Con/Artist: The Life and Crimes of the World's Greatest Art Forger

by Tony Tetro, Giampiero Ambrosi Narrated by Richard Ferrone, Tony Tetro, Giampiero Ambrosi

Overview

The world's most renowned art forger reveals the secrets behind his decades of painting like the masters-exposing an art world that is far more corrupt than we ever knew while providing an art history lesson wrapped in sex, drugs, and Caravaggio.

The art world is a much dirtier, nastier business than you might expect. Tony Tetro, one of the most renowned art forgers in history, will make you question every masterpiece you've ever seen in a museum, gallery, or private collection. Tetro's “Rembrandts,” “Caravaggios,” “Miros,” and hundreds of other works now hang on walls around the globe. In 2019, it was revealed that Prince Charles received into his collection a Picasso, Dali, Monet, and Chagall, insuring them for over 200 million pounds, only to later discover that they're actually “Tetros.” And the kicker? In Tony's words: “Even if some tycoon finds out his Rembrandt is a fake, what's he going to do, turn it in? Now his Rembrandt just became motel art. Better to keep quiet and pass it on to the next guy. It's the way things work for guys like me.” The Prince Charles scandal is the subject of a forthcoming feature documentary with Academy Award nominee Kief Davidson and coauthor Giampiero Ambrosi, in cooperation with Tetro.

Throughout Tetro's career, his inimitable talent has been coupled with a reckless penchant for drugs, fast cars, and sleeping with other con artists. He was busted in 1989 and spent four years in court and one in prison. His voice-rough, wry, deeply authentic-is nothing like the high society he swanned around in, driving his Lamborghini or Ferrari, hobnobbing with aristocrats by day, and diving into debauchery when the lights went out. He's a former furniture store clerk who can walk around in Caravaggio's shoes, become Picasso or Monet, with an encyclopedic understanding of their paint, their canvases, their vision. For years, he hid it all in an unassuming California townhouse with a secret art room behind a full-length mirror. (Press #* on his phone and the mirror pops open.) Pairing up with coauthor Ambrosi, one of the investigative journalists who uncovered the 2019 scandal, Tetro unveils the art world in an epic, alluring, at times unbelievable, but all-true narrative.

Editorial Reviews

JANUARY 2023 - AudioFile

With his trademark tough-guy growl, Richard Ferrone captures the casual confidence, wobbly moral compass, and street-smart charm of Tony Tetro, an art forger extraordinaire. Showing up in California during the swinging 1970s, the self-taught artist found he had a natural aptitude for imitating almost any painting style—from Picasso to Dali to masters like Caravaggio. Tetro’s fakes found an appreciative, lucrative market in the shady “no-questions-asked” underground world of galleries, private collectors, and even museums. This audiobook will lead listeners to question everything they thought they knew about the value of fine art. After a decade of fast cars and illicit drugs, the law and scandal caught up with Tetro in 1989. Ferrone’s voice wonderfully sums up Tetro’s afterword. Easy come, easy go. B.P. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

Publishers Weekly

★ 08/22/2022

Tetro, one of the most prolific art forgers of the 20th century, paints his own life story with flair in this cinematic memoir. Coming of age in Fulton, N.Y., during the 1960s, Tetro started by freehand drawing from examples in his mother’s photo magazines, and over time taught himself techniques from art books. As a teen dad (his girlfriend got pregnant when he was only 16), he’d stay up late making elaborate copies of the greats—Rembrandt, Renoir, Picasso. When his young family relocated to Southern California, he took low-paying jobs but also discovered museums. He dabbled in forgeries offered at auction in the early ’70s, selling a faked Chagall sketch to a local art gallery. Chasing clients and commissions, he learned to print serigraphs and developed methods to create provenance or realistic history to the paintings (for example, smudging cigarette ash on the back of a faux Dalí). What followed were fancy cars, lavish parties, and traveling the world. But soon, the law would catch up to him and his art forgery empire crumbled. Written in a colorful, conversational voice and blending memoir, art history, and true crime, Tetro’s account takes readers on a turbulent, fast-paced, high-stakes roller-coaster ride. This is the art world’s The Wolf of Wall Street. Agent: Jeff Kleinman, Folio Literary Management. (Nov.)

From the Publisher

"If you are an art lover, don’t miss this book. It will open your eyes to a world you might not have realized existed. And you may have to check your own collection to be sure you haven’t a Tetro on the wall."
 —Lord Jeffrey Archer, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“Written with wit and disarming frankness….Mr. Tetro is a charming crook-scoundrel, a self-educated Runyonesque character who makes a fortune before he finally gets caught….Con/Artist reads like a step-by-step handbook for forgers, delivering a wealth of tips….One thing that comes across in Mr. Tetro’s story is his genuine...passion for art, especially the Renaissance masters.”—The Wall Street Journal

“Think Goodfellas meets the art gallery….Tetro, with his laid-back attitude, wry take on the art world and streetwise humor, is not one for modesty….It’s hard not to be charmed by the tale of this average nobody who scams his way to the big time, only to blow all his money on like a mobster on fast cars, fast women, hard drinking, and hard drugs….Tetro emerges as a loveable rapscallion—part highly skilled conjurer, part practical joker—who points out what the sceptics have always tended to suspect: that the art market emperors are strutting their stuff in no clothes….Tetro’s frankness is invigorating….His art appreciation, however rough and ready…can feel delightfully fresh.”—Times of London

