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A review by rbruehlman
Con/Artist: The Life and Crimes of the World's Greatest Art Forger by Giampiero Ambrosi, Tony Tetro
3.0
Con/Artist describes the rise and fall of Tony Tetro, a prolific art forger who eventually is caught and goes to jail. Not gonna lie, this was an interesting read for a while, but I got really tired of the book and Tony as it went on.
The first part of the book is, in fact, interesting. Prior to reading this book, I knew basically nothing about the making of art, appraisal thereof, and the surrounding general art world. The lengths to which Tetro went to fake art, as well as the ingenious techniques he used, were fascinating. It was abundantly clear that Tetro was in it for the money, but also for his pride--forging was an art in and of itself, and being able to passably fake artwork was quite literally a personal challenge. He left no stone unturned in his quest to mimic art.
It also was an eye-opener into the art world and how ... vain it can be. Tetro mimicked the style of famous artists and passed it off as "lost work," which then got appraised at princely sums. Isn't it arguable to assume being deemed "good art" is, in fact, a total fluke? Tetro's work was only valuable because it was passed off as Picasso or Dalí; if it hadn't, it would have been worth far less, despite nothing else being different. "Good" art is subjective, relationship-based, and a lot of luck. I was also struck by just how corrupt the art world was. Most dealers Tetro dealt with knew he was a forger, but no one seemed to care and happily swindled art buyers. That Tetro lasted as long as he did baffles me.
Ultimately, though, Tetro is a hard person to like, and it makes the book hard to like. At no point, and I mean truly no point, does he ever express any remorse, at all. Tetro is all about money, sex, and ego, and other people are of interest to him to the extent they can benefit him. Tetro wrote plenty about how awful it was to be stiffed, to have to sell his cars, to have to spend time in jail, oh no, but never does he mention how scores of people were duped and spent thousands on his work. He looks upon the Japanese artist whose work he forged with disdain, and even has the audacity to suggest he has made the Japanese artist even more famous as result of the forgery. Wow. Later, he squeals on a rich client passing his work off as real not because Tetro has developed any kind of remorse, but because he deems his rich client's lies as amateurish.
I got tired of the book towards the end because I got tired of Tetro. If he had a redemption arc, the book would have been alright, but he didn't. He bragged until the very end. Next.
The first part of the book is, in fact, interesting. Prior to reading this book, I knew basically nothing about the making of art, appraisal thereof, and the surrounding general art world. The lengths to which Tetro went to fake art, as well as the ingenious techniques he used, were fascinating. It was abundantly clear that Tetro was in it for the money, but also for his pride--forging was an art in and of itself, and being able to passably fake artwork was quite literally a personal challenge. He left no stone unturned in his quest to mimic art.
It also was an eye-opener into the art world and how ... vain it can be. Tetro mimicked the style of famous artists and passed it off as "lost work," which then got appraised at princely sums. Isn't it arguable to assume being deemed "good art" is, in fact, a total fluke? Tetro's work was only valuable because it was passed off as Picasso or Dalí; if it hadn't, it would have been worth far less, despite nothing else being different. "Good" art is subjective, relationship-based, and a lot of luck. I was also struck by just how corrupt the art world was. Most dealers Tetro dealt with knew he was a forger, but no one seemed to care and happily swindled art buyers. That Tetro lasted as long as he did baffles me.
Ultimately, though, Tetro is a hard person to like, and it makes the book hard to like. At no point, and I mean truly no point, does he ever express any remorse, at all. Tetro is all about money, sex, and ego, and other people are of interest to him to the extent they can benefit him. Tetro wrote plenty about how awful it was to be stiffed, to have to sell his cars, to have to spend time in jail, oh no, but never does he mention how scores of people were duped and spent thousands on his work. He looks upon the Japanese artist whose work he forged with disdain, and even has the audacity to suggest he has made the Japanese artist even more famous as result of the forgery. Wow. Later, he squeals on a rich client passing his work off as real not because Tetro has developed any kind of remorse, but because he deems his rich client's lies as amateurish.
I got tired of the book towards the end because I got tired of Tetro. If he had a redemption arc, the book would have been alright, but he didn't. He bragged until the very end. Next.