THREE PICASSOS BEFORE BREAKFAST: Memoirs of an Art Forger's Wife

by ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 1973

A better title for this book might have been Three Picassos For Breakfast. Speed addicts don't eat too much in the morning anyway. It's the story of David Stein, the French art forger who made a small fortune in New York by painting more Chagalls than Chagall himself. It's told by his wife. Unfortunately she is not very bright. When she first started living with David, she did wonder an awful lot about where all those paintings were coming from until he told her; she also could not understand why she felt so funny for six months, until the doctor told her about her pregnancy. Poor Anne-Marie, things just kept popping up on her unexpectedly. And then there was David's addiction to amphetamines which, along with his penchant for riding in limousines and living on Park Avenue, consumed all of the profits he ever made from his paintings. Anne-Marie's main role in all of this was to shred the fake paintings that were not salable. This does not qualify her for a career in writing. A more interesting part of the book is the Steins' flight to the west coast to avoid the DA's office -- but once there, their combined stupidity gave them away. Voila! It's good-bye to Hollywood, hello New York Tombs.

Pub Date: June 1, 1973

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Hawthorn

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1973

Categories: NONFICTION