Reading on the Ave Book Club: The Forger's Spell (public event)

All are welcome to attend the Reading on the Avenue Book Club, which meets in the Community Room of Willow Glen Library on the 4th Tuesday of every month. On August 24, we'll be discussing The Forger’s Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century by Edward Dolnick.

As riveting as a World War II thriller, The Forger's Spell is the true story of Johannes Vermeer and the mediocre Dutch painter, Han van Meegeren, who dared to impersonate him centuries later. The con man's mark was Hermann Goering, one of the most reviled leaders of Nazi Germany and a fanatic collector of art.

For seven years Meegeren managed to pass off his paintings as those of one of the most beloved and admired artists who ever lived. But, as Edward Dolnick reveals, the reason for the forger's success was not his artistic skill. His true genius lay in psychological manipulation, and he came within inches of fooling both the Nazis and the world. Instead, he landed in an Amsterdam court on trial for his life.