Friday, September 6, 2019

Stephanie Kane--A Perfect Eye



DEBORAH CROMBIE: We are having an arty week here on Jungle Red! I've always been fascinated by books centered on art, whether it's heists or scams of clever forgeries. And when stakes AND egos are high, you have a perfect recipe for misdeeds of the highest order. Add a French Impressionist to the mix, and I am totally hooked! Here are some startling facts--and a helluva story, from author Stephanie Kane!

 STEPHANIE KANE-- My Favorite Criminal
It’s estimated that twenty percent of the art in museums today is fake. That’s roughly one in five paintings hanging on the wall. How do forgers get away with it? I care because as a crime writer, I’m always looking for a good crime. That means an interesting criminal.
Not that I’m promiscuous. I do have standards. Sex and money may be the root of all crime, but a purely financial motive doesn’t do it for me. I like my crime straight, not with a dose of humor; capers and heists are out no matter how clever they are. Nor do I like gratuitous sex or violence. My crimes need a psychological motive, the more twisted the better. And the criminal has to be be self-defeating. The seeds of his downfall must be embedded in the obsession itself.
In A PERFECT EYE, a landscape by Impressionist Gustave Caillebotte becomes the template for a murder. To ignite a grievance powerful enough to kill, the painting had to mean something personal to the killer. What kind of guy gets that torqued over a landscape? That led me to forgers. It turns out the best ones don’t do it for the money. They do it to make a point.
The classic art forger is a failed artist who is frustrated by the art world’s refusal to recognize his genius. He gets his revenge by showing how easily the “experts” are fooled. But once he proves his superiority by getting away with it, it isn’t enough. Now he wants credit. Forgers are twisted and self-defeating, but my criminal still needed one more thing. I had to relate to him personally.
When I was a lawyer, the client who gave me nightmares wasn’t the one who decapitated a kid in a low-slung sportscar when the hitch on his trailer failed; at least he was remorseful. My nightmare was an ordinary con man. Con men thrive on marks. They’ll leave $100 on the table to cheat you out of $10. Because lawyers want to believe in their clients, they are prime marks. I certainly was. And he knew it.
My con man sabotaged his case just because he could. I dreaded our interactions. By the time I got him a deal for restitution and counseling, I couldn’t stand to be in the same room with him. Sensing my discomfort, at the last minute he nixed the deal. I was able to get out of the case only after he stiffed me on my fee. But for a novelist, revenge can be sweet.
When I plugged my revulsion for that con man into my forger, he started to become real. A forger is a human shell. Like a con man without a mark, he’s nothing without a real artist to copy. Which brought me to how he does it.
Unsurprisingly, some forgers glory in their work. They even write books about it. A real forger, Eric Hebborn, was more than generous with his tips in The Art Forger’s Handbook. The first step is mastering technique.
As with a con, the art is in the line. A forger’s lines are as fundamental as a painter’s touch.
Experts look for a flowing line in one part of a drawing or painting and a hesitant one elsewhere. When Hebborn tried to make a forgery too faithful to the original, his line was halting—too deliberate and precise. He sped it up and it began to flow. Spontaneity mimics the throes of creation.
The second step is creating a convincing backstory. The art world calls that provenance. An unbroken chain of title from the time the artist completed a painting is rare; gaps in the chain are the rule. For a forger, each gap is an opportunity to salt the record with phony data: letters, diaries, an early sketch of the painting itself. How would my forger create a false provenance? Gustave Caillebotte was a forger’s dream.
When Caillebotte died at age 45, he left just a small body of work. He’d inherited wealth, and unlike Monet, Renoir or Degas, he never had to paint to sell. He was also intensely private. He left no journals or diaries, but in 1883 from his countryside estate he wrote to Monet about his frustrations with a series of landscapes he was painting: For the two months I have been here I have worked as much as I could—but everything I do is really bad. Caillebotte practically begged a forger to paint one more in the series—a “lost” landscape that would be the breakthrough he so desperately sought.
But could my forger get away with it?  


