Two Artists: Vermeer's Forger
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Art Forgery and Fakes
Art Forgery and Fakes What percentage of the art in museums would you guess are fakes? According to some estimates, it could be 20%. Particularly with old masters, it is often difficult to distinguish the authentic from the fake without extensive forensic analysis and the keen eyes of experts. Despite modern technology, the market remains riddled with forged masterpieces. Sometimes, a painting that has been attributed to a famous painter turns out to be the work of his/her apprentice. In 2009, the Prado Museum in Madrid announced that Colossus, long attributed to Francisco Goya, was probably painted by his apprentice. Colossus Frequently, paintings originally thought to be the work of a highly regarded artist are actually the work of expert forgers who are trying to dupe museums and collectors. Franco Modigliani, who died impoverished at the age of 35, is one of the most frequently forged artists in history. Partly because of his easily replicable style and partly because his paintings can garner extremely high prices, forging his works has been a temptation worldwide. His 1917 Nu Couché sold at Sotheby’s in 2018 for $157.2 million, at the time the fourth highest price paid for a piece of art at auction. In 2017, Genoa’s Ducal Palace hosted an exhibit of 21 of what were believed to be Modigliani paintings. Of the 21, 20 were determined to be fakes. The exhibit was shut down and the paintings turned over to police for investigation. Today, the investigation is ongoing. The police have said that they have identified suspects: an artist who may have forged them, two collectors, including an American who procured most of the works, the head of the organization who organized the exhibit and the curator. -
Elmyrdehory, Artist and Faker
Elmyr de Hory, Artist and Faker Hillstrom Museum of Art Elmyr de Hory, creating a drawing with figures in the style of Modigliani, Picasso, and Matisse, photographed by Pierre Boulat for a February 6, 1970 Life Magazine article, at de Hory’s villa La Falaise, Ibiza Elmyr de Hory, Artist and Faker February 15 through April 18, 2010 Opening Reception February 15, 7 to 9 p.m. Public Lectures Jonathan Lopez, Sunday, February 28, 2010, 3:30 p.m. Mark Forgy, Sunday, March 21, 2010, 3:30 p.m. Lectures are free and open to the public, and will be presented in Wallenberg Auditorium, Nobel Hall of Science on the Gustavus Adolphus College campus. Elmyr de Hory, Artist and Faker is supported by a generous grant from the Carl and Verna Schmidt Foundation. The majority of the photographs of works lent by Mark Forgy are by Robert Fogt Photography. On the cover: Portrait of a Woman, in the style of Amedeo Modigliani, c.1975, oil on canvas, 21 x 14 ½ inches, Collection of Mark Forgy Hillstrom Museum of Art gustavus.edu/finearts/hillstrom DIRECTOR’S NOTES he exploits of numerous infamous art forgers have been widely recounted, and one of the most fascinating and notorious cases has to do with Hungarian-born Elmyr de Hory (1906-1976). After an early life of privilege that included art studies in Budapest, Munich and Paris, de Hory’s situation was turned upside down by World War II, during which he was imprisoned thrice, his family’s estate was Ttaken, and his father died in Auschwitz. -
Johannes Vermeer : a Generative Artist ? So What ? Courchia Jean Paul, MD Saint Joseph’S Hospital, Dpt of Ophthalmology
Johannes Vermeer : A generative artist ? So What ? Courchia Jean Paul, MD Saint Joseph’s Hospital, Dpt of Ophthalmology. Marseille. France e-mail : [email protected] Guigui Sarah Department of Internal Medicine, North Shore LIJ at Forest Hills Hospital. Courchia Emmanuel Department of Psychology, Queens College at CUNY. Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch artist born in Delft (the Netherlands) on October 31th 1632, and died on December 16th 1675 at the age of 43 years old. Over the course of his life he was a successful painter locally around Delft and The Hague, but this modest celebrity was soon forgotten after his death. He painted only few paintings of which only 36 are known to date. His paintings are often thought to be small but in reality are of varying sizes from 160 cm to 20 cm in greatest dimension. What is interesting is that they are sometimes at the same (or almost) dimensions. Especially in the series of interiors with the light coming through a window on the left, it is possible that the size’s choice is not only linked to the fact that Vermeer use standard sizes. It is not until 1866 that Vermeer becomes familiar with global fame. Thanks to Theophile Thore-Burger, a French journalist, whose art critic column propelled Vermeer onto the international scene. In 1842 when he saw the View of Delft in the Mauritshuis of The Hague and became an instant fan of the duct painter. He helped Vermeer’s notoriety by publishing an essay attributing 66 works to the painter although 34 are universally attributed to him. -
So Valuable, It Could Almost Be Real
