Geert Jan Jansen
Encyclopedia
Geert Jan Jansen is a Dutch
painter and art forger, who was arrested in 1994.
Geert Jan Jansen was born in Waalre
in the Netherlands. His engineer father was fond of art and Jansen became an art student. He befriended a US art dealer, Michel Podulke, who ran a gallery
called Mokum in Amsterdam
.
Later, Jansen opened his own galleries, Jacob and Raam, but was not particularly successful. When his business went badly, he decided to sign poster
s of Karel Appel
's lithographs and sell them as originals. Later, he made his first Karel Appel forgery and sold it for 2,600 guilder
s. Thus encouraged, he sent another forgery to London; auction house sent a photograph to Appel, who stated that it was genuine. The gouache
was sold at a record price.
In 1981, Dutch police were informed about a forged Bart van der Leck
painting. They searched Jansen's house in Edam
but found nothing. They did find 76 forged Appel lithographs in the ceiling of a local warehouse, but charges were not pressed. Short of evidence, the attorney general cut a deal with Jansen: He would not be charged if he would not make forgeries for three years.
In 1988, Jansen released another batch of Appel paintings. When they were found to be forgeries, gallery owners blamed each other. In June 1988, police confiscated hundreds of Appel forgeries from the MAT gallery in Amsterdam. The owner of the gallery said that he had bought 100 Appel forgeries from the Tripple Tree Gallery, who had bought them from a dealer Henk Ernste in Paris. Ernste was later arrested but the case was settled with a 5.5 million guilder fine. During the furor, Jansen moved from the Netherlands to France with his mistress.
In March 1994, "Jan van den Bergen" came to the auction house Karl & Faber in Munich
. He claimed to be an art dealer from Orléans
and presented his business card. With him he had a Chagall drawing, a Asger Jorn
gouache and a Karel Appel painting. The first two had written certificates of authenticity. He wanted them to be auctioned quickly and left in a hurry.
Expert Sue Cubitt of the auction house had the works examined. The Chagall certificate had a misprint and she became suspicious. Kan Nieuwenhuizen, a representative of Karel Appel, contacted the artist who said that work was his but Cubitt was still suspicious. The Chagall committee in Paris verified that the certificate was a forgery and therefore the drawing was also a forgery. A similar thing happened with the Asger Jorn certificate. The auction house decided to withdraw all the works from sale because it could not guarantee their authenticity. Sue Cubitt decided to inform Ernst Scholler of the Stuttgart
Fine Art and Antiquities squad.
When Sue Cubitt and the police checked other auction catalogues, they noticed that similar works of art had been offered for sale and discovered Van den Bergen had offered these and other works for sale in auction houses around Europe. When Schöller checked the Orléans gallery address, he found that it was a fake; there was a wine bottle company at that address.
The trail of false addresses companies led Schöller and the French police to a farm in La Chaux
near Poitiers
. Jansen - who had used the name Van den Bergen - and his associate were arrested May 6, 1994.
When police investigated the farm, they found 1600 forged artworks. Forged artists included Cocteau, Dufy
, Ferdinand Erfman, Charles Eyck, Leo Gestel
, Bart van der Leck
, Matisse, Miro
and the most popular target of forgery, Picasso.
French police had few leads and their appeal through the media brought no reports of forgery. Six years later, they checked the auction records of a Drouot gallery where Jansen had traded most of his forgeries through a number of different false names. They confiscated some suspicious paintings and threatened their buyers with complicity in the crime if they did not press charges against Jansen.
Jansen went on trial in September 2000 in Orléans
. By that time, the police had thousands of forgeries. During the trial Jansen's lawyer demanded that the works not to be destroyed in case there were real works among them. However, most of the charges were later dropped - two of the buyers disappeared - and only two remained.
Eventually Jansen was sentenced to six months imprisonment and five additional years suspended sentence
. He was exiled from France for three years. All of his works were to be destroyed. Jansen planned to appeal.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
painter and art forger, who was arrested in 1994.
Geert Jan Jansen was born in Waalre
Waalre
Waalre is an affluent municipality and town in the southern Netherlands, immediately south of the city of Eindhoven.- Population centres :Aalst, Achtereind, De Heuvel, Heikant, Loon, Timmereind and Waalre....
in the Netherlands. His engineer father was fond of art and Jansen became an art student. He befriended a US art dealer, Michel Podulke, who ran a gallery
Art gallery
An art gallery or art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art.Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection...
called Mokum in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
.
Later, Jansen opened his own galleries, Jacob and Raam, but was not particularly successful. When his business went badly, he decided to sign poster
Poster
A poster is any piece of printed paper designed to be attached to a wall or vertical surface. Typically posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. Posters are designed to be both eye-catching and informative. Posters may be...
s of Karel Appel
Karel Appel
Christiaan Karel Appel was a Dutch painter, sculptor, and poet. He started painting at the age of fourteen and studied at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam in the 1940s...
's lithographs and sell them as originals. Later, he made his first Karel Appel forgery and sold it for 2,600 guilder
Guilder
Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch gulden — from Old Dutch for 'golden'. The guilder originated as a gold coin but has been a common name for a silver or base metal coin for some centuries...
s. Thus encouraged, he sent another forgery to London; auction house sent a photograph to Appel, who stated that it was genuine. The gouache
Gouache
Gouache[p], also spelled guache, the name of which derives from the Italian guazzo, water paint, splash or bodycolor is a type of paint consisting of pigment suspended in water. A binding agent, usually gum arabic, is also present, just as in watercolor...
was sold at a record price.
