HarperCollins
ISBN: 978-1616201326
Published Oct 23, 2012
Kindle version, 368 pages
Claire Roth reproduces paintings for a
living. She is a talented artist who is an expert on Degas, but who
longs to have her own paintings displayed. However, she lost her
confidence when she stirred up the art world a few years back with a
scandal including her ex-lover who had also been her art professor.
So when a well-known art gallery owner visits her studio to make a
deal with her to copy the famous Degas painting, stolen from the
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum years ago, in exchange for her own
show at his famous gallery, she is pulled in and finds herself
spiraling in a world of deceit.
There are many things I loved about The
Art Forger. I was immersed in the art world which is fascinating,
including forgery of famous paintings and exactly how it is done.
Wow, that blew me away, to learn how an artist can use methods to
make a copy look and feel so authentic that even scientific methods of
verifying could not detect the forgery. This book had me doing
research on the Internet. It made me want to visit museums and stare
at the paintings.
Claire was an interesting character in
that she was a great artist, intelligent, dedicated and vulnerable,
but a lousy judge of character. I could empathize about and
understand her relationship with the first man; she was young and
impressionable. But I wanted to shake her when she threw
caution aside and got involved with the second man. She had been
burnt before and her current situation was already precarious. But her flawed
character and the intriguing plot is what kept me turning the pages.
I also loved how the story was
unpredictable. It kept me guessing how it would all end. It's true
that the ending was tied up nice and neat, but after everything that
happened I didn't mind. I wanted Claire to get a break, even though
she made some stupid mistakes. She was honest and her love of
painting, of creating, was so strong, I could relate to her passion. In summary, this was a great novel to escape into.
If you love art, the art world, a good
story that's different, and an easy read, pick up The Art Forger.
I'm positive you will learn things about art you never knew.
Note: This book is rated P = Profanity for a few f-bombs and S = sex scenes, not explicit.
Reviewed by Laura
Disclosure: I bought this book and was not told how to rate or review this product.
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