The Forger's Apprentice: Life with the World's Most Notorious Artist

by Mark Forgy

In the late 1960s Elmyr (pronounced el-MEER) de Hory was the world’s most talented—and most successful art forger—ever. For over 20 years his bogus masterpieces filtered into prestigious collections on five continents. In 1967 his chicanery ended in a scandal that rocked the art world, although this monocle-wearing charmer’s artful deception did not end there. He seduced most everyone he met, counting Marilyn Monroe, Liz Taylor, Montgomery Clift, Rita Hayworth, and Orson Welles among his friends. As a young American Midwesterner, I fell under his spell when I met Elmyr in 1969 on the Mediterranean island of Ibiza, becoming his personal assistant while he became my mentor and closest friend. His hilltop villa was my university where, beyond the glamour of the rich and famous, the people I met seemed to spring from the mind of Lewis Carroll, and life appeared LSD-inspired in its strangeness. Elmyr also had deeper secrets than anyone knew. This memoir is a coming-of-age journey of discovery providing the most personal account of this “famously infamous” faker that finally untangles the longstanding mythology about his life. It is a story marked by outrageous humor, tragedy, love, and search for the truth as seen through the eyes of his protégé—the Forger’s Apprentice.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

346 pages, Paperback

First published September 5, 2012

Reviews

[Rebecca Schubring · Rating 3 out of 5]

Odd book, odd but fascinating true story.

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, after reading that rather dark novel, I thought I would get the other side of the story told in Fake. Enter this effort by Elmyr de Hory's "assistant."

First issue is that this fellow entered the scene after Mr. Irving's effort had been on the market for some time, after the documentary videos and after all the events of Fake. So he recounts events not from first-hand experience but from Elmyr's retelling. Ok, at least it is a second perspective on events.

To that end, the first third of the book is very readable, and gives some insight - and confirmation - on the events, that I had thought may have been partially manufactured. But on second thought, this is not any independent perspective, as I realized that the original source for both retellings remains Elmyr - and frankly - now that I know Mr. Irving's effort is true, his is the better prose.

The second third of the book is Mr. Forgy's experiences of leaving his country bumpkin existence to become a sophisticate under the tutelage of Elmyr, while working as his "secretary." Um, how to start. It is a mean-spirited, gossipy, snarkfest about those in Elmyr's world. It is Mean Girls 2.0 but full of misspellings and glaring evident of Mr. Forgy's lack of education, as well as the catty and malicious snobbery that went on in that house -- all about the "friends" that supported them. What a shallow pair those 2 were.

There final third was an "investigation" of Elmyr's true past, which was interesting -- and Mr. Forgy's armchair psychoanalysis of why Elmyr was basically a sociopath. Using all sorts of quotes from books he has read (such as the brilliant, but not very scientifically rigorous Malcolm Gladwell), we get a diagnosis and a background of explanation that is jerky Mr. Forgy's rationalizing opinion.

Basically, Mr. Forgy had a lot of unresolved issues and guilt here. Elmyr was a crook -- an interesting one, but still a sociopath, who cut off his family, cheated many people and was a wannabe member of the 1970s jet-set elite. Me. Forgy was a paid companion and hanger-on, and an incredible snob.

Bottom line, I learned Fake was true. It is an interesting tale -- and a sad commentary for anyone who wants to buy, enjoy and ultimately sell mid-century art, because you learn that what you spend is for your enjoyment only, you never know the source. The fact that the daughter of Modigliani - who never even knew her parents - or a nearly blind Kees van Dongen confirms authenticity for Elmyr's copyist work is clearly a problem in the field - but it in no way justifies the actions of the forger. Mr. Forgy is perhaps a bit too kind about a crook.

[Therese Dotray-Tulloch · Rating 1 out of 5]

Quite an amazing story but terribly written by a local author about his early years living in Europe in the sixties with a man who forged famous works or art for a living, the despicable creatures he surrounded himself with, and gay lifestyle. This author needed an editor.

[Mariel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and fascinating tale of cat and mouse

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting reading about an incredible man. The book is a bit uneven, at times reading like a travelogue then lapsing into the psychology of the forger. A check on the Internet for the author reveals the BBC documentary that spawned Orson Wells's F is for Fake. Certainly worth watching.

[Maya · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book disappointed me. I love reading books about art forgery, but this was really a memoir and while the subject is fascinating, I hated the writer's style and struggled to get through it.

[Brad · Rating 3 out of 5]

What should have been a great story, was hurt by so so storytelling.

[Lucy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was extremely frustrating and if I hadn't been reading it for a discussion with a book club I wouldn't have finished it. This is supposed to be a true story but the majority of the book is what the forger recounted of his past. And it is well documented that he embellished, distorted and flat out lied about events and people from his past. The book is poorly organized, the first section being the story of the forger, followed by short chapters on topics that almost seem like magazine articles. At the end the author (who had been befriended as a young man by the forger) then reveals facts that he only found out more recently about the forger's childhood and family. But these were not incorporated into the main body of the book, almost like they arrived so late that the author didn't want to do a massive rewrite. Forgery is such a fascinating subject but this book is not!