Art Alert! The Case Of The Masterpiece That Wasn't

Han van Meegeren was a painter with a problem. He tried to sell artwork under his own name, but the critics of the 1920s weren’t keen on it. They were excited by newer, abstract forms of art, like cubism or surrealism. Van Meegeren, on the other hand, painted in a very traditional, realistic style.

- Galadriel Watson

The Dutch artist decided to trick the art world. He wanted to prove that he could paint just as well as any of the famous old masters.

Van Meegeren became an art forger. A forger creates art but claims a famous artist made it. He or she may sell this fake work for lots of money. Van Meegeren was one of the most successful art forgers of all time.

A Vermeer Is Born

First, which artist to forge? Van Meegeren was particularly fond of Dutch painters from the 1600s, like Rembrandt van Rijn and Frans Hals. But wait. There was another Dutch painter: Johannes Vermeer. Only about 35 of his paintings were known. Van Meegeren couldn’t directly copy one of those, as the owner of the original painting might point out the copy. But how about producing a whole new “Vermeer”?

Vermeer’s history happened to have a gap. Scholars weren’t sure what the painter was up to during that time. So maybe van Meegeren could produce a painting from that period. Scholars suspected Vermeer had gone to Italy. Van Meegeren could make it look like his painting had been influenced by old Italian masters. He could also give his Vermeer a religious subject matter, so it would seem like it came from a “lost religious period” in the artist’s work.

With Vermeer on the brain, van Meegeren got to work.

The Long-lost Supper

In 1937, van Meegeren was ready to reveal his masterpiece, called Supper at Emmaus. He first showed it to a friend, who didn’t realize it was fake. He then got the friend to show it to art expert Abraham Bredius. Not only was Bredius an art expert, but he was also the expert on Vermeer. He had long suspected artwork from that blank time period existed, and he was eager to be proven correct.