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Life and career of Khan (or Hans) van Meegerena (Han van Meegeren) represent one of the most illustrative and at the same time unusual stories connected with the painting of the XX century. He started as a unique artist, but as such a great reputation not received. Then the van Meegeren, a flash of unusual facets of his talent, engaged in counterfeiting the old Dutch masters - and earn a huge fortune. Rigging the results were revealed - and it brought the artist to international fame, which he, however, virtually no time to enjoy. Now van Meegerena rightfully called one of the most skilled forgers in the history of painting. In 2009, full circle: among the paintings attributed to the genius of a cheat, someone else found one. Forgery by forgery was the original - now, allegedly written by van Meegerenom, wrote an unknown Dutchman XVII century.
It is a canvas "consolidated" Preserved in the collection of London's Courtauld Institute of Art (Courtauld). It is believed that this pattern was found in a villa van Meegerena in Nice in 1945, when an outstanding forger was forced to reveal themselves. Probably, this fact and made art for so long now considered a forgery.
The Dutch government took the "consolidated" himself, but soon gave the picture to the British art historian Geoffrey Webb (Geoffrey Webb), commending his contributions in restitution - the return of cultural objects removed from the Netherlands during the Second World War. Webb firmly believe now, van Meegerena, and in 1960 it was in this capacity gave it Courtauld Institute. It is therefore not surprising that the question about its authenticity - or, more accurately, fake ones - then no one picked up.
Doubts emerged later, in 1970, the Dutch art historian Mareyke van den Brandhof (Marijke van den Brandhof), but when its voice is listened to none - all were convinced that the "synthesis" was painted not the old masters and modern forger .
Why examination still had, precisely in 2009, is unclear. As stated by the superintendent of the Institute of Courtauld, Caroline Campbell (Caroline Campbell), she has always believed that the painting could be an original XVII century, however, and its findings have surprised specialists (examination results to the general public, referring to The Art Newspaper, retelling of the British edition of The Daily Telegraph and The Independent).
Researchers in the first place, found that the picture painted on an old canvas. However, they are considered the most important: after all, a professional artist and a sophisticated forger, Van Meegeren was what surely would have found the canvas XVII century. The more important result given pigment analysis: in the picture "synthesis" in general did not have modern pigments, because of what can be fairly safe to say that it dates from the golden age of Dutch painting.
Nevertheless, who was the author of "composite" is unclear. An irony: the picture that turned out not fake the famous forger, and the original artist unknown, it seems even slightly lost its appeal of an adventurous - although, of course, acquired in the price. More interesting is that the painting was again connected with his main "prototype" - Jan Vermeer. Specialists from the Courtauld Institute of Art say that, probably, "consolidated" hung in the home of the legendary and mysterious Delft painter.
To understand what they mean experts should apply to the plot of the picture. A scene in a brothel was, apparently, DiMeo unknown artist with the same name genre paintings in 1622 brush Dirk van Babyurena (Dirck van Baburen, 1595-1624) - Dutch painter, who lived in Utrecht and classified as local karavadzhistam. It is believed that the "consolidated" van Babyurena or her a copy hanging in the house of Tiffany's Vermeer: this is illustrated by two paintings of the artist, "The Concert" (about 1665-1666, in 1990 the painting was stolen from a Boston museum, her whereabouts are still unknown) and "Woman Seated in verdzhinelem" (1675). In both painting canvases, which unmistakably recognizable plot "consolidated", hangs on the wall and is visible to the viewer. Moreover, the Vermeer is not real with the same name and on the same subject, also known as "The scene on the balcony." Apparently, experts Courtauld suggest that not the original van Babyurena, and a copy of an unknown artist, is now caught up to them, hung in the house of Tiffany Vermeer and attracted the attention of the artist.
Thus, a sheet, which could be the last link in the chain of copies, imitations and counterfeits, is the most that neither is an original. This sounds like ending a post-modern adventure novel, however, seems to have before us is not novel, but most that neither is reality. It seems more symbolic name of the picture: "consolidated" and really brought to the XX century XVII-m, and Vermeer - to his most famous imitator, and almost rival.
P.S. The painting became the focus of the public due to its unusual history, is not placed in the museum Courtauld Institute of Art because of its poor preservation. However, the curator of the museum ready to show his newfound "Dutchman" XVII century, nearly 50 years, is stuck with the stigma of forgery, unless prior arrangement with them to meet.
Cyril tadpoles
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Han van Meegeren was born in 1889, and began to forge paintings in the late 1920's when he realized that it brings a lot of money. The greatest success he gained through the Vermeer forgeries: in the XX century painter from Delft became extremely fashionable, 35 (or thereabouts) paintings left by him, could not satisfy the "demand", and customers willingly believed that the pictures Meegerena van - originals . Forger used gaps in the biography of Vermeer and depicted the Italian influence on the Dutchman, drawing on the Gospel stories (among the original XVII century, they are not), the greatest success he brought the work of "Christ at Emmaus. Van Meegeren was unmasked by connoisseurs of painting: he himself had to confess everything, when he wanted to be judged for the sale of paintings of Vermeer to Goering. He became an overnight celebrity of the world, the artist condemned only a year, but he soon died, never crossed the threshold of the prison. On the van Meegeren forgeries earned $ 25-30 million in terms of modern money.
http://lenta.ru/articles/2009/09/30/meegeren/