Jonathan Santlofer, The Lost Van Gogh: A Novel

The 33rd Edition of the Book Festival of the MJCCA Presents

Jonathan Santlofer, The Lost Van Gogh: A Novel

In conversation with Jessica Handler, Bestselling Author and Educator

Author Talk, Q & A & Book Signing

“Ingeniously plotted, irresistibly readable, brimming with inside information about the high-stakes art world of theft, forgery, and murder…Also included are brilliantly rendered drawings by the author, who is as accomplished an artist as he is a writer of suspense thrillers.”―Joyce Carol Oates

From the author of the much-praised The Last Mona Lisa comes another thrilling story of masterpieces, masterminds, and mystery.

For years, there have been whispers that, before his death, Van Gogh completed a final self-portrait. Curators and art historians have savored this rumor, hoping it could illuminate some of the troubled artist’s many secrets, but even they have to concede that the missing painting is likely lost forever.

But when Luke Perrone, artist and great-grandson of the man who stole the Mona Lisa, and Alexis Verde, daughter of a notorious art thief, discover what may be the missing portrait, they are drawn into a most epic art puzzles. When only days later the painting disappears again, they are reunited with INTERPOL agent John Washington Smith in a dangerous and deadly search that will not only expose secrets of the artist’s last days but draws them into one of history’s darkest eras.

Beneath the paint and canvas, beneath the beauty and the legend, the artwork has become linked with something evil, something that continues to flourish on the dark web and on the shadiest corridors of the underground art world.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jonathan Santlofer is an author and artist. He is the recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts grants, has been a Visiting Artist at the American Academy In Rome, the Vermont Studio Center, and serves on the board of Yaddo, one of the oldest arts communities in the U.S.

ABOUT THE MODERATOR

Jessica Handler is the author of The Magnetic Girl, winner of the 2020 Southern Book Prize, an Indie Next selection, Wall Street Journal Spring ’19 pick, Bitter Southerner Summer ’19 pick and SIBA Okra pick. 

Books will be available for purchase on the day of the event from our partner bookseller, A Cappella Books!