Why read Provenance?

Book cover of Provenance: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art

Book description

A tautly paced investigation of one the 20th century's most audacious art frauds, which generated hundreds of forgeries-many of them still hanging in prominent museums and private collections today

Provenance is the extraordinary narrative of one of the most far-reaching and elaborate deceptions in art history. Investigative reporters Laney Salisbury…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Provenance as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Gail Levin

Author

This book shows the importance of provenance or history of ownership in tracking the authenticity of works of art.

We learn about criminals, who not only can forge art, but they can also fake or hide archival materials. For me, this sheds light on the case of Edward Hopper’s papers, because we will never know what the minister removed or destroyed from what he took.

Since he was using these papers both to pose as an expert on Hopper and to hide his possession of hundreds of undocumented artworks by one of the most documented of all artists, he might…

From Gail's list on The best books that shed light on the fate of the Edward Hopper Estate (missing art and papers).