Gustave Caillebotte, Paris, Rainy Day (The Art Institute of Chicago)

Authentication of paintings has traditionally rested on connoisseurship, the so-called “eye” of an art historian or dealer who has expertise in the artist’s work. Forensic tests can be expensive, destructive and non-definitive, and a forger can beat them with period materials. Centuries-old canvasses can be found in flea markets throughout Europe; in his book, Hebborn provides a recipe for boiling acorns to make iron gall ink. It goes back to the expert’s eye. Who doesn’t want to find a lost Impressionist masterpiece? And having found one, why let it go?
Now it’s game on. Hubris and clashing egos put criminal and victim on a par, and the line between good and evil blurs. As he craves recognition from a world he despises, the forger’s dodgy moral code kicks in. People believe what they want to believe. As the con man says, there’s a sucker born every minute. In a world where perception so often trumps truth, my forger could pull it off. The one thing he might not count on is a paintings conservator with a perfect eye of her own.
Like I said, revenge is sweet. 
DEBS: I love the Caillebotte painting above, owned by the Art Institute of Chicago. Reds and readers, do you have a favorite art-related crime novel? Share with us, and chat with Stephanie!

 
Stephanie Kane is a lawyer and award-winning author of four crime novels. Born in Brooklyn, she came to Colorado as a freshman at CU. She owned and ran a karate studio in Boulder and is a second-degree black belt. After graduating from law school, she was a corporate partner at a top Denver law firm before becoming a criminal defense attorney. She has lectured on money laundering and white collar crime in Eastern Europe, and given workshops throughout the ountry on writing technique.
She lives in Denver with her husband and two black cats. Extreme Indifference and Seeds of Doubt won a Colorado Book Award for Mystery and two Colorado Authors League Awards for Genre Fiction. She belongs to Mystery Writers of America, Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers and the Colorado Authors League. CONNECT WITH STEPHANIE KANE ONLINE WEBSITE: writerkane.com


49 comments:

  1. This is so interesting, Stephanie . . . never really thought about art forgery from the forger’s point of view. I’m definitely looking forward to reading “A Perfect Eye.”

    I don’t know that I have a favorite art-related crime novel, but I enjoyed Daniel Silva’s “The Rembrandt Affair” . . . .

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  2. And the winner of THE HIDDEN THINGS by Jamie Mason is: Libby Dodd! Email me your address! H ryan @ whdh.com
    Yaay!

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  3. Remember the Clifford Irving story? And then he wrote a book talking about how he forged all the paintings? What was the story again? I’m sitting in the Amtrak waiting room at Penn station, trying to dredge up that story from my memory...
    I want to hear more about this story! What happened? .

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    1. Is it Fake, Hank? https://www.amazon.com/FAKE-Story-Elmyr-Greatest-Forger/dp/0070320470

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    2. Clifford Irving was a classic con man.

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    1. The painting in my story is a fake. It's the seventh in a series of six landscapes that were painted by Gustave Caillebotte. One of the most fun things about writing the book was composing the painting, and burying clues in it.

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  5. This is riveting! and your client, horrifying! He gave you a crash course in psychopathology...

    Definitely enjoyed BA Shapiro's THE ART FORGER. Now I realize I'm way behind...

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    1. He sure did. The more I invested in him, the more he sabotaged his case. I had to invest more and more into trying to resolve it.

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  6. Yes, so agree on gratuitous sex and violence--much prefer the sort of story you've written, Stephanie. My favorite art-forger mystery is The Palace Guard by Charlotte MacLeod--it has lots of humor, but also lets us see the forger's point of view about their 'business.'

    And my favorite art-forger movie is How To Steal A Million, with Audrey Hepburn and Peter O'Toole. A romantic comedy from 1966. So I guess I like a dash of fun with my art forger choices.

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    1. I don't remember that one, Flora. Will have to look it up! I loved Charlotte MacLeod's books.

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    2. How To Steal a Million (oh such a modest amount...) is a wonderful movie. Terrific cast and script and costumes.

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  7. We can't talk about art in crime without bringing up Louise Penny's brilliant THE LONG WAY HOME. First off, the cover that hardback was almost a painting in itself, printed on faux canvas-style paper. Wow, I even did a whole blog post just on the cover alone.

    But inside also is a story rich with art and the emotions art brings about. And that method of murder still haunts me as being one of the most audacious in our crime fiction genre. (It could have gone way over the top, but somehow, in Louise's hands it ties back to the soul of humanity.)

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  8. Not a novel, but I loved watching "White Collar," at least the first few seasons, on USA Network. The main character is an art forger who works with the FBI to spot art crimes. He talked about a lot of the same things.

    And that client - wow!

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  9. In the last year I read a book with an art forger in it, at the heart of the story. But it would be a spoiler to reveal the title. That's if I could remember the name of the book. Ahem.

