Movement, Style, School or Type of Art:
Dutch Baroque, three centuries after it occurred
Date and Place of Birth:
October 10, 1889, Deventer, Netherlands
Life and Work:
van Meegeren achieved immortality, not through his original works but because of his brilliant forgeries. His life of artistic crime began after his work was demeaned by art critics. Motivated by revenge, he set out to embarrass his detractors by "putting one over" on them. His forgeries were so good that his "Vermeers" were accepted as genuine.
As this was all happening during the rather large distraction of a World War (II), van Meegeren fooled the art world...for a while. At war's end, the Dutch government traced previously unknown works to him, arrested him as a Nazi collaborator and then changed his charges to forgery. Under house arrest, he created an "Old Master" in three weeks, was found guilty and handed a two-year prison sentence.
What van Meegeren did was morally, ethically and legally wrong, but he certainly managed to find a way to achieve lasting fame as a painter.
Date and Place of Death:
December 30, 1947, Deventer, Netherlands
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