The Statue of Liberty is one of the most recognizable monuments in the world; a powerful symbol of freedom and the American dream. For decades; the myth has persisted that the statue was a grand gift from France; but now Libertys Torch reveals how she was in fact the pet project of one quixotic and visionary French sculptor; Freacute;deacute;ric Auguste Bartholdi. Bartholdi not only forged this 151-foot-tall colossus in a workshop in Paris and transported her across the ocean; but battled to raise money for the statue and make her a reality.A young sculptor inspired by a trip to Egypt where he saw the pyramids and Sphinx; he traveled to America; carrying with him the idea of a colossal statue of a woman. There he enlisted the help of notable people of the age - including Ulysses S. Grant; Joseph Pulitzer; Victor Hugo; Gustave Eiffel; and Thomas Edison - to help his scheme. He also came up with inventive ideas to raise money; including exhibiting the torch at the Phildaelphia worlds fair and charging people to climb up inside. While the French and American governments dithered; Bartholdi made the statue a reality by his own entrepreneurship; vision; and determination.
#1221226 in eBooks 1995-10-01 1995-10-01File Name: B00HU4ZT46
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Completely fascinating from all angles.By Stephen BridgeI love stories like this: once-well known news events; made obscure by the passing of decades; but brought back to life by a talented researcher and writer. This is one of the most fascinating stories I have ever read; with lessons for all ndash; but particularly for people claiming to be art experts.In 1938; a mildly popular Dutch artist named Han van Meegeren; frustrated by the lack of acclaim that his own art should have generated; decided to show that he was the equivalent of the great Dutch masters of the past. After long research and testing of paints; styles; and aging techniques he produced a painting that appeared to be a previously unseen work of one of the very greatest painters: Johannes Vermeer; who lived more than 200 years earlier. Vermeerrsquo;s most famous painting to most of us today is *The Girl with the Pearl Earring.* Van Meegerenrsquo;s forgery was entitled *Christ at Emmaus.* Even though today we might say the picture looks nothing like a real Vermeer; many art experts of the time fell all over themselves praising it. The painting sold for the equivalent of several million dollars in todayrsquo;s money. Van Meegeren painted and sold several more fakes and made millions more.He might have gotten away with it and we might still have these lower-quality paintings hanging in major museums today; labeled as the works of a master; if he hadnrsquo;t run into some misfortune. He sold one of the fakes to Adolph Hitler and one to Hitlerrsquo;s second-in-command; Hermann Goering. It wasnrsquo;t the Nazis who got him in trouble. No; Hitler and Goering were happily taken in by the forgeries. But when the war ended and American; English; and French art experts began going through all of thousands of pieces of museum art bought or stolen by the Nazis; they found these supposedly priceless ldquo;Vermeers.rdquo; And the one in Goeringrsquo;s collection listed Han van Meegeren as the seller.Van Meegeren was facing charges of treason and possible execution for collaboration with the Nazis. His only way out was to confess to the forgeries. But now no one would believe him. Even after Van Meegeren showed all of his techniques to the police and art investigators looking into the case; the art critics and the people who had come to love the forgeries would not believe they were anything but real. Van Meegeren was forced to paint another fake in front of witnesses in order to save his life. This is really several books in one. It includes discussion of the real Vermeer and why he is so popular today and a biography of the forger van Meegeren. But it also includes a history of the Nazisrsquo; looting of Europe and a brief biography of Goering. It is also a history of art forgery and a discussion of the inventive techniques used by van Meegeren; including using Bakelite (the worldrsquo;s first synthetic plastic) to artificially age the paintings. Finally it is a study of how easy it is to fool all of us and why it is often easier to fool ldquo;expertsrdquo; than people with little knowledge of the subject.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Terrific bookBy Jon TaylorI was not familiar with the story of the Dutch forger; Han Van Meegeren who made millions before and during WWII from his forged paintings; primarily Vermeers. These were not copies of existing paintings; but creations of his own. His undoing after the war came as a result of a forgery he sold to Goering; which led to his being investigated as a collaborator. He decided it would be better to confess to his forgeries than to be tried as a collaborator. However; he had a hard time getting anyone to believe that he had produced paintings that had been hailed by important experts as real Vermeers. This is a terrific book; which is well-written and brings together many different strands. There is; of course; simply the story of Van Meegeren; which includes the very interesting technical aspects of how he was able to produce paintings that would pass scientific tests to determine if the works were in fact centuries old. The book describes at length the situation in Holland under the Nazis; as well as Goerings and Hitlers obsession with acquiring all of the great art in Europe; either purchasing it with confiscated money or confiscating the art itself. The scale of their plundering was astounding. At times; Goerings seems to have focused more on these acquisitions than on the conduct of the war; to the possible detriment of the Nazi war effort. Dolnick also goes into the psychology of the forger; as well as of the experts who were duped. Altogether; a wonderful book.Jon0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A great readBy David PolicanskyThis enjoyable; discursive; informative book is a great read. Author Edward Dolnick is a journalist and like all good journalists he has a wide range of interests and is a quick study. The books topic is nominally Han van Meegeren; a Dutch painter who worked from just after the First World War until just after the Second World War. Although he was competent and made a decent living from his work; the art critics of the day panned his work for being simpering and shallow. So; to make a long story short; he took to forgery; with his main focus being the 17th Century Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. This was a bold choice; because only around three dozen Vermeers are known; and were known in the 1930s when van Meegeren started his forgeries. The book discusses van Meegerens techniques and choices; but also discusses the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany and especially Hermann Goering; the Reichsmarschall; second in command to Hitler. In fact; both collected immense amounts of art and sometimes Hitler took what Goering had wanted. It turns out that Goering ended up with one of van Meegerens "Vermeers;" which leads the story into many interesting twists and turns. There are many other sidelights; including the Getty Museums purchase of a famous; extremely expensive; and fake kouros; a supposedly a Greek statue; as well as stories about other fakes; forgeries; and copies. It is a terrific book and I recommend it highly.
