"The Art Forger" by B. A. Shapiro - Islington Branch Book Club - Past Titles

About the Author: B.A. Shapiro

B.A. Shapiro is the pen name of Barbara Shapiro, an American author best known for her novels blending elements of art history, mystery, and suspense.

While specific personal details may not be readily available, Barbara Shapiro has gained recognition for her literary contributions, particularly her novels such as "The Art Forger" and "The Muralist," which explore themes related to art, authenticity, and historical events.

Barbara Shapiro has demonstrated a talent for crafting compelling narratives that weave together elements of the past and present, often drawing inspiration from real-life events and figures in the art world. Her work has garnered praise for its intricate plotting, vivid settings, and engaging characters.

As with many authors, Barbara Shapiro's focus remains primarily on her literary work, and she may choose to keep her personal life private. Readers and fans interested in learning more about her writing journey and inspirations may find interviews and articles about her work helpful in gaining insights into her background and motivations as an author.

Synopsis

Almost twenty-five years after the infamous art heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum--still the largest unsolved art theft in history--one of the stolen Degas paintings is delivered to the Boston studio of a young artist. Claire Roth has entered into a Faustian bargain with a powerful gallery owner by agreeing to forge the Degas in exchange for a one-woman show in his renowned gallery. But as she begins her work, she starts to suspect that this long-missing masterpiece--the very one that had been hanging at the Gardner for one hundred years--may itself be a forgery. The Art Forger is a thrilling novel about seeing--and not seeing--the secrets that lie beneath the canvas.

Discussion Questions

Ethics and Morality:
- The protagonist, Claire Roth, grapples with ethical questions throughout the novel, particularly regarding her involvement in forging a famous painting. How do Claire's actions challenge traditional notions of right and wrong?
- Discuss the moral ambiguity surrounding the art world depicted in the novel. How do the characters justify their actions, and what does this reveal about their values?
Artistic Authenticity:
- Explore the theme of authenticity in art. What does the novel suggest about the significance of authenticity in the art world, and how does this relate to Claire's journey as an artist?
- Consider the parallels between Claire's struggles with authenticity in her own work and the broader questions of authenticity raised by the forgery plot.
Character Development:
- Analyze Claire Roth's character arc throughout the novel. How does her journey as an artist intersect with her personal growth and development?
- Discuss the motivations and complexities of other key characters, such as Aiden Markel and Isaac Cullion. How do their backgrounds and desires influence their actions?
Artistic Process:
- The novel provides insight into the process of creating art, particularly through Claire's perspective. How does Shapiro depict the artistic process, and what role does it play in Claire's life?
- Consider the significance of the various art techniques and materials mentioned in the novel, such as painting restoration and forgery methods.
Historical Context:
- "The Art Forger" is based on the real-life theft of paintings from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990. How does Shapiro incorporate this historical event into the narrative, and what impact does it have on the characters and plot?
- Discuss the role of historical fiction in shedding light on lesser-known events or aspects of art history.
Narrative Structure:
- The novel employs a dual timeline structure, alternating between Claire's present-day experiences and the events leading up to the art forgery. How does this narrative structure enhance the storytelling, and what thematic purposes does it serve?
- Consider the use of letters and diary entries within the novel. How do these documents contribute to the characterization and plot development?
Themes of Identity and Self-Discovery:
- Explore the theme of identity in the novel, particularly as it relates to Claire's struggle to establish herself as an artist and navigate her personal relationships.
- Discuss how Claire's journey of self-discovery intersects with her pursuit of artistic success and her involvement in the forgery scheme.
Critique of the Art World:
- Shapiro offers a critical perspective on the art world, highlighting issues such as elitism, exploitation, and the commodification of art. How does the novel critique these aspects of the art industry, and what broader social commentary does it offer?
Resolution and Closure:
- Reflect on the resolution of the novel and Claire's ultimate fate. Are you satisfied with how the various plot threads are resolved, or do you feel there are unanswered questions or loose ends?
Reader Interpretation:
- How does "The Art Forger" challenge your perceptions of art, authenticity, and morality? Did reading the novel prompt you to reconsider any preconceived notions about the art world?

