(Credits: Far Out / Clem Onojeghuo)
In art and, indeed, the world at large, objects are worth whatever someone is willing to pay for them. If I were to sew a pair of my old trainers together, paint them red and tack them to a canvas, some modern art connoisseur with more money than sense might offer me a dramatic sum of money after discerning some hidden meaning in my work. Naturally, I would nod along and compliment them on their shrewd observations before enjoying my riches. However, much more often, ludicrous sums change hands for a name.
In the art world, reputation is more important than anything. Of course, it would be great if reputation and talent always walked hand in hand, but all too often, those with buckets of talent fail to become recognised for their work, and those with a little talent and a lot of luck build reputations of titanic proportions. So, what are these talented, underappreciated artists to do? Some like to heed the “If you can’t beat them, join them” proverb.
Just as plagiarism is rife in literature and music, style imitation has, for many centuries, irked artists, art dealers and collectors alike. Although Banksy would likely profit from any copyist’s accurate public mural, painters who deal in traditional canvas paintings risk losing out on customers if another artist were to employ their distinctive style and signature to make a few bucks. Hence, specialists around the world devote their careers to determining whether an art piece is authentic or fake.
Throughout history, several talented copyists and forgers have managed to sidestep the specialists and deceive the bidders. One of the most famous copyists in living memory was the Dutch artist Han Van Meergeren. Though he was a hugely talented painter, he failed to arouse the critics and decided to channel some of his nation’s historical greats to prove himself and defy the detractors.
Among the artists Van Meegeren forged were Pieter de Hooch, Gerard ter Borch and Frans Hals. Most famous in his catalogue, however, was a selection of fake Vermeers, the most notable of which, The Supper at Emmaus, tricked some of the most esteemed specialists. “It is a wonderful moment in the life of a lover of art when he finds himself suddenly confronted with a hitherto unknown painting by a great master, untouched, on the original canvas, and without any restoration—just as it left the painter’s studio,” specialist Abraham Bredius wrote of the painting in the revered Burlington Magazine in 1937. “And what a picture!”
The deceived Vermeer specialist continued to put his foot in it by placing the newly discovered Vermeer on a pedestal as one of his overall masterpieces. “Neither the beautiful signature… nor the pointillés on the bread which Christ is blessing, are necessary to convince us that we have here—I am inclined to say—the masterpiece of Johannes Vermeer of Delft,” he said.
At the close of World War II in 1945, Van Meegeren was charged with collaborating with the enemy. The Dutch authorities had traced his name back to the sale of a fake Vermeer to Nazi Field Marshal Hermann Goering. In his defence against the accusation, he claimed that the painting, The Woman Taken in Adultery, was, in reality, a forgery by his own hand. Many people in the Netherlands now remember Van Meegeren as a wartime hero since he traded his false Vermeer with Goering for 200 original Dutch paintings he had acquired during the Nazi regime.
Before his admission, Van Meegeren had managed to accumulate approximately $30million in riches. This is an impressive feat, but just one sale dwarfed this figure in 2017. The most valuable painting in the world is undoubtedly the Mona Lisa, which was painted in the early 16th century by the Italian master Leonardo da Vinci. It just so happens that the most expensive fake might well have been attributed to Da Vinci.
In 2017, an exceedingly rare painting titled Salvator Mundi was auctioned as the only privately owned Da Vinci. After a ferocious bidding war in New York, the billionaire who took the artwork home was Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, whose winning bid was reported at around $450m. This figure makes it the most expensive painting in the world, but did Da Vinci even paint it?
Since the sale, the Spanish museum Prado has downgraded the painting to the status of “attributed to, authorised by, or supervised by Da Vinci.” Subsequently, the Louvre, which houses the Mona Lisa, echoed these conclusions, labelling the work as “from the workshop”. Most art historians now believe that the painting was the work of a pupil studying under Da Vinci and may contain just a couple of strokes from Italian legend.
Although a New York art dealer originally purchased the piece in 2005 for $1,175, experts estimate that it could sell for up to $1.5m if auctioned again. This equates to a loss of around $448.5m for the Saudi Crown Prince, who likely felt a little rubicund when the penny dropped. The painting is now reportedly in a storage facility in Switzerland, awaiting its next move.
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