Legendary forgers staged a solo exhibition

[Тютчев]

continued ...

A new mediator for an artist is Van Strayvesande. Meegeren passes his "Christ and the sinner", and then accidentally finds out that he was closely associated with Nazi circles. But it was too late. Bavarian banker Alois Middle already heard about the opening of an unknown Vermeer painting and informed the Walter Hofer - an agent of Hitler's regime, which committed search for artistic values in the occupied countries. Meegeren had no control over the course of events. In the end the deal interferes Dutch state. For now a price on a million 650 thousand guilders (about 6 million francs). Germans need to purchase this masterpiece of the Dutch national patrimony, and sale of the painting becomes a state matter. After secret negotiations the deal was struck: in exchange for a picture of the Third Reich returns Holland 200 original paintings that were stolen by the Nazis during the invasion. Upon receipt of these paintings by Dutch state pays in cash the amount requested by the Middle and Van Strayvesande. The latter gives about 4 million francs Meegerenu. The artist is not satisfied. He knows that the Middle and Walter Hofer work on Reichsmarschall the Third Reich and art collector Hermann Goering.

In the period from 1939 to 1943 Van Meegeren created 13 counterfeit. Five of them were sold. The remaining eight yielded 7.254 million guilders, or about 250 million francs, of which Meegere? received at least 170 million.


 "drinking women" (Frans Hals)

Painting signed monogram «FH», as well as the previous one - was found during the search and never for sale was not present

Woman Drinking, 78 x 66 cm, oil on canvas, painted around 1935-36