MLN Materials

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Ebook Versions

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Audiobook Versions

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The Gardner Heist by Ulrich Boser
Call Number: 364.162 Boser
One museum, two thieves, and the Boston underworld--the story behind the lost Gardner masterpieces worth $500 million and the art detective who swore to get them back.
House of Thieves by Charles Belfoure
Call Number: FICTION Belfoure
In 1886 New York, a respectable architect shouldn't have any connection to the notorious gang of thieves and killers that rules the underbelly of the city. But when John Cross's son racks up an unfathomable gambling debt to Kent's Gents, Cross must pay it back himself. All he has to do is use his inside knowledge of high society mansions and museums to craft a robbery even the smartest detectives won't solve. The take better include some cash too --the bigger the payout, the faster this will be over. With a newfound talent for sniffing out vulnerable and lucrative targets, Cross becomes invaluable to the gang. But Cross's entire life has become a balancing act, and it will only take one mistake for it all to come crashing down --and for his family to go down too.
The Lioness of Boston by Emily Franklin
Call Number: FICTION Franklin
A deeply evocative portrayal of the life of the daring trailblazer for women everywhere. Isabella Stewart Gardner, vision not only created an inimitable legacy in American art but also transformed a city. By the time Isabella Stewart Gardner opened her Italian palazzo-style home as a museum in 1903 to showcase her collection of old masters, antiques, and objects d'art, she was already well-known for scandalizing Boston's polite society. But when Isabella first arrived in Boston in 1861, she was twenty years old, newly married to a wealthy trader, and unsure of herself. Puzzled by the frosty reception she received from stuffy bluebloods, she strived to fit in. After two devastating tragedies and rejection from upper society, Isabella discovered her spirit and cast off expectations. Freed by travel, Isabella explores the world of art, ideas, and letters, meeting such kindred spirits as Henry James and Oscar Wilde. From London and Paris to Egypt and Asia, she develops a keen eye for paintings and objects, and meets feminists ready to transform nineteenth century thinking in the twentieth century. Isabella becomes her own person, painted by John Singer Sargent in a portrait of daring décolletage, and fond of such stunts as walking a pair of lions in the Boston Public Garden. And finally becomes the first woman to open a museum in the United States. The Lioness of Boston is a portrait of what society expected a woman's life to be, shattered by a courageous soul who rebelled and was determined to live on her own terms.
The Forgery of Venus by Michael Gruber
Call Number: FICTION GRUBER
Chaz Wilmot is a painter born outside his time. He possesses a virtuosic command of the techniques of the old masters. He can paint like Leonardo, Goya, Gainsborough--artists whose works sell for millions--but this style of painting is no longer popular, and he refuses to shape his talent to fit the fashion of the day. So Wilmot makes his living cranking out parodies for ads and magazine covers. A break comes when an art dealer obtains for him a commission to restore a Venetian palace fresco by the eighteenth-century master Tiepolo, for a disreputable Italian businessman. Once there, Wilmot discovers that it is not a restoration but a re-creation, indeed a forgery. At first skeptical of the job, he then throws himself into the creative challenge and does the job brilliantly. No one can tell the modern work from something done more than two hundred years ago. This feat attracts the attention of Werner Krebs, an art dealer with a dark past and shadier present who becomes Wilmot's friend and patron. Wilmot is suddenly working with a fervor he hasn't felt in years, but his burst of creative activity is accompanied by strange interludes: Without warning, he finds himself reliving moments from his past--not as memories but as if they are happening all over again. Soon, it is no longer his own past he's revisiting; he believes he can travel back to the seventeenth century, where he lived as the Spanish artist Diego Rodríguez de Silva Velázquez, one of the most famous painters in history. Wilmot begins to fantasize that as Velázquez, he has created a masterpiece, a stunning portrait of a nude. When the painting actually turns up, he doesn't know if he painted it or if he imagined the whole thing. Little by little, Wilmot enters a mirror house of illusions and hallucinations that propels him into a secret world of gangsters, greed, and murder, with his mystery patron at the center of it all, either as the mastermind behind a plot to forge a painting worth hundreds of millions, or as the man who will save Wilmot from obscurity and madness. In Chaz Wilmot, we meet the rarest breed of literary hero, one for whom the reader feels almost personally responsible. By turns brutally honest and self-deceptive, scornful of the world while yearning to make his mark on it, Wilmot comes astonishingly alive for the reader, and his perilous journey toward the truth becomes our own.
The Last Mona Lisa by Jonathan Santlofer
Call Number: FICTION Santlofer
August, 1911: The Mona Lisa is stolen by Vincent Peruggia. Exactly what happens in the two years before its recovery is a mystery. Many replicas of the Mona Lisa exist, and more than one historian has wondered if the painting now returned to the Louvre is a fake, switched in 1911. Present day: Art professor Luke Perrone digs for the truth behind his most famous ancestor: Peruggia. His search attracts an Interpol detective with something to prove and an unfamiliar but curiously helpful woman. Soon, Luke tumbles deep into the world of art and forgery, a land of obsession and danger.