Henricus Antonius van Meegeren (Deventer, October 10, 1889 – Amsterdam, December 30, 1947) was a Dutch painter and art forger. He forged works by Vermeer, among other things. Van Meegeren was born the son of a teacher. He developed skills in drawing, painting, etching and watercolors and was interested in Dutch classical painters. His father was against his work as a painter. When he caught his son, these punishment rules had to write: “I am nothing, I know nothing, I can do nothing.” Van Meegeren had chosen a difficult path. He had renounced modern art and was unlikely to gain recognition by painting in a style that had been popular centuries before. He was ridiculed by art critics and at one point could no longer even exhibit. Van Meegeren thought the local critics were false and ignorant and he wanted to prove his point by publicly humiliating them. He was a member of the Haagse Kunstkring and expressed his opinion in their magazine De Kemphaan, of which Jan Ubink was editor. When Van Meegeren was refused as chairman, despite financial support he had offered to the ailing Circle, he moved to France. In his villa in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, where he refused every visitor, he devoted himself to perfecting the painting of old masters.
Van Meegeren, who became very familiar with the painting techniques of the Dutch masters, decided to make a fake Vermeer. It became a painting of the Emmaus in 1937. If the critics praised the work, Van Meegeren would reveal it was a forgery. In doing so, he would have shown the ignorance of the critics. In particular, Dr. Abraham Bredius was his target. He was an authority on Vermeer and was highly despised by Van Meegeren.
Eng: Henricus Antonius van Meegeren (Deventer, October 10, 1889 – Amsterdam, December 30, 1947) was a Dutch painter and art forger. He forged works by Vermeer, among other things. Van Meegeren was born the son of a teacher. He developed skills in drawing, painting, etching and watercolor painting and was interested in Dutch classical painters. His father was against his work as a painter. If he caught his son, these punishment rules had to write: “I am nothing, I know nothing, I can do nothing.” Van Meegeren had chosen a difficult path. He had renounced modern art and was unlikely to receive recognition by painting in a style that had been popular centuries before. He was ridiculed by art critics and at one point could no longer even exhibit. Van Meegeren thought the local critics were false and ignorant and he wanted to prove him right by publicly humiliating them. He was a member of the Haagse Kunstkring and expressed his opinion in their magazine De Kemphaan, of which Jan Ubink was editor. When Van Meegeren was refused as chairman, despite financial support he had offered to the ailing Circle, he moved to France. In his villa in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, where he refused every visitor, he devoted himself to perfecting the painting of old masters.
Van Meegeren, who became very familiar with the painting techniques of the Dutch masters, decided to make a fake Vermeer. It became a painting of the Emmaus in 1937. If the critics praised the work, Van Meegeren would reveal it was a forgery. In doing so he would have shown the ignorance of the critics. In particular, Dr. Abraham Bredius was his target. He was an authority on Vermeer and was highly despised by Van Meegeren.