Jennifer Gooch Hummer's Blog

If you missed the previous post, here is the question again:

In the film, The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), Thomas Crown (played by the smoking hot Pierce Brosnan) steals a painting from the MET. It is one of these four paintings. Can you guess which one?

“Open Window, Collioure” (1905) Henri MatisseCow with Parasol” (1946) Marc Chagall

If you guessed “San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk” (1908) Claude Monet, you’re correct!

This painting was bequeathed to the National Museum Cardiff in Cardiff Wales by Gwendoline Davies.

Which one of these paintings would you steal if you had the choice?

I would definitely grab “Open Window, Collioure” (1905) by Henri Matisse. Matisse is one of my favorite artists of all time and I know just the spot where I would place this painting.

I’d love to know which painting you would steal, given the chance.

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In the “Thomas Crown Affair” (1999) with Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo, Thomas Crown steals a painting from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Do you know which one he stole?

Hint, It’s one of these:

.

“Open Window, Collioure” (1905) Henri Matisse

“Bathers” (1874-75) Paul Cézanne

“Cow with Parasol” (1946) Marc Chagall

“San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk” (1908) Claude Monet

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What motivates an art forger?

Money, pride, and revenge are the top three reasons why an artist would forge another artist’s work. Henricus Anthonius Van Meegeren painted fakes for revenge. 

Angry at being snubbed by the Dutch art establishment, Van Meegeren (1889-1947) began forging copies of a famous Dutch artist to prove he was equally as talented. Using carefully researched canvases and precise ingredients for his brushes, including badger hair, Van Meegeren became a master forger of this artist’s work. Once the copies were finished, Van Meegeren used another well-known art forgery technique to recreate craquelure (cracks) in the painting. He baked the reproductions in high heat.

 photo credit

Van Meegeren was so successful as a forger, he eventually fooled Nazi Hermann Goering into purchasing one of his fake paintings, which the Nazi believed to be authentic. The sale turned out to be Van Meegeren’s downfall however, because he was arrested in 1945 for collaborating with the Nazis—a crime punishable by execution. In order to avoid death, Van Meegeren confessed to having forged the reputed painting. In his trial he framed himself as a Dutch hero and said, “Of course I sold it to Goering, I knew what better person to con than this great Nazi bag of wind. How could a person demonstrate his patriotism, his love of Holland more than I did by conning the great enemy of the Dutch people?”

The jury believed him and thus he was jailed for the lesser crime of art forgery. Unfortunately he died one month into his one year jail sentence. 

Do you know which famous Dutch artist Van Meegeren forged? 

The Supper at Emmaus

If you guessed Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) you win! 

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14 Easy Reads to Take To The Beach And Beyond As Summer Winds Down Veridian Sterling Fakes It  by Jennifer Gooch Hummer

I’m so happy to be included in this list. Check out the other books here .

Newly graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design, Veridian Sterling dreams of showcasing her art in New York galleries, but only lands a job as a personal assistant. Struggling to support her mother’s business dreams, Veri seizes an opportunity to find a lost Van Gogh, using her art copying skills to track it down. But when she becomes entangled with a dubious art dealer and his mysterious driver, Veri finds herself in over her head, needing to clear her name and secure her and her mother’s futures.

Veridian Sterling Fakes It by Jennifer Gooch Hummer

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There are two Goodreads giveaways!

(to enter click book titles)

Veridian Sterling Fakes ItGirl Unmoored I hope you win both!

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What motivates an art forger?

Elmyr de Horyphoto credit

Some artists paint fakes for money, others for revenge.  Elmyr de Hory, one of the greatest forgers of all time, was of the latter camp. Born in Hungary in 1906 to a middle-class family, de Hory started misleading the world at a young age by claiming that he was an aristocrat, born from ambassadors and bankers. He began art school in his late teens in Germany and in 1926, de Hory moved to Pairs.

