Fiction is an art form that opens human nature for us. From our comfortable armchairs, sipping a cup of tea or our beverage of choice, we dip into shoes, worlds, universes, and experiences that are not our own, but expand our sympathy, humanity, and empathy — and also our knowledge.
The visual arts speak to our souls in a similar way — they ignite our passion, incite joy, or, conversely, can touch upon our darkest fears. Here are a few books that combine art and fiction in unexpected ways. These stories will draw you into a world few truly understand — the transcendent and inspiring power of art and the contrasting dark corridors of the high-stakes, glamorous art world, rife with obsession, forgery, greed, power, and intrigue.
Enjoy!
The Goldfinch by Donna Tart
Okay, I did just say the art world is glamorous — but not in this book. Donna Tartt’s masterpiece, The Goldfinch, presents readers with its grim, dark, underbelly. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2014, this story follows Theo Decker as his life unravels under his obsession with an exquisite and stolen painting that reminds him of his mother, all while he’s been manipulated and used to forge paintings. Rich with detail, emotion, and massive in scope, this long book— just saying — deserves its high acclaim.
Woman on Fire by Lisa Barr
In Barr’s propulsive novel — one of my absolute favorites from 2022 — investigative journalist Jules Roth finds herself racing against the cunning and powerful gallerist Margaux de Laurent to find Ernst Engel’s most famous painting, Woman on Fire, which was stolen by the Nazi’s seventy-five years ago. Filled with action, compelling characters, and great insights into the contemporary art world, you won’t be able to put this novel down.
The Modigliani Scandal by Ken Follett
Best known for The Pillars of the Earth, Follett turns his attention in The Modigliani Scandal to one of the world’s most famous artists. A missing masterpiece, a race across Europe, and a high-stakes game of cat and mouse, with twists-and-turns far more dangerous, will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Daniel Silva
I’ll admit it — I’m a Daniel Silva fan and I love that his Gabriel Allon is both a master spy and an expert art restorer. Two worlds within one hero. In this twenty-second offering, Allon’s worlds collide as he chases down priceless forgeries across Europe, threatening the world’s duplicitous and powerful, who will protect their plans and assets at any cost. Fast-paced and well-plotted, with a few charming scenes of Allon with his family, you enjoy every moment of this adventure.
The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro
A compelling and immersive literary thriller set soon after the famous robbery at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990 — a true crime mystery that remains unsolved. In this novel, a seemingly innocent request to paint one of the stolen works embroils struggling artist Clair Roth into a morass of crime, forgery, deceit, obsession, and art. She better figure out who is behind it all before she loses more than her career.
The Paris Deception by Bryn Turnbull
In this tense and fascinating story, set in WWII Paris, two women — one an artist and one a restorer — forge “degenerate” modern art and, as the forgeries head to the bonfires, they smuggle the originals out of Paris right under the Nazis’ noses. I found The Paris Deception’s unique look into WWII to be beautifully written, descriptive, and immersive.
The Recognitions by William Gaddis
If I called Tartt’s The Goldfinch a “long” book at 771 pages, then The Recognitions is a true saga, clocking in at 956. This tale of forgery, pretension, and obsession hit the world in 1955, before we truly understood the scope and depth of art forgery and the market behind it. Jonathan Franzen dubbed this novel the “first great cultural critique…” And he’s probably right as Gaddis seems to anticipate, about fifty years before the rest of us, the murky lines between forgery and fake, virtual and real, as well as the powerful forces behind it all.
The Last Mona Lisa by Jonathan Santlofer
This gripping split-time novel centers upon the real theft of da Vinci’s Mona Lisa by Vincent Peruggia in 1911. The second storyline follows Peruggia’s great-grandson, as he hunts down answers as to what happened both in 1911 and during the two years before Mona Lisa suddenly appeared again. Of course, a larger question looms within the novel — and within the real world today — was the real Mona Lisa actually returned in 1913 or do we cherish a forgery?