    Art appreciation is so subjective, though. And who's to say that the forgery is not equally as valuable as the original? Why is the painting by Degas or Warhol worth so many more times more than an exact, to the brushstroke, copy? Technically, they are the same, in many ways. The original idea, of course, is central to the worth. But I marvel at what art is considered worth in the first place, really. It invites imitation and theft, that implied value, doesn't it?

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    1. That's one of the central dilemmas with forgery. Is an imitation as good as the real things so long as it moves you? Put another way, can a lie be beautiful? Art appreciation and valuation are subjective, but for me what makes art alive is the vision that inspired it.

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  10. BA Shapiro's The Art Forger. Loved the descriptions of baking the canvas in a pizza oven! I enjoy reading Silva's descriptions of Gabriel Allon restoring Renaissance works and dabbling in forgery or more recently, creating his own paintings.

    Are sculptures and/or jewelry forgeries created as successfully as paintings? I know about old paper and inks created from natural sources to forge sketches and drawings.

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    1. Sculptures have been counterfeited since Greek and Roman times. A great nonfiction book on it is FALSE IMPRESSIONS by Thomas Hoving, former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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  11. Fascinating, Stephanie! I can't imagine trying to defend/help someone who is such a sleaze. It's a shame that really good forgers can't find something legal to do with their knowledge and talent. I mean, really! That is a lot of work!

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    1. It's a ton of work. But getting away with it makes it exciting to them.

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  12. Stephanie, thank you, your book sounds riveting and I look forward to reading it. I’m casting my vote with the others for Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Allon, a master of myriad skills; forging, misdirection, politics, weaponry, leadership, and loyal to the very end.

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  13. What fun! I have always enjoyed the story of Han Van Meegeren's forged Vermeers. He fooled the Nazis with his forgeries, and went to extreme ends to make his paintings "authentic," but they still look a little creepy to me. And I understand how an average of one in five paintings in museums are fake, particularly if you look at all the private collections that have become museums. I remember going through one oil baron's private home turned museum and thinking, "These are . . . not right." Checking the name cards, I realized of them might have been bought as Monets or Rembrants, but were now attributed to "the school of" the artist. Meaning someone who was trying to paint like the artist. Meaning, sadly, fake.

    I love a good art forgery story, but I'm not pulling any favorite novels out of my cluttered attic of a brain this morning. I loved "The Thomas Crown Affair," though. At least, the Pierce Brosnan version. Such fun.

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    1. Me, too, Gigi. Maybe time to watch that one again!

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    2. Van Meegeren fooled Hermann Goering, but after the war he was arrested and charged with collaborating with the enemy and plundering Dutch cultural heritage. He beat the charge by painting another fake Vermeer while in custody!

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  14. I loved The Art Forger, too. And I have book called Landscape of Lies by Peter Watson that is great fun. An ugly old painting, thought to be worthless, turns out to be a priceless 16th century treasure map, and mayhem of course ensues.

    Daniel Silva's books have been on my to-get-to list for a long time, but I haven't got-to, lol.

    Stephanie, I'd love to know more about your story, and about your painting conservator. What got you interested in art crime to begin with?

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    1. I was looking for inspiration for a new series heroine and read an article about Amy Herman. Herman is an art historian who trains med students,lawyers,cops and FBI agents to hone their diagnostic and investigatory skills by studying paintings in museums. Herman has written a book, VISUAL INTELLIGENCE, about her process. It seemed like a wonderful skill set for a new kind of detective and it launched me into the art world.

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  15. I have a 'solution' thanks to Stephanie, for the Art Theft discussed yesterday. All the pieces were forgeries. The museum knew this had the items stolen and collected the insurance.
    It must be so hard to seek justice for people who appear to be game players. I could not do it. I applaud those who can and did. Congratulations on the intriguing concept, Stephanie and best wishes.

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  16. Oooooh - this sounds like my cup of tea! I cannot resist art mysteries and have a few faves. Three books by B. A. Shapiro; The Art Forger, The Muralist and The Collector's Apprentice. Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch. The Masterpiece by Fiona Davis.

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    1. Double 'yay' for The Goldfinch! I'm also looking forward to the movie to see how the book was interpreted.

