The Manufacturer of Vermeers

By: Lázaro Droznes

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Synopsis: The Manufacturer of Vermeers. The incredible story of Hans Van Meegeren, the forger of Vermeers. Hans van Meegeren, was a Dutch painter who during the Second World War produced better Vermeers than the original ones. He was able to fool the entire artistic community and Herman Goering himself. Finally, he had to confess his forgeries to save himself from the death penalty. This dramatic fiction is based on the incredible story of Hans van Meegeren in the 1930s and during the Second World War, when he succeeded in forging and selling 6 Vermeers and 2 Franz Hals for a sum, updated to date, estimated at 100 million dollars. One of the Vermeers was purchased by Herman Goering, second in the hierarchy of the Third Reich. When the Second World War ended, van Meegeren faced the accusation of traitor to his homeland and had to confess his forgeries to save his life. These confessions were an earthquake in the pictorial community in Holland and the entire world, given that his forgeries had been accepted unanimously, and one of them, the “Christ at Emmaus” was considered the best Vermeer of all. This fiction, based on real facts, leads us to reflect on the concept of authenticity in art and the validity of the traditional concepts of truth and beauty: Does a painting stop being beautiful when it is proven that it is a forgery?