making her look like a needy ditz. However, I found her "detective" work credible, keeping tension in the story. Frankly, I was impressed that she stood up for what she believed to be true, no matter how unpopular her conviction.
I loved the two older female characters quite a bit, as well as the author's having a couple of her professors who had turned on her earlier try to suck up later when Claire's star rose. I also thought the museum director Alana's hostility to Claire was probably well-founded. Perhaps she'd locked in the vibe Claire was giving at the gala, mocking Alana's lack of "fashion sense"? Our heroine can be quite shallow and self-absorbed (although I got the impression she'd be there for her friends if they asked).
What did not work --
The recurring bouts of chick-lit. As a bizarre example, she relays that she "became moist" when Markel first kissed her (it may even have just been because he was nearby, I don't have the book to consult), which actually sounded more like something a male writer might say. She goes on and on about her clothes at times, as well as criticizing others' choices. Mee-yow. I'd say at least 25% of the book is outright chicklit, rather than literary fiction; I never really considered it to be a "mystery" as such.
Aiden Markel, gallery owner who instigated the forgery. He was just perfect ... too perfect. I was left wondering, "If he's all that, why did he and his wife divorce?" Claire says "he's been divorced 'for a few years'," which I found tough to reconcile with his younger kid being only four when the book opens. It may have been his audiobook voice, but he came off as slimy from the get-go. I did do rather a double-take when Claire described him as wearing a $500 shirt, as I've been in a few high-end, soak-the-suckers emporiums in my day and even those don't go much above $200. I never felt he was in "digital" danger either. On a related note, I found it odd that the business at the gallery went on as usual after his forgery plot went wrong.
Her friend Rick was extremely stereotypically gay - all that seemed missing were squeals of "You go, girl!" Ugh. Had she, for example, mentioned that the highly competent artist-attorney was gay, too, that would've helped balance things out.
The Gardner letters ... I thought they were okay at first, but grew tired of them. I would've preferred that Claire actually discover a couple of them that directly related to the Degas matter, rather than so many interspersed throughout the book.
I hated the juvenile detention art classes, wanting to fast forward through them. They were awkward, serving little purpose, except perhaps as a bit of clunky foreshadowing.
On balance I'm glad I read it, though I wouldn't recommend those who are curious ton jump it up in your TBR queues - save it for when you need to kill time, or want something lighter and modern after a bout of nonfiction and/or historical stuff. With one minor quibble, I found the audio narration a very good fit for the story.
P. S. The technical details of forgery I found neither fascinating, nor tedious; they were just sort of "there" for me.
What I liked --
The Boston setting is probably the book's strongest feature.
Overall, I liked Claire. I get that it was her bad decision to let Isaac have credit for her painting that went on to critical acclaim, but when he didn't leave a suicide note saying so, I don't blame her for pursuing the matter. I wasn't wild about the way that she went into it with Markel on a personal level, making her look like a needy ditz. However, I found her "detective" work credible, keeping tension in the story. Frankly, I was impressed that she stood up for what she believed to be true, no matter how unpopular her conviction.
I loved the two older female characters quite a bit, as well as the author's having a couple of her professors who had turned on her earlier try to suck up later when Claire's star rose. I also thought the museum director Alana's hostility to Claire was probably well-founded. Perhaps she'd locked in the vibe Claire was giving at the gala, mocking Alana's lack of "fashion sense"? Our heroine can be quite shallow and self-absorbed (although I got the impression she'd be there for her friends if they asked).
What did not work --
The recurring bouts of chick-lit. As a bizarre example, she relays that she "became moist" when Markel first kissed her (it may even have just been because he was nearby, I don't have the book to consult), which actually sounded more like something a male writer might say. She goes on and on about her clothes at times, as well as criticizing others' choices. Mee-yow. I'd say at least 25% of the book is outright chicklit, rather than literary fiction; I never really considered it to be a "mystery" as such.
Aiden Markel, gallery owner who instigated the forgery. He was just perfect ... too perfect. I was left wondering, "If he's all that, why did he and his wife divorce?" Claire says "he's been divorced 'for a few years'," which I found tough to reconcile with his younger kid being only four when the book opens. It may have been his audiobook voice, but he came off as slimy from the get-go. I did do rather a double-take when Claire described him as wearing a $500 shirt, as I've been in a few high-end, soak-the-suckers emporiums in my day and even those don't go much above $200. I never felt he was in "digital" danger either. On a related note, I found it odd that the business at the gallery went on as usual after his forgery plot went wrong.
