| Admin/Biog History | Henricus Antonius van Meegeren (1889-1947) was a Dutch painter and forger of many Dutch Golden Age artists, including Frans Hals, Pieter de Hooch, Gerard ter Borch, and Johannes Vermeer. His most successful forgery was of Vermeer's Supper at Emmaus, believed to be genuine by many experts, including Dr Abraham Bredius, the art collector, historian and museum curator.
van Meegeren became extremely rich on the proceeds of his forgeries. One of his works, Christ with the Adulteress by Vermeer, bought by Hermann Goring, was later found hidden in an Austrian salt mine in 1945 by allied troops. Following investigations into the provenance of the picture, van Meegeren was arrested and initially charged with plundering Dutch cultural history and of being a Nazi collaborator. The latter charge carried the death sentence and, after he confessed to forging art works, the charge was changed to forgery and fraud with a sentence of imprisonment. His last forgery was painted in front of court appointed witnesses and reporters and, in November 1947, he was found guilty as charged and sentenced to a year in prison. van Meegeren did not serve this as he died of a heart attack the same month.
Investigations into the authenticity of paintings continued for a long period after van Meegeren's death. Recent developments in scientific analysis have exposed as fakes, many works previously believed to be genuine. |