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  17. Stephanie Kane, welcome to Jungle Reds! There are many novels I have read with art related crimes. I love mystery novels. I recall a mystery novel about Caravaggio that Margaret Truman wrote. I forgot the title. I think there were several art related crimes in the Vicky Bliss series by Elizabeth ? Peters.

    Your novel sounds really interesting! I am adding your book to my reading list!

    Diana

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  18. I'm reading the latest in a series by Estelle Ryan. All the books have an artist in the title, i.e., The Roubaud Connection. The narrator is a young lady on the spectrum who reads people very well. She is teamed with an interesting bunch of folks, including a former art thief! All takes place in France. Good reading.
    Dar
    PS I'm posting for the first time after lurking for years so we'll see if this takes!

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    1. Thanks for the comment, Dar--and the recommendation! Going to check Estelle Ryan's book out now!

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  19. The Goldfinch - The Girl with the pearl earring - The art forger - I’m a big fan of books about art

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    1. Hallie - did you ever read Steve Martin's Object of Beauty? Not forgery, but I keep thinking about it lately!

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    2. Sami Jo - I have not... going to look for it now.

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  21. I don't see a mention of The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith, so I'll add it to the conversation. It's another that is set in several locations and timeframes and really enjoyed it.


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  22. A Girl with Pearl Earring is another favorite. I can read anything by Tracy Chevalier.

    Diana

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  23. What a wonderful article here about art forgery, Stephanie! I was shocked that so many of the paintings in museums are fakes. Also, the ease with which aged materials to make the paintings seem authentic age-wise was surprising. And, looking at art forgery from the viewpoint of the forger, who is frustrated that his painting, which is obviously as good as one of the Masters, can't get recognized in its own right.

    As I said the other day when Jamie Mason visited the blog, I'm a big fan of art mixed with fiction. I'll start with Jamie's book The Hidden Things as a great art/fiction book. In this book, a stolen painting worth millions is at the center of the action.

    One of my all-time favorites has to be The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova. Kostova is the author of the well-known The Historian, which deals with the Dracula legend.

    Two authors who are familiar to us here on this blog, Rhys Bowen and Triss Stein, have books that I so enjoyed for their art connections. Rhys' City of Darkness and Light, Molly Murphy #13, follows Molly to Paris in 1905. From my review, "The Paris of 1905, at the zenith of seminal modernist artists, provides a bevy of real-life characters, such as Degas, Picasso, Monet, and Cassatt. And, the places of Montmartre and Montparnasse will become wonderfully familiar." Triss' book Brooklyn Graves, Erica Donato #2, has a story line connected to Tiffany glass and its history of being used in mausoleums. From my review, "Erica's life becomes even busier when she is assigned by her boss at the museum to examine letters found in a Brooklyn attic that seem to have a Tiffany art connection and to accompany a Tiffany expert on a trip to the historic Brooklyn cemetery, Green-Wood."

    For those of us who still love YA and children's lit, Blue Balliett's Chasing Vermeer series is fantastic. Being obsessed with Vermeer led me to this series. The titles include Chasing Vermeer (dealing with, of course, Vermeer), The Wright 3 (dealing with Frank Lloyd Wright), The Calder Game (dealing with Alexander Calder sculpture), and Pieces and Players (dealing with an art theft of 13 painting from a private museum in Chicago--works by Degas and Vermeer).

    Of course, I have to mention Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier because I love this painting by Vermeer to distraction. I love to look at paintings or photographs and imagine the stories behind the images. One of my favorite paintings in the whole world is the National Gallery of Art's Leonardo da Vinci entitled "Ginevra Benci." I have stood at looked at this glass-enclosed painting for so long that I've made the security guards take notice. While it is known who she was, I'd love a story about her.

    I'll wrap up my art/fiction picks with The Goldfinch, since so many people here have mentioned it. If it weren't for the last 200 excessive pages, I would have loved this book, but Tart seemed to insist on hearing herself talk for 200 pages that could have used a good editor. And, that's the worst thing I'll ever say about a book. I was just so disappointed that the story was, for me, made less by that excess.



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    1. There have been so many wonderful art-fiction books. The Swan Thieves is one of my all-time favorites, too. I loved how Kostova recreated the period of the painting and wove it into the story.

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  24. Stephanie, I meant to add to my comments above that I have just ordered A Perfect Eye. It is exciting to find you and this book here today.

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  25. This is to me one of the most fascinating blog posts by a novelist that I have ever read. Preordered!

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  26. Thanks so much for your support, ladies!

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