Her friend Rick was extremely stereotypically gay - all that seemed missing were squeals of "You go, girl!" Ugh. Had she, for example, mentioned that the highly competent artist-attorney was gay, too, that would've helped balance things out.
The Gardner letters ... I thought they were okay at first, but grew tired of them. I would've preferred that Claire actually discover a couple of them that directly related to the Degas matter, rather than so many interspersed throughout the book.
I hated the juvenile detention art classes, wanting to fast forward through them. They were awkward, serving little purpose, except perhaps as a bit of clunky foreshadowing.
On balance I'm glad I read it, though I wouldn't recommend those who are curious ton jump it up in your TBR queues - save it for when you need to kill time, or want something lighter and modern after a bout of nonfiction and/or historical stuff. With one minor quibble, I found the audio narration a very good fit for the story.
P. S. The technical details of forgery I found neither fascinating, nor tedious; they were just sort of "there" for me.
February 28, 2015
Based on a real life, still unsolved art heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, The Art Forger manages to include more details about brush strokes and forgery techniques than I knew existed in a gripping story of artistic obsession. Claire Roth is a struggling young artist, blacklisted by the art establishment for a perceived crime against one of their darlings. She pays her bills by copying famous works of art for an above board online retailer. Then she makes a devil's bargain by agreeing to forge one of the stolen paintings, a Degas masterpiece, in exchange for having her own work shown in a prestigious gallery owned by Aiden Markel, a man she has feelings for.
Claire knows what she is doing is illegal, but like many characters in the book whose motivations complicate the plot, Claire for a time allows herself to be convinced that what she personally wants supports greater good. When Claire comes to suspect that something is not quite right about the painting Aiden has given her to copy, her investigation leads her to research the museum where the painting was hung, the museum's colorful, world traveling founder Isabella Gardner, and the life and techniques of the artist Degas.
Interspersed between chapters told from Claire's point of view are lively nineteenth century letters about Degas and the European art scene of the time from Isabella Gardner to her beloved niece.
Claire knows what she is doing is illegal, but like many characters in the book whose motivations complicate the plot, Claire for a time allows herself to be convinced that what she personally wants supports greater good. When Claire comes to suspect that something is not quite right about the painting Aiden has given her to copy, her investigation leads her to research the museum where the painting was hung, the museum's colorful, world traveling founder Isabella Gardner, and the life and techniques of the artist Degas.
Interspersed between chapters told from Claire's point of view are lively nineteenth century letters about Degas and the European art scene of the time from Isabella Gardner to her beloved niece.
August 25, 2016
I loved this book, all the art references and the art processes explained here are catnip to me. I love museums and art, therefore any book mixing both its going to my criteria. The only reason I'm not giving it 5 stars is because I hated the main characther personality , (so much so that I was rooting for her to get in trouble) but I guess all is well that ends well!!! :) I am completely satisfied with this book!
June 6, 2024
Claire Roth has been shunned by the art community, but she's a determined art prodigy, so somehow she continues to push her way back in, and becomes an expert at painting famous copies. She gets wrapped up in a plot gone wrong, and then the second half of the book is getting out of this situation.
There were a lot of unbelievably convenient circumstances and a ton of details on painting reproductions. This just ended up being 'meh' for me. Too detailed on the painting process and a little too unbelievable plot points will end up making this one unforgettable for me.
There were a lot of unbelievably convenient circumstances and a ton of details on painting reproductions. This just ended up being 'meh' for me. Too detailed on the painting process and a little too unbelievable plot points will end up making this one unforgettable for me.
December 24, 2013
"We can only talk about the bad forgeries, the ones that have not been detected. The good ones are still hanging on museum walls." The instructor backed this up with a New York Times estimate that 40 percent of all the artworks presented for sale in any given years are forgeries. I assumed this was completely overblown. I don't now.
There's not too much that can be said about this story without coming up against spoilers. Even the publisher's blurb says more than necessary, but, then, I often feel that way. I simply enjoyed the story, the pace, and the action.
And, the content. I seem to have an interest in the sub-genre of art forgery, even though, all told, I can think of just two (or three) other books I've read in that category. I read and loved What's Bred in the Bone, Book No. 2 of The Cornish Trilogy: The Rebel Angels, What's Bred in the Bone, and The Lyre of Orpheus, around 20 years ago. The other example of this genre is a mystery or detective novel I read 30 or 40 years ago. I read two books by the same author but can't remember if they were both about art forgery. I think that the author's last name was "Ramos," but that could have been the protagonist's name, and a short search with Google and Amazon just now tells me I don't want to go any further down that rabbit hole.
