The resounding events of the day by Ton van Tast The Van Meegeren Matter

“An unfortunate thing, Madame Art, an emergency operation.”

“Van Meegeren saw a bright future in this.”

“So he broke into Vermeer’s place and copied him diligently.” “So, see, now I too know how to maker Vermeers…”

“And so ‘The Supper at Emmaus’ by Vermeer came into the world.”

“550,000 guilders, that’s a bargain [koopje].” “It isn’t a bargain, it’s a copy [kopie]!”

“What additional things can be achieved through this noble department of the art business can be seen below (and on the following pages).”

“‘Seaside Idyll,’ ascribed by experts to Botticelli… and tossed together willy-nilly from Botticelli’s ‘Birth of Venus,’ Joseph Israel’s ‘Sea Children,’ Mesdag’s ‘Fishingboats’ and

‘The Sea-Serpent’ by Konijnenburg.”

“And so all the little fakes got abandoned like babies at the feet of the great masters.”

“After the great success of the ‘Vermeerish’ Van Meegeren...With millions for the picking from the forbidden tree of forgery, many Adams (possibly also Eves) will partake of the

forbidden fruit.”

“And so, away with these misbegotten phonies and long live our living artists!”