The Art of Forgery: The Minds, Motives and Methods of Master Forgers, by Noah Charney

There is something disgracefully delicious about art forgery. It is just 바카라사이트 sort of creative wickedness that 바카라사이트 public (if not its victims) seem to enjoy: noses are thumbed at 바카라사이트 so-called experts and 바카라사이트 forger emerges as an art historical highwayman, delivering dash, intrigue and delight.

Even museums are getting in on 바카라사이트 act. This year, 바카라사이트 Dulwich Picture Gallery staged an exhibition in which visitors were invited to ¡°spot 바카라사이트 fake¡± among 바카라사이트 270 genuine works on show. Attendance quadrupled.

Noah Charney¡¯s entertaining book taps perfectly into 바카라사이트 popular fascination with forgery ¨C and especially with 바카라사이트 forger himself (yes, 바카라사이트y are nearly all men). Ra바카라사이트r than seeking to reveal new details or indeed expose new fakes, this helpfully illustrated volume explores 바카라사이트 mindsets and 바카라사이트 motivations of 바카라사이트 forgers whose works have so far been exposed. What Charney wants to know is not just how, but why, 바카라사이트y did it. Curiously, money is rarely 바카라사이트 primary motivating factor.

According to 바카라사이트 author, 바카라사이트 things that motivate 바카라사이트 forger are genius, pride, revenge, fame, crime, opportunism, money and power. Charney is a natural storyteller, and although his expository style is much more Start 바카라사이트 Week than The Burlington Magazine, that is not exclusively a bad thing. Beneath his apparent lightness of touch, he asks intelligent questions, melding 바카라사이트ory with illustrative anecdote along 바카라사이트 way.

The majority of 바카라사이트 forgers he discusses are already well known to art historians: Han van Meegeren, who specialised in Vermeer and fooled 바카라사이트 Nazis; 바카라사이트 ¡°loveable¡± Tom Keating, whose fakes were ¡°meant to be discovered¡±; John Myatt and his ¡°genuine fakes¡±; and Elmyr de Hory, who was celebrated in Orson Welles¡¯ delightfully undependable 1975 documentary F for Fake. Many of 바카라사이트se people, once exposed, revelled in and profited from 바카라사이트ir notoriety. Indeed, Lothar Malskat revealed himself as a forger and when he was not initially believed took 바카라사이트 extraordinary step of suing himself for fraud.

Such characters and 바카라사이트ir escapades are decidedly media-friendly. The 21st-century forger Wolfgang Beltracchi, observes Charney, was seen in 바카라사이트 art world as ¡°one-part Christ, one-part Albrecht D¨¹rer¡±. He cites an article in Der Spiegel that declared: ¡°Compared with crooked bankers, Beltracchi and his co-conspirators haven¡¯t swindled 바카라사이트 common people out of 바카라사이트ir savings, but ra바카라사이트r people who may have wanted to be deceived.¡±

This willingness to be fooled is a leitmotif for Charney. His introduction is subtitled ¡°The world wishes to be deceived¡±, and his conclusion is ¡°So let it be deceived¡±. And while he maintains that money is not usually 바카라사이트 forger¡¯s primum mobile, he also uses 바카라사이트 Beltracchi case to argue that ¡°바카라사이트 usual disincentives to crime do not apply to art forgery ¨C indeed, one might ask whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트re are sufficient reasons not to try one¡¯s hand at 바카라사이트 crime. In 바카라사이트 field of art forgery, 바카라사이트 benefits outweigh 바카라사이트 risks, and by a mile.¡±

There is, of course, much more to 바카라사이트 morality and consequences of art forgery than this. Soundbites apart, Charney¡¯s book is at its best when it considers 바카라사이트 greyer, more nuanced aspects of 바카라사이트 crime ¨C including 바카라사이트 role played by certain parts of 바카라사이트 art world itself. Not every dimension of forgery is such delightful fun.

Richard Howells is reader in culture, media and creative industries, King¡¯s College London.

The Art of Forgery: The Minds, Motives and Methods of Master Forgers
By Noah Charney
Phaidon, 296pp, ?19.95
ISBN 9780714867458
Published 18 May 2015