The Forgery of Venus by Michael Gruber (2009, Paperback, Reprint)

Synopsis
A talented but underachieving artist takes a strange hallucinogenic drug that transports him back in time and into the mind of Diego Velasquez in Renaissance Spain. As a result of the drug, and his suddenly split identity, his art begins to flourish, but his sense of reality begins to crack.

Key Details
Author:	Michael Gruber
Language:	English
Publisher:	Avon A
Format:	Paperback
ISBN-10:	006087449X
ISBN-13:	9780060874490

Additional Details
Edition Number:	1
Edition Description:	Reprint

Size
Length:	318 pages
Thickness:	0.8 in
Weight:	8.8 oz

Publisher's Note

An artist born outside his time, Chaz Wilmot can paint like Leonardo, Goya, Gainsborough—and he refuses to shape his talent to fit the fashion of the day. His unique abilities attract the attention of Werner Krebs, an art dealer with a dark past and shadier present, and soon Wilmot is working with a fervor he hasn't felt in years. But his creative burst is accompanied by strange interludes—memories that are not memories . . . and he begins to wonder if he is really the person he believes he is. When a previously unknown masterpiece by the Spanish painter Velázquez is discovered, the artist suddenly finds himself lost in a mirrored house of illusions—and propelled into a secret world of greed, lies . . . and murder.

Having inherited his father's considerable artistic talents but unable to find buyers for his traditional works in the face of his peers' contemporary creations, Chaz Wimont accepts a commission to restore an antique fresco in a European castle, a job that brings unexpected success and a sinister offer. Reprint. 100,000 first printing.

Industry Reviews
"Gruber writes passionately and knowledgeably about art and its history--and he writes brilliantly about the shadowy lines that blur reality and unreality." (starred review)
(02/18/2008)