Hebborn is a British artist and master forger. His drawings followed the old master style and were hung in museums around the world until his uncovering in 1980. He wrote this book in the mid 90s, and was killed shortly thereafter in Italy. (Disgruntled gallery stooge? Fellow forger enforcing the code of silence on tricks of the trade?) Anyway, he's a colorful man, and he writes with acid wit about the foibles of the fine art and historical art market. In addition, there is a ton of valuable information in the book on working methods of the old masters, even if you don't intend to try and pass copies off as the real thing. This is a highly recommended, and I imagine his autobiography, Drawn to Trouble is an amusing and informative read as well. Let us not overlook, this book contains mentions of dozens of books that would be worth studying for the serious student of art history and old master techniques. I could spend a couple of years catching up on the reading suggested by Hebborn. ( )

Hebborn is a British artist and master forger. His drawings followed the old master style and were hung in museums around the world until his uncovering in 1980. He wrote this book in the mid 90s, and was killed shortly thereafter in Italy. (Disgruntled gallery stooge? Fellow forger enforcing the code of silence on tricks of the trade?) Anyway, he's a colorful man, and he writes with acid wit about the foibles of the fine art and historical art market. In addition, there is a ton of valuable information in the book on working methods of the old masters, even if you don't intend to try and pass copies off as the real thing. This is a highly recommended, and I imagine his autobiography, Drawn to Trouble is an amusing and informative read as well. Let us not overlook, this book contains mentions of dozens of books that would be worth studying for the serious student of art history and old master techniques. I could spend a couple of years catching up on the reading suggested by Hebborn. ( )