I like to read stories set in the art world. And what more enticing art mystery is there than the Gardner art museum theft of March 18, 1990 in Boston? None, you say. It is only the biggest art heist in history! 13 artworks valued at over $500 million in today’s market. In The Art Forger Shapiro has drawn a convincing series of events, all the while giving insight into the craft of forging/copying oil paintings.
Claire Roth is a struggling painter who helps out her boyfriend, who is blocked. She ends up painting a work for which he takes credit. They break up. He is regaled as the next great painter. There are recriminations. She is approached to make a copy of a Degas, not a forgery. Now the story really starts to pick up steam! I enjoyed the history and the discussion of technique and I’m sure you will, too.