VAN MEEGEREN, Han

Han Van Meegeren (1889-1947) was a Dutch painter and portraitist, considered one of the most ingenious art forgers of the 20th century. Van Meegeren became a national hero after World War II when it was revealed that he had sold a forged painting to Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. The precept of the forger was the production of ‘the lost Vermeers’. He bought authentic 17th-century canvases and mixed his own paints from raw materials (such as lapis lazuli, white lead, indigo, and cinnabar) using old formulas to ensure that they could pass as authentic. He made badger-hair paintbrushes similar to those that Vermeer was known to have used. During World War II, Göring purchased one of Van Meegeren’s “Vermeers”, which became one of his most prized possessions. Following the war, Van Meegeren was arrested on a charge of selling cultural property to the Nazis. Facing a possible death penalty, he confessed that the painting was a forgery, and was subsequently convicted and sentenced to one year in prison. However, he died less than two months later after suffering two heart attacks.

The story of Van Meegeren’s forgeries is both fascinating and extensive. There is thorough exploration of his intriguing career both online and in print.