AUTHENTICATION IN ART Art News Service So Valuable, It Could Almost Be Real By PATRICIA COHEN December 31, 2013 A personal escort — flying first class to be well rested and alert — will accompany the painting “The Head of Christ” from the moment it leaves the Boijmans Van Beuningen museum in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, until it is safely locked in the vault at Springfield Museums in Massachusetts this month, when it will be exhibited in the United States for the first time. A 24-hour escort is not an unusual requirement for valuable international museum loans. What makes the security arrangements — estimated to cost more than $31,000 — notable in this case is that the painting is a fake. And it is not just any fake, but an imitation Vermeer by the most notorious forger of all: Han van Meegeren, the World War II-era painter whose counterfeits were so convincing that, Although it is a fake and not a real Vermeer, a personal escort will after the war, he had to create one for witnesses accompany Han van Meegeren’s “Head of Christ” from the moment it to avoid harsh punishment for selling a national leaves the Boijmans Van Beuningen museum in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, until it is safely locked in the vault at Springfield Museums, treasure to the Nazi leader Hermann Göring. where it will be exhibited in the United States for the first time, along with other fakes and forgeries. Credit: Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam Clearly, some forgeries are more equal than others. In New York, buyers of some of the dozens of multimillion-dollar fakes sold through the Knoedler & Company gallery, now shuttered, have filed lawsuits, complaining that their vaunted Modern masterpieces are now “worthless.” But the Boijmans loan, “The Head of Christ,” and other famous fakes with which it is being exhibited in a traveling show retain a valuable mystique. -
Mannheimer: an Important Art Collector Reappraised
Mannheimer: an important art collector reappraised History of ownership from 1920-1952: From Mannheimer to Hitler; recuperation and dispersion in Dutch museums, based on archival documents.1 Main Collection: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Kees Kaldenbach (author) Email [email protected] This Word version, 12 November, 2014, 9320 words See http://kalden.home.xs4all.nl/mann/Mannheimer-article.html See the Online Menu of related Mannheimer articles. In the years following World War II, more than 1400 art objects formerly belonging to the German-born banker Fritz Mannheimer (1890-1939) came into the possession of Dutch museums, especially the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum. Highlights of this remarkable collection include top-quality paintings by Rembrandt, Crivelli, Frans van Mieris, and Jan van der Heyden; German applied art objects of the highest quality; master drawings by Fragonard, Watteau, and Boucher; sculptures by Houdon and Falconet; best-of-kind furniture by Röntgen and classic French furniture makers; a world-class array of Meissen porcelain; exquisite silver and gold art objects, ornate snuff boxes and much else. Like many collections belonging to Jews who lived in countries occupied by the Nazis, the Mannheimer art objects were coveted by Adolf Hitler, Hermann Göring, and associated figures from the time of the German invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940. The subsequent ownership history of these extraordinary works of art, both during and after the war, sheds light on the conflicts, greed, breaches of the law, and lingering consequences of that dark and troubled era in world 1 history. The Amsterdam Rijksmuseum had indeed been most enriched in 1952 by receiving the lion’s share of the Mannheimer estate. -
EDWARD DOLNICK for Lynn It Is in the Ability to Deceive Oneself That the Greatest Talent Is Shown
THE FORGER’S SPELL A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieths Century EDWARD DOLNICK For Lynn It is in the ability to deceive oneself that the greatest talent is shown. —Anatole France We have here a—I am inclined to say the—masterpiece of Johannes Vermeer. —Abraham Bredius CONTENTS Epigraph iii Preface ix Part One OCCUPIED HOLLAND 1 A Knock on the Door 3 2 Looted Art 6 3 The Outbreak of War 9 4 Quasimodo 14 5 The End of Forgery? 18 6 Forgery 101 22 7 Occupied Holland 26 8 The War Against the Jews 30 9 The Forger’s Challenge 33 10 Bargaining with Vultures 40 11 Van Meegeren’s Tears 44 Part Two HERMANN GOERING AND JOHANNES VERMEER 12 Hermann Goering 51 13 Adolf Hitler 55 vi con t e n t s 14 Chasing Vermeer 57 15 Goering’s Art Collection 62 16 Insights from a Forger 66 17 The Amiable Psychopath 77 18 Goering’s Prize 82 19 Vermeer 85 20 Johannes Vermeer, Superstar 88 21 A Ghost’s Fingerprints 93 Part Three THE SELLING OF CHRIST AT EMM AUS 22 Two Forged Vermeers 105 23 The Expert’s Eye 109 24 A Forger’s Lessons 115 25 Bredius 121 26 “Without Any Doubt!” 127 27 The Uncanny Valley 132 28 Betting the Farm 137 29 Lady and Gentleman at the Harpsichord 139 30 Dirk Hannema 145 31 The Choice 150 32 The Caravaggio Connection 163 33 In the Forger’s Studio 167 34 Christ at Emmaus 170 35 Underground Tremors 173 con t e n t s vii Photographic Insert 36 The Summer of 1937 179 37 The Lamb at the Bank 186 38 “Every Inch a Vermeer” 192 39 Two Weeks and Counting 198 40 Too Late! 201 41 The Last Hurdle 203 42 The Unveiling 207 -
The Art of Painting
ART AND IMAGES IN PSYCHIATRY SECTION EDITOR: JAMES C. HARRIS, MD The Art of Painting It is a wonderful moment in the life of a lover of art when he finds himself suddenly confronted with a hitherto un- known painting by a great master, untouched, on the original canvas, and without any restoration, just as it left the painter’s studio!...wehaveherea—Iaminclined to say—the masterpiece of Johannes Vermeer of Delft. Abraham Bredius, 19371(p211) . your [van Meegeren] work satisfied a personal, secret ambition to discover once in our lifetime a truly great masterpiece. Knowing our desires, you laid a trap....intheendwewereallcaught out. P. B. Coremans’ expert testimony at trial of van Meegeren, 19472(p217) Supper at Emmaus, van Meegeren. N THE AFTERNOON OF son in April 1945.4 Mortality more than night before his execution was to take May 14, 1940, the Ger- doubled that winter and fertility dropped place knowing he had been duped! man Luftwaffe bombed by half. Increased rates of major mental At the trial, art experts eventually ac- the civilian center of Rot- illnesses in adulthood in the surviving off- knowledged that they were misled by Oterdam in The Netherlands, leaving it in spring of those starving pregnant women their hopes (epigraph). For them, the ruins. Seeing the extent of devastation, are now well documented.5 paintings seemed to fill gaps in knowl- and threatened with the bombing of Faced with a hostile public and the edge about Vermeer between 2 impor- other major cities, the Dutch surren- prospect of extensive prison time for col- tant periods in his life. -
Modi Operandi in Rubens's Workshop. a Study on the Creative
5. Determining Single-Handedness in Rubens’s Œuvre 5.1. Connoisseurship When dealing with the attribution of paintings, at some point one is inevitably confronted with the term “connoisseurship”, and in the following chapter the basic features as well as the problems that arise from this practice will be briefly discussed. Considerations were made with reference to old master paintings and most observations are only valid in this context. As Nils Büttner highlights, connoisseurship is falsely considered to be an art historical method since the times of Max J. Friedländer, although it is much rather “a more or less consciously- driven application of a whole set of methods”. 245 Ultimately, connoisseurship can be categorised as a form of contemporary reception of artworks, in its essence not dissimilar to what viewers already practised at the time of the artworks’ origination. A connoisseur’s core mission is to determine the authorship of paintings and – in further consequence – their date of origin. This is achieved through examining a work’s stylistic and technical traits, and matching those traits to an equivalent group of works that bear the same characteristics. Traditionally, the ability to compare and attribute the painting should stem from the connoisseur’s strong familiarity with comparative material. When practising connoisseurship, artworks are classified according to their uniform and reproducible stylistic traits, which neglects the concept of an artwork’s uniqueness. After all, “style” is a summative term that can only be determined by investigating a series of works. In today’s scholarly climate, style and the analysis of style play a subordinate or minor role for various reasons, including the modern situational and performative understanding of art, which rejects holistic concepts. -
First Exhibition Devoted to Masterpieces by Johannes Vermeer
National Gallery of Art FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Ruth Kaplan May 19, 1995 Deborah Ziska (202) 842-6353 FIRST EXHIBITION DEVOTED TO MASTERPIECES BY JOHANNES VERMEER AT NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART. EXCLUSIVE U.S. VENUE NOVEMBER 12. 1995 - FEBRUARY 11. 1996 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The first exhibition ever devoted solely to the art of the extraordinary Dutch painter, Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675), will be presented November 12, 1995, through February 11, 1996, in the National Gallery of Art's West Building, the show's exclusive venue in the United States. Only thirty-five works are known to have been painted by this master, who lived and worked in Delft in the mid-seventeenth century. It is remarkable that twenty of those paintings, representing a large number of the works that are allowed to travel, have been confirmed for the exhibition to date. Johannes Vermeer is co- organized by the National Gallery of Art and the Mauritshuis, The Hague, where the show will be presented at its only European venue, March 1 through June 2, 1996. The exhibition in Washington is made possible by United Technologies Corporation. "This exhibition of paintings by Johannes Vermeer, one of -more- Fourth Street at Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20565 vermeer . page 2 the most beloved and revered of all artists, is a once-in-a- lifetime event," said Earl A. Powell III, director, National Gallery of Art. "In partnership with the Mauritshuis and the generous lenders and supporters, we will present more than half of Vermeer's known oeuvre, which we may never be able to see again all in one place." Arthur K. -
