Han van Meegeren
Written by Varda Bajpai
February 28, 2021
One of the first cases of the use of scientific analysis in determining whether an artwork was a forgery was in the case of Han van Meegeren. Han van Meegeren was a very talented artist who painted in the styles of the old popular artists, such as Johannes Vemeer. However, his work was determined obsolete with the rise of the modern art movement, which included more abstract art styles such as cubism and surrealism. This led Meegeren to become bitter, and he spent 6 years mastering the art of art forgeries. He created artwork to rival the greats, and spent a long time perfecting every detail. He bought 17th century canvases, and used synthetic plastic to create the appearance of cracks. His forgeries were extremely successful and he made a few million dollars (in current value) selling them. However, one of his paintings was sold to a Nazi general, and after the war, he was exposed for being a Nazi collaborator. In face of this accusation, he admitted to the smaller crime of being an art forger. However, his paintings were extremely realistic to the point where he was unable to prove that he created them. This led to a large controversy over whether the paintings were forged or not, and this controversy lasted even beyond his death. This is where the usage of scientific analysis helped determine whether the paintings were real or forged. Scientists used radioactive dating to analyze the age of the white lead pigment in Meegeren’s paintings. By determining the amount of decay in the lead-210 in the white pigment, scientists were able to determine that Meegeren’s work was in actuality a very realistic forgery.