Famous Forgeries
The “Fortune Teller” by George de La Tour- forgery or not?
In the 1960s, this painting, attributed to George de La Tour and supposedly painted in 1630, was sold to the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art for a very high sum. In 1985, English art historian Christopher Wright published challenged its authenticity, attributing The Fortune Teller along with other works of La Tour as actually a work of a master forger and restorer, Emile Delobre. Wright compared The Fortune Teller to two version of a similar painting by La Tour, “The Cheat”—one in the Louvre and one in the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. After lengthy analysis of X-ray photographs, details of the costume, and stylistic comparisons with other works, Wright concludes that of the three, only the Fort Worth ‘The Cheat’ is genuine. The Met still concludes it is a genuine La Tour.
Authenticating a Famous Flemish Painting in “The Shadow of Memory”
In “The Shadow of Memory”, by Connie Berry, Kate Hamilton and her colleague Ivor Tweedy are called in to evaluate the authenticity of a painting attributed to the Flemish painter Jan Van Eyk. The oil-on-wood masterpiece was found in a former Victorian mental asylum being converted into luxury condos. If authentic, the painting, “Christ and the Demoniac,” will be auctioned off, with an anticipated sale price in the millions.
The painting is gorgeous—no doubt about that. The artist is a genius—no doubt about that either. But is it authentic? There’s no mention of “Christ and the Demoniac” in the literature, and the provenance murky. With Kate’s prompting, Ivor suggests having the painting scientifically tested.
How in today’s world is authenticity determined? Do forgeries have any value themselves? Most importantly, did the painting play a part in the mysterious deaths of the former asylum’s physician and his wife?
PORTRAIT OF GIOVANNI ARNOLFINI AND HIS WIFE
by Jan van Eyck
housed at The National Gallery
Oil on oak, 82.2 x 60 cm
The Art of Fraud, Forgeries and Fakes
by Connie Berry
Just about any valuable object, from a painting to a piece of Etruscan pottery to a historical manuscript, has been forged at some time—and done well enough to fool collectors, art galleries, and even so-called experts.
In my novel, The Art of Betrayal, Kate Hamilton and her colleague, antiquities dealer Ivor Tweedy, are asked to appraise and auction off a valuable painting by the 15th-century Dutch artist Jan Van Eyck. The image is stunning, emotional, gorgeous—but is the painting what it appears to be?
The art of forgery depends partly upon the skill of the forger and partly upon the believability of the fraudster. A recent article by Christopher de Hamel, British academic librarian and expert on medieval manuscripts (Literary Hub, November 30, 2023) relates the fascinating history of Constantine Simonides, who in 1854 arrived in the English Cotswolds with a suitcase full of ancient manuscripts, possibly (he hinted) from the lost library of Alexandria and including a copy of the first three books of the Iliad. He was believable—and believed.
You can read more here: