Van Meegeren
The story of probably the most famous and ingenious Dutch forger begins on October 10, 1889 in Deventer. Even as a child, he showed a penchant for painting, which was not to the liking of his father, who did everything he could to discourage him from doing so. The young Han van Megeren will meet Bartus Korteling, a teacher and painter, who will be his mentor for a while and have a significant influence on him. Korteling was fascinated by the work of Johannes Vermeer and spent a lot of time explaining Hannah Vermeer's technique and style, even teaching him how to make colors like this great master.
Under pressure from his father, Van Megeren went to study architecture at the Technical Faculty in Delft (otherwise Vermeer's hometown), but at the same time took painting classes. He never officially finished his architecture studies, since he did not take the final exam. Instead, he devoted himself to painting and drawing.
For a time, he worked as an assistant professor of drawing and art history at the Academy of Arts in The Hague, and at the same time sold his drawings and paintings for additional income. His work has attracted the attention of clients and critics and within a few years he has managed to become part of the Dutch art scene and gain some popularity and recognition.
His painting career seemed to be progressing well, however, critics became much less sympathetic to him after a while. They reproached him for being too focused on the works of old masters and too much influenced by their style, challenged his talent and originality, and considered his gift limited to imitation and copying only. Out Megeren was severely criticized. He fiercely defended himself, but the consequence was only a further loss of the reputation and sympathy of the critics. Annoyed, he retreats to the south of France, firmly determined to take revenge for the injustice he thought was inflicted on him and to prove his worth. Thus begins the second phase of his life, which will eventually glorify him.
The career of a forger
What Van Megeren had in mind was to create perfect forgeries. He chose Johannes Vermeer as the painter when he would falsify.
He had several reasons for this choice. One of them was the fact that he was already well acquainted with Vermeer's style and technique thanks to his mentor Korteling. Another reason was the very small number of paintings attributed to Vermeer. His opus made up only one tenth of the opus of his contemporary Rembrandt. Many art historians have left out the possibility of the existence of more of Vermeer's works, and it would hardly be suspicious to anyone if they began to "discover" themselves.
The girl with the pearl earring, Vermeer’s masterpiece
Leaving nothing to chance, in the period from 1932 to 1937, Van Megeren carefully studied Vermeer's life and work. In order to create the most faithful forgeries, he used seventeenth-century canvases and made colors himself in the same way and with the help of the same materials as Vermeer. He even made his own brushes, using badger hair.
Since oil paints take several decades to dry completely, the biggest challenge was to make paintings that would look about three centuries old. And he managed to solve that problem, after a lot of experimentation. He added phenol formaldehyde, a synthetic resin, to his paints, and he would bake the pictures at a certain temperature. Eventually, he rolled over the painting to create tiny cracks in the paint. In this way, he created very convincing images.
At first, he strictly adhered to typical Vermeer themes, painting mostly interiors with scenes from civic life.
Han van Megeren, Večera u Emausu
He soon decides to take a risk. Painting "Dinner at Emmaus", inspired by Caravaggio, but in Vermeer style. Vermeer never painted something like this, but the paintings from his early phase betrayed the influence of Caravaggio.
The existence of such an image was not impossible. Van Megeren's ambition was not just to copy old masters, but to create images with which he would be able to match them. He succeeded in painting "Dinner at Emmaus". Critics, experts, collectors, art lovers, all fell for his deception. One of the most authoritative experts of the time, Abraham Bredius, enthusiastically wrote about this "discovery", even calling "Dinner at Emmaus" a Vermeer masterpiece.
The painting sold for 550,000 former Dutch guilders, which today amounts to about four million dollars.
Van Megeren continued to paint forgeries in the way he did with "Dinner at Emmaus". All were sold at prices that amount to several million dollars today.
One of Van Megeren's forgeries came into the possession of Hermann Goering. It is the work "Christ and the Adulteress". In exchange for it, Goering gave 137 original paintings, most of which were looted during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. He considered this painting the most valuable in his collection and he proudly pointed it out, not even suspecting that it was a forgery.
To Van Megeren's misfortune, Goering carefully recorded all the data concerning the purchase and purchase of paintings for his collection. After the war, it was not difficult for the police to reach Han van Megeren, using this information. He is accused of selling Dutch cultural treasures to the occupiers. Faced with the possibility of being convicted of collaborationism, for which the death penalty could have been obtained, Van Megeren decides to admit everything.
From a traitor to a national hero
"The painting in Goering's possession is not, as you think, Vermeer's, but Van Megeren's!" He told the police in 1945. "I painted it!"
Nobody believed him. How is it possible that he managed to produce such a credible and high-quality forgery? Van Megeren suggests that he paint another "Vermeer" and thus prove that he is telling the truth. The court agrees to this, and the result is the painting "The Young Jesus in the Temple", which dispelled all doubts about the true authorship of the paintings that had hitherto been wrongly attributed to Vermeer.
Van Megeren was acquitted of previous accusations of selling Dutch cultural treasures to the occupiers, given that it was a forgery. He gained great popularity during the trial as the man who tricked Goering. He made good use of the situation to his advantage, claiming that his motive for Goering's deception was to preserve the original works of art. Finally, he received those 137 paintings in exchange for "Christ and the Adulteress".
From a traitor and a collaborator, he became a national hero. He was eventually tried as a forger, for which he received a minimum sentence of one year in prison. However, he never served a day of his sentence. He passed away a month after the verdict, on December 30, 1947, as a result of two heart attacks.
On one occasion, referring to the fate of his first major forgery, The Dinner at Emmaus, Van Megeren stated:
"How much was this painting worth millions of guilders yesterday, and experts and art lovers came from all over the world and paid to see it. Today, it is worth nothing and no one would even cross the street to see it for free. But the picture has not changed. What is it? ”
Very good story, thank you.