The Lost Van Gogh

New York Magazine – TO DO

Read The Lost Van Gogh Estate-sale purchase gone wrong. Sourcebooks Landmark, January 2 Under the plain image of a woman’s face is the last, or next to last, self-portrait of Vincent van Gogh.  Who hid it and how it got into the hands of downtown artist Luke Perrone, last featured in Jonathan Santlofer’s mystery-thriller The Lost Mona Lisa, drives an investigation into both the anxiety of artistic influence  and the power and pain bundled up in a timeless work of art. With Illustrations by the author. – Carl Rosen. New York Magazine

Newsletter 2 – November 2023

I can’t believe Thanksgiving has come and gone. Last newsletter it seemed like my novel was so far from pub date. Now, it’s just around the corner, January 2. There are a couple of opportunities as we near the book launch to win artwork I made for The Lost Van Gogh.  The first, a contest to win one of the original pencil drawings (example at the top of the page). To be eligible all you have to do is pre-order the book HERE and submit an image of your receipt or proof of purchase to my website. Click here to enter the drawing contest The second is a limited-edition signed print made from one of my drawings which will go to anyone kind enough to post my book cover on their social media on its pub date, January 2. To receive a print just visit my website and fill out the form.  Make sure to use the hashtag #thelostvangogh in your social media post. Click … Read more

Library Journal – Review of The Lost Van Gogh

The latest art thriller from Santlofer (The Last Mona Lisa) has historic European locations and appealing characters chasing down art stolen by horrible people. Rumors of a final self-portrait made by Vincent van Gogh on his deathbed have tantalized art historians and collectors since the artist’s death, but the painting is widely believed to be lost forever. Luke Perrone is an artist and great-grandson of the man who stole the Mona Lisa; his girlfriend Alexis Verde is the daughter of an art thief. Together, they discover a portrait that might be the missing van Gogh, but then it disappears from their hands. Reuniting with INTERPOL agent John Washington Smith, the trio set off to Europe to recover the missing painting in the hopes of answering questions about van Gogh’s final days. Soon they’re ensnared in the secrets of masterpieces stolen by the Nazis and protected by members of the French Resistance during World War II. … Read more

Booklist – Review of The Lost Van Gogh

“Writer and artist Santlofer assembled a trio of unlikely art sleuths in The Last Mona Lisa (2021), and now, much to their surprise, they’re thrown together once again. Art historian Alexis Verde (also known as Alexandra Green) acquires a painting that she and her honey, artist and art history teacher Luke Perrone, discover is concealing what just might be a long-lost self-portrait by Van Gogh. Tully, a down-and-out PI, has been hired to secure this work, which is promptly stolen from Alexis when she attempts to have it appraised. Luke reconnects with former INTERPOL analyst John Washington Smith for help, but, like many others, he’s not who he claims to be. As the action shifts to Amsterdam, the levels of deceit and danger escalate precipitously. Amidst the chaos and terror, Santlofer offers sympathetic glimpses into Van Gogh’s life and puzzling death and the French Resistance’s valiant efforts to save Paris’ treasures as the Nazis’ systematically … Read more

Newsletter 1 – September 2023

I have been obsessed with Van Gogh from a very young age, his wildly expressive work, his short tragic life. In art school, when I was trying to be cool, I temporarily rejected him as being too romantic. But later, I came to my senses and fell in love with him again, seeing the structure beneath his brushwork, the mind and genius that guided his hand. And now, I found a way to put him in a novel! THE LOST VAN GOGH is a sequel to THE LAST MONA LISA. The two books share the same protagonists, Luke Perrone, artist, Alexis Verde, art history scholar, and John Washington Smith, INTERPOL art crime analyst, but each has its own independent story. In the first book, Luke is searching for a diary his great-grandfather (the man who stole the Mona Lisa from the Louvre Museum), wrote while in prison for the crime. The novel merged fact and … Read more