The Art Forger

The novel’s protagonist and primary narrator, Claire is a talented artist who suffered a stumble in her career due to a scandal. In the novel, she again finds herself in a risky position as she is asked to paint a reproduction of a painting stolen during a famous heist. Claire’s eagerness to pursue the project reveals that she is someone who is intrigued by risk, although she also yearns for financial stability.

Claire’s skill in the outmoded techniques of classical realism provides her with the opportunity to make a living producing reproductions of famous paintings, but this anonymous work is at odds with her creative ambitions. Her greatest fear is that she will always be seen as a skilled artisan rather than an artist. When her mentor-turned-partner, Isaac Cullion, appropriates her original art as his own, he steals her chance to be recognized for her creativity as well as her technical skill.

Issac was a professor and artist who, in his mid-40s, gained widespread fame through a painting that was actually produced by Claire. Uninspired and disappointed with himself at mid-career, he willingly accepts Claire’s offer to make the painting for him because he sees no future in art.