Becoming Rich with Daily Scavenging APP-Chapter 596: The Fake Painting Master

After the end of WWII, the Allies discovered several valuable paintings attributed to Vermeer in the residences of high-ranking German officials.

Upon investigation by the relevant staff, it was soon discovered that these paintings were sold by Van Meijeren to these German officials.

Thus, Van Meijeren was detained by the Allies as a Nazi collaborator, awaiting trial.

At this point, Van Meijeren no longer hid anything and quickly jumped out to claim that these paintings were not by Vermeer, but fake paintings he made himself in imitation of Vermeer’s style.

Initially, the Allies naturally did not believe him.

However, soon under the witnesses of reporters and the court, Van Meijeren crafted his final forged painting on the spot.

Then, people found that the paintings Van Meijeren created indeed resembled those of Vermeer’s that were circulating on the market.

Of course, mere resemblance wasn’t enough to clear Van Meijeren of suspicion.

Experts quickly identified the fake paintings following Van Meijeren’s confession for appraisal.

Based on the analysis of the paint ingredients in the paintings, experts found that these paints contained phenolic resin Bakelite as a curing agent.

Since Bakelite wasn’t discovered until the 20th century, this was sufficient to prove that these paintings were not from the 17th century.

Thus, Van Meijeren’s charges changed from Nazi collaboration to forgery and fraud.

However, although Van Meijeren had sold many fake paintings even before WWII, during the war, he used his own forged paintings in trade with German officials to retrieve many Dutch national treasure paintings that had been looted.

As a result, his reputation among the populace after the war was actually quite good, with many civilians seeing him as a hero.

Although the fake paintings he initially made were still not priced as high as Vermeer’s originals, they sold for more than those of the average minor artist due to their story.

The painting currently in this Italian gallery is a work by Van Meijeren in imitation of Vermeer.

"This painting was acquired by the gallery from Van Meijeren’s family and is a rare piece that Master Van Meijeren didn’t sell during his lifetime."

The gallery staff gave Chen Yiyang a detailed introduction to the origin of this painting.

"How much does this painting sell for?" Chen Yiyang inquired.

"Four hundred thousand Euros," the staff replied.

For a modern artwork, four hundred thousand Euros is not a low price.

After all, this is a forged painting.

Even though there are some legendary stories behind it, it’s just worth this price, and buying it back basically has no potential for appreciation.

Even among the fake paintings, only the one Van Meijeren sold to the German high official has significant collectible value; the rest are quite ordinary in collectible worth.

At this price, there’s absolutely no room for a bargain.

Chen Yiyang looked at the forged painting before him, which bore Vermeer’s name but was said by the staff to be Van Meijeren’s work, and suddenly had a thought.

What if this painting wasn’t a forgery by Van Meijeren but rather an original by Vermeer?

Chen Yiyang’s brain began to think rapidly.

For Van Meijeren to imitate Vermeer’s paintings, he surely needed to frequently study and observe Vermeer’s works up close.

In his era, a painter wanting to observe a master’s paintings up close would either go to a museum or have one in his possession.

So, is it possible that this was a Vermeer original that Van Meijeren obtained accidentally through other channels? 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

After WWII ended, although Van Meijeren received only a light sentence for forgery,

he had swindled many people with fake paintings before that and made a lot of money.

After the forgery was exposed, many victims came forward demanding compensation.

If he dared to publicly claim this was a Vermeer original, the painting would undoubtedly be seized and auctioned to repay the victims.

So, it’s possible that Van Meijeren concealed this painting and outwardly claimed it was his imitation of Vermeer’s work.

Thinking of this, Chen Yiyang looked up the cause of Van Meijeren’s death.

Two years after WWII ended, Van Meijeren died unexpectedly from a heart attack.

That would make sense.

His unexpected death meant he didn’t have time to tell his family the truth, resulting in them selling the painting as a forgery.

Chen Yiyang understood the meaning of the "true painting, fake painting" headline in this leak of information.

"This painting looks nice, with a lot of storytelling value," Chen Yiyang turned and said to the gallery staff, "I’ll take it, please wrap it up for me."

Upon hearing Chen Yiyang’s purchase decision, the staff immediately beamed and hurried to guide him to sign the contract.

After paying the money and signing the contract on the spot,

the staff wrapped up the painting, which was originally hanging in the gallery, and handed it to Chen Yiyang.

Chen Yiyang casually handed the painting to the bodyguard behind him and then stepped out of the gallery.

After returning to the hotel, Chen Yiyang ran into Schaefer, who had also just returned from outside.

"Did you go buying antiques again?" Schaefer knew about Chen Yiyang’s little hobby.

"Yes, I spent four hundred thousand Euros on a Vermeer imitation by Van Meijeren," Chen Yiyang replied.

"Hahaha, then you got ripped off," Schaefer, well-versed in European paintings, remarked.

After all, he often needed to converse with many upper-class people, requiring a wealth of knowledge about art.

"Van Meijeren’s most valuable asset is his name; the actual level of his forged paintings, apart from a few exceptions, isn’t very high.

Four hundred thousand Euros could end up tying up your money. The gallery probably saw you as a clueless foreigner and fleeced you."

"Is that so?"

Chen Yiyang showed the painting to Schaefer.

"Take a look; I think this painting is quite good."

"Let me see this imitation," Schaefer took the painting from Chen Yiyang and looked at it for a while before commenting,

"This seems to be a peak work from Van Meijeren’s healthy period; it truly captures Vermeer’s essence."

"Do you think there’s a possibility this painting could be an original by Vermeer?" Chen Yiyang shared his previous speculation.

"That possibility is just too low," Schaefer said directly after hearing Chen Yiyang’s guess, "though it’s not impossible, the odds are about the same as winning the lottery."

"But didn’t you also say the painting seems of high quality? Why don’t we find a professional appraiser to examine it?"

"How about we make a bet?" Schaefer, sparked by Chen Yiyang’s words, welcomed the playful challenge.

"Sure." Chen Yiyang agreed straightforwardly.

The two made a deal: if the painting was a Van Meijeren forgery, Chen Yiyang would owe Schaefer a full month’s worth of his entertainment expenses.

If it turned out to be a Vermeer original, Schaefer would act as an agent for free for Chen Yiyang once, helping to bring in business.

After making the bet, the next day, Schaefer contacted a top local Italian expert team in art appraisals to authenticate the painting.

To determine whether this painting was a Vermeer imitation forged by Van Meijeren or an undiscovered original by Vermeer.