The Man Who Made Vermeers: Unvarnishing the Legend of Master Forger Han van Meegeren

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE, THE LAST VERMEER, STARRING GUY PEARCE: A revelatory biography of the world’s most famous forger—a talented Mr. Ripley armed with a paintbrush—and a deliciously detailed story of deceit in the art world.

It’s a story that made Dutch painter Han van Meegeren famous worldwide when it broke at the end of World War II: A lifetime of disappointment drove him to forge Vermeers, one of which he sold to Hermann Goering in mockery of the Nazis. And it’s a story that’s been believed ever since. Too bad it isn't true.

In this gripping work of true crime, Jonathan Lopez has drawn on never-before-seen documents from dozens of archives for this long-overdue unvarnishing of the master forger Han van Meegeren’s legend. Neither unappreciated artist nor antifascist hero, Van Meegeren emerges as an ingenious, dyed-in-the-wool crook. Lopez explores a network of illicit commerce that operated across Europe: Not only was Van Meegeren a key player in that high-stakes game of art fraud in the 1920s and ’30s, landing fakes with famous collectors such as Andrew Mellon, but he and his associates later cashed in on the Nazi occupation.

This definitive account reveals the shocking truth behind the legend:

• A World War II Art Crime: The astonishing story of how Han van Meegeren sold a counterfeit Vermeer to Hermann Goering, not as an act of rebellion, but as a business transaction.
• The Forger’s Web of Deceit: An exploration of the Europe-wide network of illicit commerce Van Meegeren was part of for decades, long before the war, duping famous collectors like Andrew Mellon.
• Art Forgery Investigation: Drawing on never-before-seen archives, author Jonathan Lopez dismantles the popular myth of Van Meegeren as an anti-fascist hero, revealing him as a professional criminal and Nazi sympathizer.
• Fascinating Dutch History: A rich, detailed look at the high-stakes European art market in the 1920s, ’30s, and through the Nazi occupation, revealing how a master forger could thrive.