An expert, a criminal, and an FBI agent.
In researching for Veridian Sterling Fakes It, I read many books on art crime. Not only did I need to know the ins and outs of how to forge a painting, I also needed to understand the motivation behind doing so. Some artists forged great art for money. Some artists forged for vanity. Some artists never intended for their forgeries to be sold at all—but they got into the wrong hands.
If you’re as intrigued by art crime as much as I am, here are 3 superb books to read.
The Art Thief: A Novel by Noah Charney
Noah Charney has written dozens of brilliant books about art and art crime. He is a professor of art history specializing in art crime and is considered the leading authority on it.. He’s also super generous and gave Veridian Sterling Fakes It an incredible blurb. If you love art crime and art history, visit his website. You’ll be mesmerized by his wealth of knowledge.
Con/Artist: The Life and Crimes of the World’s Greatest Art Forger by Tony Tetro
A biography of Tony Tetro. Tetro writes about his life as an art forger in the 70’s and 80’s in this gripping book. He takes his readers behind the scenes (and behind the canvas), and details how he created his masterful forgeries, who he fooled into buying them, and what happened when he was eventually caught. Absolutely fascinating.
Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World’s Stolen Treasures by Robert K. Wittman
Wittman writes about travelling the world over to rescue paintings by Monet, Rembrandt, Pissarro and Picasso, among other great works. As an undercover agent for the FBI Art Crime Team (which he also founded), Wittman details his dangerous rendezvous with scammers and art thieves and describes risking his life in so doing. I can’t say enough about how much this book helped me research art crimes.
https://www.robertwittmaninc.com
If you have some favorite books on art crime, please tell me!
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