Comments on: 6 Greatest Art Fakers in History

By: DeLuxe

DeLuxe — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 14:38:26 +0000

If one sees the fake 'Emmausgangers' by Van Meegeren, it is very hard to understand that experts took it for a real Vermeer. It is a really clumsy painting, compared to the works of the master:
http://www.statenvertaling.net/kunst/grootbeeld/356.html

Apart from Elmyr de Hory, I was expecting to see the work of master forger Geert Jan Jansen, who, after being caught by the French, got all his work back, because experts couldn't distinguish the fakes from the originals.
Even Karel Appel said the fakes by Jansen were definitely "original Appels"! (Same trick that De Hory played with Van Dongen...)

Another interesting forger and smuggler is Michel van Rijn, who fooled people by telling them he was a descendant of the famous Rembrandt van Rijn. (Which isn't true, athough Michel also looks a lot like Rembrandt.)
This relation should explain the fact that he had so many 'undiscovered Rembrands'.
Later turned out they were all fakes, of course.

By: bumcakes

bumcakes — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 00:03:03 +0000

this list EPIC FAILS without http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Myatt

By: dooflotchie

dooflotchie — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 23:33:45 +0000

Well, I do have to give the first guy a bit of a thumbs-up for ripping off Nazis and cheating them out of large amounts of cash. Hahahaaaaa!

By: seefish3

seefish3 — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 20:44:32 +0000

D'oh! Bagged me on that one, Cave. Speed reading does me wrong again!

By: Melissa

Melissa — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:08:40 +0000

Elmyr De Hory should have definitely made the list.

By: bill lewis

bill lewis — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:05:00 +0000

what about Pietro Psaier

By: Skull Thuggery

Skull Thuggery — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:15:37 +0000

"Background: In the mid-60s, a 3i-year-old art collector named David Stein"

The moral of this story is: Never trust a man whose age is an irrational number.

By: tonybaloney

tonybaloney — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:50:43 +0000

How can you leave out Elmyr de Hory?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmyr_de_Hory

By: ajw123

ajw123 — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:38:42 +0000

@Mike56 I agree! I stopped reading after the second spelling error.

By: Mike56

Mike56 — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:17:56 +0000

Wow..I guess spell check or a proof read was to much to ask for.

By: Gauldar

Gauldar — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:49:13 +0000

I saw a news bit on TV regarding the forging of works from popular artists, where a group of artists in China recreate them in an assembly line fashion. Each person is given a particular task and part of the painting, and then passed onto the next person. It was quite interesting.

By: cave-fatuam

cave-fatuam — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:20:26 +0000

RE:seefish3
That's probably why Stein did watercolours. ^_^

By: seefish3

seefish3 — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 09:01:23 +0000

Re: David Stein... Anyone who has worked with oils knows you can't paint something in one day and have it dry in time for sale the same day.

Unless your buyer is a grade school art teacher.

Bathroom reader should hang his empty head in shame.