Now a major motion picture starring Guy Pearce, The Last Vermeer* is 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.
Jonathan Lopez has drawn on never-before-seen documents from dozens of archives for this long-overdue unvarnishing of 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 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.
*Formerly titled The Man Who Made Vermeers
- A Definitive Han van Meegeren Biography: Based on years of research into never-before-seen documents, this account dismantles the legend to reveal the man.
- Gripping World War II History: Go inside the high-stakes European art market during the Nazi occupation, where forgers and officials like Hermann Goering played a dangerous game.
- Master Art Forgery: Discover the story of how Van Meegeren didn’t just fool the world’s leading art experts—he also created a myth about his motives that has lasted for decades.
- A True Crime Exposé: Uncover the network of illicit commerce that enriched a master forger, from the Roaring Twenties to the darkest days of the war, revealing him not as a folk hero, but an ingenious crook.
