[MSN] Books - I Was Vermeer: The Legend of the Forger Who Swindled the Nazis

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

Out of the blue
Michel Faber admires the brushstrokes in I Was Vermeer, Frank Wynne's account of the brilliant Dutch forger Han van Meegeren

I Was Vermeer: The Legend of the Forger Who Swindled the Nazis
by Frank Wynne
276pp, Bloomsbury, £14.99

Few treasures are rarer than Vermeers: a mere 35 canvases, which, in a world teeming with millionaires and major art galleries, is clearly not enough to go round. This is especially frustrating when experts know that the Master of Delft painted at least 15 more, all lost or misattributed. Imagine their joy when, in the years between 1936 and 1943, seven new Vermeers came to light. "New" is the right word; the paintings were actually produced by Han van Meegeren, forger extraordinaire.

http://books.guardian.co.uk