Edward Dolnick -- Forger's spell
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Some themes -- What is in "The forger's spell"?

* It's a fascinating story about interesting and entertaining
  characters, ones that you can hate and despise, as well as admire
  and root for.  And, you will find yourself seduced into wanting to
  learn what they do and what will happen to them.  Han Van Meegeren
  may have been a despicable cad, but he was also a entertaining
  one and a brilliant as well as a skilled craftsman.

* It's an engaging meditation on value and valuation in art, on who
  sets values (in particular, monetary values) and how.  You may
  become skeptical about the value of expensive works of art, or
  you may learn to appreciate them more, but you will certainly be
  encouraged to think through your own feelings about them.

* And since it's a story of events and deeds, it encourages you to
  become an active participant in the formation of ideas and values
  about character and art.  In fact, it's difficult *not* to be
  drawn into doing so.

* It encourages you to do your own analysis of several works of
  art.  You get guidance on how to evaluate these works of art, but
  that guidance is given almost in the form of an argument that
  encourages you to form your own values.

* It's an account of another aspect of Europe in a time of war (WW II):
  history from the point of view of the looting of art, where
  those artistic treasures went, how (some of them) were found
  and recovered.

* And, it's a series of lessons on the craft and technology of the
  forgery of painting.  What must a forger do in order to succeed
  at producing a fake that deceives experts and art viewers?  And,
  how does he produce that fake?

In summary, "engaging" is the word that suggests the most about
what I find in "The forger's spell".  In engages me, and pushes me
and pulls me and motivates me to think through my own feelings and
ideas and values about art.

05/09/2010

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