The Mysterious Box 1
B®2l8 A WORLD OF THE ATOM SERIES BOOKLET ' t The Author Dr. Bernard Keisch received his B.S. degree from Rensselaer Poly technic Institute and his Ph.D. from Washington University. He lias been a Fellow with the Mellon Institute in Pittsburgh since 1966. lie is presently engaged in a project that deals with the applications of nuclear technology to art identification. This is jointly sponsored by the Atomic Energy Commission and the National Gallery of A.rt. Previously he was a nuclear research chemist with the Phillips Petroleum Company and senior scientist at the Nuclear Science and Engineering Corporation. He has contributed articles on art authenti cation to a number of journals. The Cover This painting, originally believed to be the work of the Dutch artist Frans Hals (1580—1666), is a fake. Measurements of the naturally radioactive isotopes, polonium-210 and radium-226, in lead white from the paint proved that it was no more than 50 years old. THE WORLD OF THE ATOM SERIES Foreword This booklet is the first in a series for junior high school science students and their teachers. The series will describe the many exciting fields of nuclear energy. The author thought it would be more interesting to present his subject as a short story. The techniques and instruments described are factual, but the characters and plot are imaginary. 1 hope you enjoy the story. Edward J. Brunenkant, Director Division of Technical Information UNITED STATES ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg, Chairman James T. Ramey Wilfrid E. Johnson Dr. Theos J. -
JOHANNES VERMEER (Yo-HAN-Ess Ver-MEER) 1632-1675
JOHANNES VERMEER (yo-HAN-ess ver-MEER) 1632-1675 “I’d give the whole of Italian painting for Vermeer of Delft. Now there’s a painter who simply said what he had to say without bothering about anything else.” Pablo Picasso Grades 3-5 PowerPoint Lesson Plan OBJECTIVES HISTORY: Places an artwork in its art historical context. Students will be able to describe how Vermeer’s paintings of genre scenes can give us an idea of the daily life of people in the past. Students will also understand that Vermeer’s genre scenes broke with the artistic traditions of the day, because most artists were painting portraits and historical, mythological or religious subjects. CRITICISM: Informed talk about art. Students will be able to describe the difference between implied texture and actual texture. AESTHETICS: Questions the nature, value and beauty of art. Students will discuss whether or not it is important for us to understand the reasons an artist has for creating a work of art. PRODUCTION: Creating art. Students will create a drawing of Girl with a Pearl Earring, which shows implied texture. VOCABULARY Note to volunteers The vocabulary words will be in bold italics throughout the lesson. They will be defined within the text of the lesson and do not need to be presented separately. The definitions included under this section of the lesson are very detailed and intended for adults only. 1 PowerPoint Presentation Genre Scene: painting that stresses subject matter of domestic trivia, homey scenes, sentimental family life, daily life, etc. Texture: the surface quality of an object or the representation of surface character. -
A Veneer of Vermeer – Chemistryworld
AiA Art News-service A veneer of Vermeer 30 September 2015Wei-lun Toh 14 In the aftermath of the second world war, allied soldiers recovered paintings of great value that the Nazis had looted from museums during their conquest of Europe. Among these was a most remarkable work by the eminent Johann Vermeer, The woman taken in adultery, found in the stash of Hermann Goering, Hitler’s second-in-line. Tracing its acquisition records pointed to a certain Han van Meegeren as the dealer in Amsterdam and a potential traitor to the Netherlands. Faced with a charge of collaboration for selling a Dutch national treasure to the Nazis, van Meegeren wrestled with a dilemma: stand trial for this act of treason, punishable by death, or confess to forgery? The woman taken in adultery was thought to have been painted by Johann Vermeer before scientific testing revealed it as a forgery © Robin Utrecht / EPA / Corbis Van Meegeren had forged The woman taken in adultery, as well as a handful of other artworks, attributing them to Dutch golden age painters Vermeer and Pieter de Hooch. This arose out of a desperate need for income due to his failing artistic career as well as a personal vendetta against the art historians and museum curators who denied his talents. Van Meegeren was a unique forger, in that he created ‘original forgeries’ – paintings made to resemble the style of a particular artist but which had never been created by them. He imitated the styles of the masters so convincingly that he was able to dupe both the Nazis and well-regarded art historians.