False Impressions
by:
Hoving, Thomas
Publisher:
Touchstone Books
Published:May 8, 1997
ISBN:0684831481
Format:Paperback
Pages:368
Description:
From Publishers Weekly
Take care if you're planning to buy a Renoir landscape or a Manet?there are art fakers who can convincingly simulate the former in two hours, the latter in three, according to Hoving in this wry guide to the world of art
forgeries. Hoving (Making the Mummies Dance), former director of New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art, devotes the first several chapters to a chronological history of art faking; some readers may find this section too detailed and anecdotal. The
livelier part of the book involves Hoving's reminiscences about his experiences as a student at Princeton, his apprenticeship at the Met and his sleuthing to detect art fakes. He covers such intriguing topics here as forgers who have "tricked them all,"
what makes an ideal fake-buster and the "sin" of labeling genuine artifacts as fakes. Noting that art forgery is as old as art, the author warns that "the art world we are living in today is a new, highly active, unprincipled one of art fakery," which he
attributes to "raw commercialism" and the "get-rich quick attitude of the times." But Hoving, who enjoys showing off, leads us to believe that with him on the case, no fraud is safe.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers
to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
The former Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art here discloses shocking details of major art forgeries and the intricate chicanery of con artists who have
duped the world's most prestigious art institutions, art experts, and collectors. Hoving (Making the Mummies Dance, LJ 11/1/92) traces the earliest art deceptions from the time of the Phoenicians, through ancient Roman forgeries of Greek artifacts and
the innumerable crucifixion relics of the Middle Ages, to the phony sculpture,... read more --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
Delving into one of the most sacrosanct areas of
culture--fine art collecting--Thomas Hoving presents a gallery of art fakes, fakers, and the suckers who fell for the scams. From the shroud of Turin to pre-Colombian pottery, Hoving reveals the biggest, the best, the most embarrassing, and the most
costly forgeries in history--many of them unknown until now. photos.
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