Provenance: How A Con Man And A Forger Rewrote The History Of Modern Art (2009) - Plot & Excerpts
It's hard not to be at least curious about the subject of art forgery, and this book really satisfied that interest. This husband and wife team manage to narrate what is possibly the most convoluted series of events imaginable! The central characters (forger, con-man, experts, dupes, runners, detectives and more) are given full flesh and the story moves along at a nice clip. An easy read with a delightful ending (for some at least!) Mind blowing con, perpetuated over 9 years (just the art part) by John Drewe - who seemed to have lived the life of a con for many years before and after. Not only was art forged but so were many of the supporting documents, aka, the provenance. Amazing to follow how this guy got away with con after con. It's hard to believe in reading that he had any sense of reality, his world was so self-constructed. Compelling and interesting read.
What do You think about Provenance: How A Con Man And A Forger Rewrote The History Of Modern Art (2009)?
Fabulous, real-life detective story, and I learned a lot about the world of high priced art.
—SusTE
Interesting. Wouldn't have picked it to read but glad that the book group did.
—Ghadia
