The Forger’s Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century

The Forger’s Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century by Edward Dolnick

Towards the end of World War II, Holland was in ruins. One of the few ways to make money was to sell artwork to the fleeing Nazis. Han van Meegeren was a talented artist whose paintings did not gain much respect. He was willing to experiment and concoct ways for his paintings to past the tests to identify them as centuries old. He then created some "new" Vermeer paintings. The experts believed him and he was able to make a fortune selling these paintings to the Nazis. Alas, he was eventually caught - not for creating forgeries, but for collaborating with the enemy. He admitted to forging and ended up with a lighter sentence, but died before he served it. It is interesting that the "art" in artwork is not very important as compared to the provenance.