Anyway, here's some of the fun part of this book:
I rummage through a few drawers, find my jewelers' magnifying loupe, and put it to my eye. Yes, at this magnification, some of the brushstrokes are visible, but not all that many. If I were dealing with any of Degas' later paintings, or those of his buddies Manet, Pissarro, or Cassatt, there would be plenty to see, as these artists often put down broad thick strokes of paint. But when ten or twenty layers of glazing are applied, the effect is one of smoothness and translucence. And that's what I have here.
I sift through the photographs until I find one where the strokes are close in size to those in Bath. I hold it up against the painting, move it around, look for similarities and differences. There's not much to compare.
Then I notice that in the center of the image a few brushstrokes are visible. I cut the photo in half and press the edge against a spot in the lower left-hand corner.... I put the jewelers' loupe to my eye and shift back and forth between the photo and the painting. Although I'd need two paintings side-by-side to be certain, the two do appear to be the work of the same man. Still I'm not satisfied.
...All the while, listening to her well-trained gut!
At the beginning of the book the protagonist came across in stick-figure terms which made me think, briefly, of Gone Girl, but the content is better and the protagonist was having some astute observations along the way. Notably, the author does not write that stick-figure way when flashing back to a 19th century character, so you know she's not limited to that mode.
This is a pleasurable and satisfying read that fairly flew along after the first 80 or 90 pages that it took the author to overcome my resistance.
Related link: I forgot to add that while I was reading this novel, what should I come across in The New Yorker but this exciting true story of a forgery of Galileo's Sidirius Nuncius, "Starry Messenger." Galileo launched his career with a pamphlet illustrating and describing Jupiter and its moons. About 150 are extant, but nothing like this supposed one-of-a-kind example. It used to be thought nobody forged rare books because forging paintings is so much easier. Not any more.
The New Yorker locks most of its articles so if you are interested, get hold of the Dec. 16, 2013 issue.
September 7, 2013
The Art Forger is many things: a mystery, an art procedural, a historical quasi-romance, inside-the-art-world dish, and the portrait of a young artist involved in things she ought not to be. You could also consider it a caper story and not be far wrong.
Claire Roth is a Boston artist in bad odor with the art establishment, eking out a living creating reproductions of classic works for an online art mill while her own paintings languish. Her call to adventure comes in the form of a prominent gallery owner who offers her a one-woman show in exchange for a tiny favor: create an exact copy of a Degas masterpiece that just happens to have been stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990 in the largest theft in American history.
That we actually buy this is a tribute to author Shapiro’s skill in setting up Claire’s character and her world. Claire has the seismic temperament you’d expect of a young artist – by turns driven, romantic, flighty, bitter, euphoric and terrified. The tragic incident in her past that’s left her on the outs with the East Coast art establishment also illustrates her bona fides for pulling off this caper. She’s a Degas obsessive, and we feel her joy and awe at having one of the master’s missing gems in her studio. The first time she touches the painting is in spirit a sex scene, the forbidden and the sensual wrapped up in a simple gesture. Likewise, when the job starts going to pieces and the authorities close in, we can sense her rising panic and paranoia in a way entirely consistent with her character.
Claire’s narration of the copying process sounds detailed and authentic without becoming a textbook. She details her research at enough length to make it all credible, but you won’t feel like you’ve absorbed the archival mold spores by the end of it. When she discovers that the supposed masterpiece may itself be a forgery, her decision to track down the real painting feels organic. For once we have an amateur detective whose involvement in the case is actually credible.
It’s good that Claire is as well-drawn as she is, because she’s on nearly every page of the book. Those pages from which she’s absent are given over to the painting’s backstory as told by Isabella Stewart Gardner (one of the first important female collectors in America) herself. Her flirtation with Degas and the genesis of the painting is revealed through chatty letters supposedly written by Gardner to her favorite niece. While important to the overall plot, these letters are perhaps the weakest part of the book; they often sound too writerly, and you’ll wonder why a woman of Gardner’s station would commit to paper some of the things she tells her niece. You’ll also guess her secret long before the author reveals it to you. It’s a nice device and works okay, but it’s not as compelling as Claire’s story.
