Con/Artist

 

Con/Artist: The Life and Crimes of the World's Greatest Art Forger by Tony Tetro and Giampiero Ambrosi, 288 pages.

 Art forgery is, I think, one of the more interesting crimes. It almost feels more like a puzzle than an actual crime, and Tetro mentions that at his trial the prosecution couldn't find any actual victims. Which all comes together to make this a uniquely fun crime to get an inside look at.

Tony Tetro is the titular art forger, and this memoir covers his decades long career forging paintings, prints, and various other art pieces. Tetro (or perhaps Giampiero Ambrosi, the journalist who I suspect did most of the writing) is a great storyteller. He feels very human, and his descriptions of the art world, mostly in California in the 70s and 80s, are fascinating. I was immediately pulled in. Tetro doesn't shy away from admitting when he made stupid choices, but also doesn't linger much on the personal aspects, choosing instead to focus on the story as a narrative. I found all of his descriptions of the techniques he used for his forgeries especially interesting.This was a really fun book, and although it was a bit lower stakes than I expected (we spend a lot of time making prints in California) it was still definitely very interesting. I would definitely recommend it.