Title Slide
Please excuse the corny pun in the title of this posting. It is taken from the title of a talk I recently gave to a group of friends who meet once a month to have lunch and a chat.
We all, at intervals, give talks on a subject of (with luck!) general interest to the group. My talk/presentation had two sections; one, very briefly explaining the incident which prompted my early interest in forgery, and; two, an introduction, with slides, to the story of one of the most notorious cases of modern forgery, that of Van Meegeren the forger of Vermeers.
The slide above was the title slide of the talk, and the slides below are a selection taken from the Van Meegeren part of the talk/presentation.
We all, at intervals, give talks on a subject of (with luck!) general interest to the group. My talk/presentation had two sections; one, very briefly explaining the incident which prompted my early interest in forgery, and; two, an introduction, with slides, to the story of one of the most notorious cases of modern forgery, that of Van Meegeren the forger of Vermeers.
The slide above was the title slide of the talk, and the slides below are a selection taken from the Van Meegeren part of the talk/presentation.
'The Mona Lisa industry'
If I remember correctly, there are at least 20 or so 'serious' contenders in the 'which Mona Lisa is the genuine one' stakes.
The bottom left one is the Louvre version, which is generally rated as the most likely to be genuine. (Although it only became the most famous painting in the world when it was returned to the museum after being stolen for a period!). So it raises the fascinating possibility that the genuine one was stolen and a copy was returned!! - a procedure which was old even when Michelangelo was employing it (but maybe now I'm being fanciful).
I showed this slide just to illustrate how difficult (and pertinent) is the question of authenticity in the genuine/fake/forgery/copy world of art.
The bottom left one is the Louvre version, which is generally rated as the most likely to be genuine. (Although it only became the most famous painting in the world when it was returned to the museum after being stolen for a period!). So it raises the fascinating possibility that the genuine one was stolen and a copy was returned!! - a procedure which was old even when Michelangelo was employing it (but maybe now I'm being fanciful).
I showed this slide just to illustrate how difficult (and pertinent) is the question of authenticity in the genuine/fake/forgery/copy world of art.
Then I threw this one in as a quick quiz question..........
And the answer is.........
Something like 22 paintings, purported to be by Adolph Hitler, were 'discovered' a few years ago in, if memory serves, Cornwall.
And of course, if someone wanted to choose an 'easy' artist to forge, Hitler is not a bad choice. He's one of the most notorious figures in world history, so there would be an incredible amount of interest in any such find; he was a known painter, although not much work remains; the standard of the known work is pretty low, therefore not too difficult to replicate; it's easy to get the correct materials because we are so close to the dates of his 'artistic' life; and because his life was so disjointed at the period when he was painting, therefore any stylistic divergences in a forgery could be easy to explain; etc.
And of course Adolph returns as a peripheral bit-player in the story below.
But now we come to a somewhat more difficult proposition for a forger, - an artist of the first rank.......
Jan Vermeer. To attempt the forgery of a Vermeer we would have to search for a supremely confident individual, with bags of motivation, artistic skills and knowledge, plus a non-existent moral compass, to take on the task.
So step forward.....Han Van Meegeren.........
So step forward.....Han Van Meegeren.........
He had all the attributes, and he was perfectly placed. He had studied studio techniques, pigments, mixing paints, etc, when a young man, and had struggled for recognition as a painter in his own right. And he did become successful.
In fact one of his drawings, 'Princess Julianas's deer', (which he said he had drawn in only ten minutes, (below)), was the most reproduced image in Holland for a period.
However, although he had some popular acclaim amongst the wider public, he was disdained by the artistic establishment, as being a fuddy-duddy in the new dynamic world of modern art. He became increasingly sidelined and ignored. So he could also add a growing resentment against the artistic elite to the list of his qualities as a potential forger.
He moved to France and hit upon the idea of forgery as a way of revenging himself against the unappreciative artistic elite, and also making a few bob along the way.
There are several basic hurdles to becoming a successful forger. Firstly and primarily producing a convincing product both stylistically and technically; secondly developing a plausible provenance for the work; and thirdly negotiating a convincing entry into the market
He tried a couple of early Vermeer forgeries, which had the look of Vermeers mature style.
...but he knew that Abraham Bredius, the leading Vermeer expert, held the opinion that Vermeer had an early period when he painted religious subjects, (like the one above, a painting which Bredius had authenticated himself), and that there would be more unidentified early Vermeers 'out there' waiting to be discovered!
So Van Meegeren 'discovered' them! They were shown to Bredius, who, delighted that his theory was proven, duly authenticated them. So these horrible facsimile 'Vermeers' became part of the canon, and were bought up by the leading Dutch museums.
This final forgery (below) provided a strange and unique twist to the tale. It was acquired, through intermediaries, by none other than Herman Goering, second in charge of the Third Reich, to add to his massive art collection which he was voraciously grabbing from all the conquered territories of Europe!
When the war ended, and Goerings collection was sequestered by the American army, it was discovered that Van Meegeren had been involved in the supply of the 'Vermeer' to the Nazi's. He was arrested, charged with collaboration, for which the penalty was death.
So fairly rapidly, he confessed to being a forger, and claimed that he had swapped the 'Vermeer' for 200 lesser Dutch paintings which were returned to Holland. So really, he claimed, it was a patriotic act!
So he found himself in the unusual position of being in court arguing that he was guilty of fraud, against a prosecution who were arguing that he was not a fraudster!
At first he wasn't believed, so he offered to paint a 'Vermeer' for the court.
He did this, and his case was accepted, so he was convicted of Fraud, and the charge of collaboration was dropped.
He did this, and his case was accepted, so he was convicted of Fraud, and the charge of collaboration was dropped.
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NOTICE
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I'm exhibiting a room-full of pictures at the Royal Cambrian Academy in Conwy running from 27th May for around six weeks.
The exhibition is called 'Paintings by Harry Robertson' (which I thought was a rather snappy title!).
It will include a few new pictures although, as I tend to work quite slowly, (and as I've just recently completed another one-man show), the majority of the work will have been exhibited before in other places.
Nevertheless, I do hope you can find the time to drop in.
Opening Hours : 11am - 5pm Tuesday - Saturday
Admission Free
The Exhibition runs from May 27th to July 6th.
Admission Free
Royal Cambrian Academy, Crown Lane, Conwy. LL32 8AN. 01492 593413
The Gallery is located in the centre of Conwy just off the High Street behind Plas Mawr.
The nearest train station is at Llandudno Junction, 3km from the Gallery and served by the North Wales Coast route.Services run approximately hourly throughout the week. The Arriva Cymru (service 5) bus stop is 200m away from the gallery and runs at 30 minute intervals on weekdays.
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Music:
Beyond painting, my other preoccupation is music - particularly songwriting.
I've recently started, just for fun, linking the two preoccupations together, by featuring a few paintings along with one of my songs. If you have a spare minute, you're welcome to take a look. . . . .
.......... these are on YouTube, and I'll add more as time goes by.
They will also be found on iTunes, Spotify, CDBaby, etc, - (my intention is to put a new song on monthly from September 2017)
Also in the last period I've been recording some songs with some friends - have a listen here if you have the time.
quiz quiz quiz quiz quiz “details, details............” quiz quiz quiz quiz quiz
Who painted this animal, and in which painting?
(The answer will be in the next posting.)
And here's the answer from the last posting -
'The Tribute Money'
Masaccio, 1425, Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence
quiz quiz quiz quiz quiz “details, details............” quiz quiz quiz quiz quiz