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The Art Forger (2012), a mystery novel by B.A. Shapiro, is inspired by the 1990 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist in Boston, Massachusetts. Thieves posing as police officers infiltrated a museum and stole $500 million worth of art pieces; none of them has been recovered to date.

The author uses this framework to explore the art world and make a compelling case that art is for everyone. He also makes it clear that art has no monetary value, but instead should be enjoyed because of its beauty. The artist Claire Roth produces reproductions of famous paintings by Degas, which impresses Aiden Markel, who then offers her a large sum of money to reproduce another painting.

Claire is thinking about Aiden’s offer. She knows that it is not illegal to copy a piece of art, only to sell the original while presenting it as a reproduction. Isaac, her former boyfriend who sold one of Claire’s paintings and signed his name on it, has influenced her decision also. He recently sold the painting for a large sum of money. Therefore, she strongly considers reproducing Degas’ work

Claire is further convinced to forge the painting after she teaches her class, which doesn’t have enough supplies. Later, Aiden tells Claire that millions of people will be able to see the Degas if she creates a forgery. As an artist who wants to help others through her art, Claire agrees to create the forgery.

Aiden delivers the painting to Claire’s studio. Once there, he explains that he doesn’t know where the other works of art are because they were stolen from the Gardner Museum in 1990. However, through clandestine meetings with other dealers and collectors, Aiden has come into possession of a Degas work that was also stolen from the museum. He wants it copied so that he can return the original to its rightful place at the museum where it belongs. Otherwise, this piece of artwork will be kept underground and never seen again by others who should appreciate it if not for him taking matters into his own hands.

Claire studies a painting in her studio and falls in love with it. She also goes to the museum to view other works by Degas and tries to find information about the models in the painting. However, she becomes convinced that it’s not an authentic Degas because of its different brushstrokes. She believes that this was the painting that had hung at the Gardner Museum, but she thinks that it was forged when they bought it from someone else. If Claire tells Aiden what she has discovered he will ruin her chance of having her own show and being successful as an artist on her own merits.

Claire throws herself into the creation of a forgery. Aiden helps her with this project, and she grows closer to him in the process. When it’s complete, he arranges for its transport to India on a ship. One night, Claire stays at his house while he’s out; when he returns home late that evening, they learn that the painting has been found during security checks on the ship bound for India. They reassure each other that there is no way that anyone will find out about their involvement in this scheme because their work was so thorough and convincing; soon after hearing this news, they learn from someone else that people are saying Claire’s original artwork is actually just a copy—a fake!

Claire starts working on the paintings that she was promised. However, she learns that Aiden has been arrested for stealing a Degas painting. Claire visits him in jail where he reveals that he still owes money to art brokers and they’re threatening to use him again if they don’t get paid back. Claire realizes the only way to save both of them is by confessing about her forgery.