Among the most striking images of Indonesian subjects by foreign artists is a portrait of Raden Mas Djodjana performing as wayang orang character Gatotkaca by Han van Meegeren, which is thought to have been painted in 1925. It is evidence that despite his obscurity in the world of art, the artist was in fact quite talented. Unfortunately, he was not patient enough in his struggle as an artist.

At the end of World War II, a collection of artworks was found among the possessions of Hermann Goering. A painting in the collection, Christ and the Adulteress, which was known to be a work of the Dutch master Vermeer, led to the arrest of van Meegeren, who had apparently sold the work to the Nazi field-marshal as he plundered the art collections of Jewish families when the Germans invaded most of Europe. The artist was accused of collaborating with the Nazis, a crime that was punishable by death.

In prison, the artist confessed to having forged a number of Vermeers, including the one he sold to Goering for 1.6 million Dutch guilders or around US$500,000. The other works he had sold to prominent collectors, museums and even the Dutch government for a total of more than $2 million (the equivalent of ten times that amount today). Of course, no one believed his confession at first. He had to prove his capability by producing another painting in the style of Vermeer in the custody of the guards.

In the end, he was convicted of forging the artists' signatures and was only sentenced to a year in prison at the District Court in Amsterdam. He was hospitalized before he served his term, and died in December 1947, after serving just a month in prison.

Certainly, if it had not been for the severe punishment for collaborating with the Nazis, van Meegeren would not have admitted to forging the Vermeers, and his works might still be shown as the real thing in museum exhibitions today.

He started to become involved in forgery because his existence as an artist was belittled by the art experts and critics. He was also appalled by the fact that connoisseurs could not actually determine the authenticity of paintings. Even the most reliable of experts considered some paintings that were actually original to be fakes, while the fakes were thought to be original.

Theo van Wijnaarden, an art restorer and painter who was a friend of van Meegeren, had purchased an original painting by Frans Hals, certified by art expert deGroot. Van Wijnaarden restored the paining and intended to resell it at a profit. When the painting was displayed in an exhibition well-known art expert Dr. Abraham Bredius said the painting was a fake. His judgement was based on the fact that the paint was still soft, while actually the soft oil paints came from the restoration work. Breduis's poor judgement resulted in the art restorer's loss.

Disgusted by the Dutch art critics' comments regarding his works, in 1932 van Meegeren left Holland. Later, he learned about van Wijnaarden's disaster. He intended to produce a painting in the style of Vermeer, to prove his capability. From his studio in the south of France, he conducted technical research and experiments for about four years, before beginning work on his first, and perhaps his best, work of forgery, Christ at Emmaus.

Once he had completed the work, he brought the painting back to the Netherlands, to sell through a gallery. As in other attempts in selling forgeries, he made up a story. He told of his discovery of a Vermeer, in the hands of a wealthy French family who needed to discreetly sell some of their paintings, including this Vermeer, due to financial difficulties. It so happened that Dr. Bredius himself was interested in the painting, and considered it an authentic Vermeer. The painting was sold to the Boymans Museum and hung there for seven years. The other paintings he produced were also sold in the same fashion. The sale of the paintings afforded him numerous houses in Amsterdam and a mansion in the south of France.

An artist of limited reputation, van Meegeren managed to take revenge on the critics who refused him recognition, with the master forger's works thought to be the work of one of the greatest artists in history.

With the emergence of so many forgeries in Indonesia today, it seems appropriate to reflect on the story of Han van Meegeren. It often takes a life-threatening situation to make the truth come out. If van Meegeren had not been faced with the death sentence, he might have never confessed to his crime.

Will we ever get to know anything about the talented Indonesian artists who have chosen to become forgers rather than continuing with their struggle to become prominent Indonesian artists? Perhaps not, and what a pity that would be. What is even worse, now more and more people are condoning and even accepting art forgeries as "good" or even "great" works of art.

As we can see from his portrait of Raden Mas Djodjana, we know that van Meegeren indeed had great talent as an artist. There is no doubt that the Indonesian forgers also have potential. Rather than letting them jump on the forging bandwagon, perhaps we can take some preventive measures by not only appreciating works by artists who are highly sought after in exhibitions and auctions, but also by offering greater support and recognition to the emerging artists who work hard to produce good works of art.

 

None

Strokes of Genius
Well Noted
Healthy Glow
Talking Chop
Golf