The Art Forger's Handbook

The international art world was plunged into turmoil when it was revealed, in 1980, that many drawings previously attributed to artists as varied as Breughel, Piranesi, and Corot were in fact the work of the English artist Eric Hebborn. Time and again, Hebborn had tempted the experts into making false attributions and putting fakes up for auction. Here in The Art Forger's Handbook, written shortly before his mysterious death, is the artist's master class in the art of faking Old Masters. Packed with wonderfully entertaining and often outrageous speculations about the nature of art, truth, and value, Hebborn details the secrets of his techniques, revealing in the process a truly profound knowledge of the great artists of the past, and above all an overwhelming capacity for deceit, culture, and charm.… (more)