Early on in his career, de Hory was snubbed by art experts who claimed that his figurative art was uninteresting and out of touch with the times. Cubism, Expressionism and Fauvism were en vogue in the late 1920’s and de Hory failed to capture an audience for his work. But while his own art could not earn him any money, he would soon discover that his fakes definitely would. In 1946, struggling to make ends meet, he sold a sketch to someone who “mistook it” for an authentic Picasso and thus his life was forever changed. For the next few decades, de Hory made his living painting copies of Matisse, Renoir, and most especially, Modigliani.  

photo creditAmedeo Modigliani

Born in Italy in 1884, Amedeo Modigliani moved to Paris in 1906 where he became a vagabond artist keeping company with poets and other artists and securing a reputation as a “ladies man.” His figurative paintings are known for their elongated faces, necks, and bodies. Many of his subjects are painted having only simple blank eyes, yet somehow manage to convey raw, deep emotion.

I personally love his work. 

As happens with so many artists, especially those struggling to make a living, Modigliani, like de Hory, became addicted to drugs and alcohol. Modigliani died of tubercular meningitis when he was only 35 years old. De Hory lived to be 70 and died in 1976 by suicide. 

photo credi

Is it Modigliani or a de Hory?

For decades, Elmyr de Hory’s fakes made their way into private collections, galleries and museums. His copies of Modigliani’s paintings are so convincing that many are still displayed around the world today, fooling viewers and experts alike. And, like many prolific art forgers, de Hory’s fakes have their own collectors.

Owning one of Elmyr de Hory’s fakes will cost you a pretty penny.

Is it worth it? 

What do you think?

To learn more about Elmyr De Hory, I recommend: 

Fake! The Story of Elmyr De Hory, the Greatest Art Forger of Our Time by Irving Clifford 

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If you’re an art crime lover or a member of my family (who is required to do this), Veridian Sterling Fakes It is an Amazon First Reads choice for the month of June so go get it for free.

And I owe it all to this guy:

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Portrait of a Man (The Auctioneer).

In Veridian Sterling Fakes It, I included many “real life” art controversies and crimes. One of the controversies that I included revolves around a Rembrandt currently at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, entitled “Portrait of a Man (The Auctioneer”). Why this painting? Because in 1982, its authenticity came into question.

The painting, done between 1658-1662, has the definitive look of a Rembrandt but after scholars studied it closer, they noticed inconsistencies. It was decided that instead of an authentic Rembrandt, the painting is an excellent copy, painted at the hands of a highly trained artist. Perhaps too highly trained. Thus, the painting is now attributed to a “Follower of Rembrandt (Dutch, third quarter 17th century)” instead of Rembrandt.

So … is it a fake? 

Well, it’s complicated. If the work was painted by one of Rembrandt’s students, perhaps even while Rembrandt himself was tutoring that student, should it be considered a fake? According to The Rembrandt Research Project, Rembrandt worked in a large studio and instructed many would-be artists. It seems likely that his students would therefore create paintings in his style. 

But what if Rembrandt actually painted part of the painting? Let’s say the student was having trouble painting the hands or neck of a particular subject and Rembrandt took the brush from him (always a him in the 1600’s as women and girls were forbidden from art studios) and demonstrated the technique himself, on the canvas. Rembrandt’s hand did paint a portion of the portrait but the student completed the entire painting. 

Is there such thing as a partly fake, fake?

Art historians are often faced with this conundrum because many of the great masters taught from their studios. Programs like The Rembrandt Research Project are dedicated to investigating these issues. Fascinating work, if you ask me.

I included Rembrandt’s “Portrait of a Man” (The Auctioneer”) in Veridian Sterling Fakes It to highlight the nuance of art crime. Also, I needed a public space for Tate to meet Veri, and then stand her up. Is he a good guy or a bad guy? Or is he perhaps just a nuanced guy?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Photo Credit: Metropolitan Museum of Art

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