Saturday, August 4, 2012

Meet Ken Perenyi, New American Hero Artist (NOT).

Meet Ken Perenyi, Unethical Dishonest Art Forger, with new unethical book out now - Could this book turn out to be another James Frey incident? One hopes the Lawyers vetted it well and I hope PEgasus knows what it is doing. PW adds: Most interesting is Perenyi’s description of his hangups with his own aging process and distressing his forgeries so that they might appear authentically weathered. Unfortunately, he never presents the reader with an authentic depiction of the mind of a pathological fraud. PW SAYS: Painter, draft dodger, and art world huckster Perenyi offers a facile, ghostwritten account of the ''glory'' (scare quotes intended) days of his 30-year career as an art forger. . ....In theory, there’s enough to this story to pique a discerning reader’s interest; on the page, however, Perenyi’s tale unravels with vacuous prose and a lack of self-awareness or genuine insight; he offers little more than rote, blow-by-blow accounts of his scandals. In the tradition of Frank Abagnale's ''Catch Me If You Can'', -- SEE? WHAT DID WE TELL YOU?!!! -- and certain to be an unethical and cockamamie bombshell for Pegasus Books and the MSM, here is the story of one of America's greatest yet unethical and dishonest -- let s be honest! -- art forgers. Some readers who don't care about ethics or honesty in America might be be captivated as they follow the development of this remarkable yet flawed talent over a 40-year career. Ghostwtitten by Allan Smithee. Perenyi, a Hungarian-American most likely, given his noble surname, barely finished ninth grade, but his ghostwriter (name withheld but mentioned in the book's acknowledgements page) illustrates how he became one of America’s top unethical dishonest art forgers. Thanks, -- we'll take a closer look at Ken Perenyi. We did a quick blog post on him last month, too. Thanks for using Who2! Elmyr (pronounced el-meer) de Hory was a notorious art forger of the 20th century. The flamboyant Hungarian claimed to have sold more than 1,000 fakes to galleries and museums around the world during his career. His insistence that he had passed off paintings by such artists as Picasso, Modigliani and Matisse caused a scandal in the world of art and its experts. After serving a jail sentence in Spain, De Hory later told his story with Clifford Irving in the 1969 book Fake! He committed suicide. CAVEAT EMPTOR illustrates how he became one of America’s top unethical dishonest art forgers. Why the culture that spawned him is now celebrating him as ''culture hero'' and ''celebrity'', with a movie option on the table as well, is beyond words. But this is America, and "catch me if you can" is the going motto, Madoff to Perenyi. Thing is Madoff got caught and charged (and sentenced), while Perenyi walked scot free. Hero artist he is now! Ouch. Unfortunately, Perenyi in his ghsotwritten "memori/confession" (scare quotes intended) never presents the reader with an authentic depiction of the mind of a pathological fraud, which is really what the book should have been all about. Wait for the movie, with Leonardo DiCaprio, right? "CAVEAT EMPTOR: The Secret [Ghostwritten] Life of an [Unethical, Dishonest] ]American 'Art' (scare quotes intended) Forger"

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