In 1981, Dutch police were informed about a forged Bart van der Leck
Bart van der Leck
Bart van der Leck was a Dutch painter, designer, and ceramacist. With Theo van Doesburg and Piet Mondrian he founded the De Stijl art movement....
painting. They searched Jansen's house in Edam
Edam
Edam is a city in the Dutch province of Noord-Holland. Combined with Volendam, Edam forms the municipality of Edam-Volendam. Approximately 7,380 people live in Edam. The whole municipality of Edam-Volendam has 28,492 inhabitants...
but found nothing. They did find 76 forged Appel lithographs in the ceiling of a local warehouse, but charges were not pressed. Short of evidence, the attorney general cut a deal with Jansen: He would not be charged if he would not make forgeries for three years.
In 1988, Jansen released another batch of Appel paintings. When they were found to be forgeries, gallery owners blamed each other. In June 1988, police confiscated hundreds of Appel forgeries from the MAT gallery in Amsterdam. The owner of the gallery said that he had bought 100 Appel forgeries from the Tripple Tree Gallery, who had bought them from a dealer Henk Ernste in Paris. Ernste was later arrested but the case was settled with a 5.5 million guilder fine. During the furor, Jansen moved from the Netherlands to France with his mistress.
In March 1994, "Jan van den Bergen" came to the auction house Karl & Faber in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
. He claimed to be an art dealer from Orléans
Orléans
-Prehistory and Roman:Cenabum was a Gallic stronghold, one of the principal towns of the Carnutes tribe where the Druids held their annual assembly. It was conquered and destroyed by Julius Caesar in 52 BC, then rebuilt under the Roman Empire...
and presented his business card. With him he had a Chagall drawing, a Asger Jorn
Asger Jorn
Asger Oluf Jorn was a Danish painter, sculptor, ceramic artist, and author. He was a founding member of the avant-garde movement COBRA and the Situationist International...
gouache and a Karel Appel painting. The first two had written certificates of authenticity. He wanted them to be auctioned quickly and left in a hurry.
Expert Sue Cubitt of the auction house had the works examined. The Chagall certificate had a misprint and she became suspicious. Kan Nieuwenhuizen, a representative of Karel Appel, contacted the artist who said that work was his but Cubitt was still suspicious. The Chagall committee in Paris verified that the certificate was a forgery and therefore the drawing was also a forgery. A similar thing happened with the Asger Jorn certificate. The auction house decided to withdraw all the works from sale because it could not guarantee their authenticity. Sue Cubitt decided to inform Ernst Scholler of the Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
Fine Art and Antiquities squad.
When Sue Cubitt and the police checked other auction catalogues, they noticed that similar works of art had been offered for sale and discovered Van den Bergen had offered these and other works for sale in auction houses around Europe. When Schöller checked the Orléans gallery address, he found that it was a fake; there was a wine bottle company at that address.
The trail of false addresses companies led Schöller and the French police to a farm in La Chaux
La Chaux
-France:La Chaux is the name or part of the name of several communes in France:* La Chaux, in the Doubs département* La Chaux, in the Orne département* La Chaux, in the Saône-et-Loire département...
near Poitiers
Poitiers
Poitiers is a city on the Clain river in west central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and of the Poitou-Charentes region. The centre is picturesque and its streets are interesting for predominant remains of historical architecture, especially from the Romanesque...
. Jansen - who had used the name Van den Bergen - and his associate were arrested May 6, 1994.
When police investigated the farm, they found 1600 forged artworks. Forged artists included Cocteau, Dufy
Raoul Dufy
Raoul Dufy[p] was a French Fauvist painter. He developed a colorful, decorative style that became fashionable for designs of ceramics and textiles, as well as decorative schemes for public buildings. He is noted for scenes of open-air social events...
, Ferdinand Erfman, Charles Eyck, Leo Gestel
Leo Gestel
Leo Gestel was a Dutch painter. His father Willem Gestel was an artist, too. Leo Gestel experimented with cubism, expressionism, futurism and postimpressionism...
, Bart van der Leck
Bart van der Leck
Bart van der Leck was a Dutch painter, designer, and ceramacist. With Theo van Doesburg and Piet Mondrian he founded the De Stijl art movement....
, Matisse, Miro
Joan Miró
Joan Miró i Ferrà was a Spanish Catalan painter, sculptor, and ceramicist born in Barcelona.Earning international acclaim, his work has been interpreted as Surrealism, a sandbox for the subconscious mind, a re-creation of the childlike, and a manifestation of Catalan pride...
and the most popular target of forgery, Picasso.
French police had few leads and their appeal through the media brought no reports of forgery. Six years later, they checked the auction records of a Drouot gallery where Jansen had traded most of his forgeries through a number of different false names. They confiscated some suspicious paintings and threatened their buyers with complicity in the crime if they did not press charges against Jansen.
Jansen went on trial in September 2000 in Orléans
Orléans
-Prehistory and Roman:Cenabum was a Gallic stronghold, one of the principal towns of the Carnutes tribe where the Druids held their annual assembly. It was conquered and destroyed by Julius Caesar in 52 BC, then rebuilt under the Roman Empire...
. By that time, the police had thousands of forgeries. During the trial Jansen's lawyer demanded that the works not to be destroyed in case there were real works among them. However, most of the charges were later dropped - two of the buyers disappeared - and only two remained.
Eventually Jansen was sentenced to six months imprisonment and five additional years suspended sentence
Suspended sentence
A suspended sentence is a legal term for a judge's delaying of a defendant's serving of a sentence after they have been found guilty, in order to allow the defendant to perform a period of probation...
. He was exiled from France for three years. All of his works were to be destroyed. Jansen planned to appeal.