Claire is periodically attended by a group of arty chums, two of whom become prominent characters: Rik, the snappy gay friend, occupies a useful position in the Gardner Museum, while Mike, a fellow artist, is a handy lawyer. There’s nothing groundbreaking about either of them, but they’re good-enough company and don’t sound any significant false notes. Adrian, the gallery owner, is perhaps a bit too dreamboaty – my mind wandered to Roarke in J.D. Robb’s …in Death series – but at least Claire takes a while to realize her attraction to him. The settings work well, and a few (such as Claire’s studio and Adrian’s gallery) feel realistic and well-observed.
The ending is the one major misstep. It’s pure Hollywood, tying up everything over-neatly with way more happiness than the preceding sturm und drang would seem to support. It’s also not as surefooted as what led up to it, as if Claire’s voice is meant for disappointment and can’t properly convey sunniness.
Art crime isn’t a subject that often turns up in a mystery. It’s refreshing to be dealing with stakes that don’t involve yet another murder (better, not yet another serial killer). Even though there’s no blood, this isn’t a cozy. The mystery is twisty enough to keep you occupied without feeling like homework. You’ll even learn some stuff. If you’re looking for a break from tough-guy heroes, slimeball villains and dead bodies but still need your crime fix, give The Art Forger a try. Our Heroine’s life is an interesting place to spend a few hours, and you might feel like visiting a museum afterwards.
Claire Roth is a Boston artist in bad odor with the art establishment, eking out a living creating reproductions of classic works for an online art mill while her own paintings languish. Her call to adventure comes in the form of a prominent gallery owner who offers her a one-woman show in exchange for a tiny favor: create an exact copy of a Degas masterpiece that just happens to have been stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990 in the largest theft in American history.
That we actually buy this is a tribute to author Shapiro’s skill in setting up Claire’s character and her world. Claire has the seismic temperament you’d expect of a young artist – by turns driven, romantic, flighty, bitter, euphoric and terrified. The tragic incident in her past that’s left her on the outs with the East Coast art establishment also illustrates her bona fides for pulling off this caper. She’s a Degas obsessive, and we feel her joy and awe at having one of the master’s missing gems in her studio. The first time she touches the painting is in spirit a sex scene, the forbidden and the sensual wrapped up in a simple gesture. Likewise, when the job starts going to pieces and the authorities close in, we can sense her rising panic and paranoia in a way entirely consistent with her character.
Claire’s narration of the copying process sounds detailed and authentic without becoming a textbook. She details her research at enough length to make it all credible, but you won’t feel like you’ve absorbed the archival mold spores by the end of it. When she discovers that the supposed masterpiece may itself be a forgery, her decision to track down the real painting feels organic. For once we have an amateur detective whose involvement in the case is actually credible.
It’s good that Claire is as well-drawn as she is, because she’s on nearly every page of the book. Those pages from which she’s absent are given over to the painting’s backstory as told by Isabella Stewart Gardner (one of the first important female collectors in America) herself. Her flirtation with Degas and the genesis of the painting is revealed through chatty letters supposedly written by Gardner to her favorite niece. While important to the overall plot, these letters are perhaps the weakest part of the book; they often sound too writerly, and you’ll wonder why a woman of Gardner’s station would commit to paper some of the things she tells her niece. You’ll also guess her secret long before the author reveals it to you. It’s a nice device and works okay, but it’s not as compelling as Claire’s story.
Claire is periodically attended by a group of arty chums, two of whom become prominent characters: Rik, the snappy gay friend, occupies a useful position in the Gardner Museum, while Mike, a fellow artist, is a handy lawyer. There’s nothing groundbreaking about either of them, but they’re good-enough company and don’t sound any significant false notes. Adrian, the gallery owner, is perhaps a bit too dreamboaty – my mind wandered to Roarke in J.D. Robb’s …in Death series – but at least Claire takes a while to realize her attraction to him. The settings work well, and a few (such as Claire’s studio and Adrian’s gallery) feel realistic and well-observed.
The ending is the one major misstep. It’s pure Hollywood, tying up everything over-neatly with way more happiness than the preceding sturm und drang would seem to support. It’s also not as surefooted as what led up to it, as if Claire’s voice is meant for disappointment and can’t properly convey sunniness.
Art crime isn’t a subject that often turns up in a mystery. It’s refreshing to be dealing with stakes that don’t involve yet another murder (better, not yet another serial killer). Even though there’s no blood, this isn’t a cozy. The mystery is twisty enough to keep you occupied without feeling like homework. You’ll even learn some stuff. If you’re looking for a break from tough-guy heroes, slimeball villains and dead bodies but still need your crime fix, give The Art Forger a try. Our Heroine’s life is an interesting place to spend a few hours, and you might feel like visiting a museum afterwards.
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