“Beneath the grit and the glamor is a fascinating tale of a diligent, self-taught artist with a good work ethic and a great natural talent… A magician never reveals his secrets, but Tetro is no magician. Readers hankering for the nitty gritty of how he made his fakes won’t be disappointed....From start to finish Tetro’s passion for art and his knack for drama carry the reader through.”—Spectator

“Remarkable…electric memoir.”—AirMail

**Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award**
“[Narrator] Richard Ferrone captures the casual confidence, wobbly moral compass, and street-smart charm of Tony Tetro, an art forger extraordinaire.…This audiobook will lead listeners to question everything they thought they knew about the value of fine art.” —AudioFile (audiobook)

“Tetro, one of the most prolific art forgers of the 20th century, paints his own life story with flair in this cinematic memoir… Written in a colorful, conversational voice and blending memoir, art history, and true crime, Tetro’s account takes readers on a turbulent, fast-paced, high-stakes roller-coaster ride. This is the art world’s The Wolf of Wall Street.”

—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“[Tetro’s] memoir, cowritten with investigative journalist Giampiero Ambrosi, is absolutely fascinating, full of the kind of evocative writing and precise detail that brings an autobiography to life. He might have been doing something illegal, but it’s awfully hard not to like Tony Tetro. Like reformed con artist Frank W. Abagnale (Catch Me If You Can), he seems straightforward, open about his crimes, and just a bit proud of his success as a crook. A welcome addition to any true-crime shelf.”
 —Booklist (starred review)

"Compulsively readable."—Daily Mail

“A successful, prolific art forger tells his remarkable story…He has amusing things to say about people who have too much money and not enough sense…. Tetro tells his rollicking story well, and the result is a unique narrative. An entertaining account that shines a light onto a shady world as well as a personal story of hubris and redemption.”—Kirkus Reviews

"First, a warning: after reading this book, you might find yourself inspecting the pictures hanging in museums and galleries a little more closely....This mind-boggling and absorbing memoir charts the rise and fall of the American forger, who made headlines when some of his Monets were discovered in the collection of King Charles III. Expect art history, big money, sex, and corruption."
 —Monocle

“Juicy….[Tetro] promises ‘an art history lesson wrapped in sex, drugs, and Caravaggio.’ AKA all the things we look for in a great holiday party.”—Urban Daddy

“If you love a story of wild excess, here you go. How much will you take Tony Tetro’s word as truth? Read and decide for yourself.”—BookRiot

Library Journal

★ 10/01/2022

Tetro may have been an art forger, but his story is unique. Told with the help of investigative journalist Ambrosi, who followed Tetro's story for 20 years, this account starts with Tetro's 1989 California arrest and takes readers through his life, from his becoming a New York high school dropout with a pregnant girlfriend, to California furniture salesman, and later to master art forger and high roller. This book shows that as long as a work appears original and has a suitable faked certificate of authenticity, many wealthy customers and art dealers are happy to acquire it due to the potential profit. Readers will learn about his highly skilled art forging techniques, which won't work now, and how he became wealthy as a result, although he squandered much of it on drugs, travel, women, and Ferraris. The chapter on how his forged paintings ended up in Prince Charles's residence is priceless. With a companion documentary slated for release early next year, the entertaining book is a must read. VERDICT Art and true crime lovers will likely devour this tale of Tetro's escapades.—Harry Charles

JANUARY 2023 - AudioFile

With his trademark tough-guy growl, Richard Ferrone captures the casual confidence, wobbly moral compass, and street-smart charm of Tony Tetro, an art forger extraordinaire. Showing up in California during the swinging 1970s, the self-taught artist found he had a natural aptitude for imitating almost any painting style—from Picasso to Dali to masters like Caravaggio. Tetro’s fakes found an appreciative, lucrative market in the shady “no-questions-asked” underground world of galleries, private collectors, and even museums. This audiobook will lead listeners to question everything they thought they knew about the value of fine art. After a decade of fast cars and illicit drugs, the law and scandal caught up with Tetro in 1989. Ferrone’s voice wonderfully sums up Tetro’s afterword. Easy come, easy go. B.P. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2022-09-10
A successful, prolific art forger tells his remarkable story.

As a forger, Tetro made a fortune by making and selling fake works, and his memoir, co-authored by journalist Ambrosi, explains his spectacular rise and dramatic fall. Though he showed artistic flair at an early age, his attempts to sell his original paintings went nowhere—not due to a lack of quality but because he was an unknown figure. He fell into forgery by accident and found there was good money in the business even though a lot of it went to dealers. Tetro realized that the best plan was not to copy paintings by famous artists but to emulate their style and then make up a story about how the piece had been found in a dusty attic or forgotten collection. A key part of the forgery process was the creation of fake certificates of authenticity and other paperwork. He learned how to make a painting look pleasingly aged and which artists were the bestsellers. Chagall, Dalí, and Miró were fairly easy. Picasso and Caravaggio were more difficult, but Tetro eventually worked out their methods. He even forged a Ferrari car. He was proud of his achievements, but eventually, the authorities closed in. Though he was convicted on a variety of charges, he was given probation and community service, which involved creating safety posters and painting neighborhood murals. It was a long way down, but he eventually managed to recover, finding some recognition as a painter of acknowledged fakes. The irony is not lost on him, and he has amusing things to say about people who have too much money and not enough sense. He also notes that forgery is a dying art, as the verification technology has become too sophisticated to fool. Tetro tells his rollicking story well, and the result is a unique narrative.

An entertaining account that shines a light onto a shady world as well as a personal story of hubris and redemption.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940175541572
Publisher:	Hachette Audio
Publication date:	11/22/2022
Edition description:	Unabridged

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