Jonathan Lopez
Encyclopedia
Jonathan Lopez is an American writer and art historian. Born in 1969 in New York City
, he was educated there and at Harvard. He writes a monthly column for Art & Antiques called "Talking Pictures" and is a frequent contributor to London-based Apollo: The International Magazine of the Arts.
His noted December 2007 Apollo article "Gross False Pretences" related the details of an acrimonious 1908 dispute between the art dealer Leo Nardus and the wealthy industrialist Peter Arrell Brown Widener
of Philadelphia. Lopez has also written for ARTnews
, the Associated Press
, U.S. News & World Report
, The Boston Globe
, The International Herald Tribune, and the Dutch newsweekly De Groene Amsterdammer
. His book, The Man Who Made Vermeers is a biography of the Dutch art forger Han van Meegeren
.
Lopez has written extensively on Van Meegeren in both Dutch and English, including an Apollo article entitled "Han van Meegeren's Early Vermeers," which revealed that Van Meegeren was behind three Vermeer forgeries of the 1920s that had been floated on the international market by an organized ring of art swindlers based in London and Berlin. Two of the three forgeries in question were purchased by the art dealer Joseph Duveen who then sold them in good faith to the great Pittsburgh banker Andrew Mellon. At the time, Mellon was serving as secretary of the Treasury in the administration of President Calvin Coolidge
. Unaware of his error, Mellon ultimately donated these two "Vermeers" as part of his founding gift to the National Gallery of Art
in Washington, D.C.
They hung there through the 1960s as genuine works by Johannes Vermeer
, until technical analysis revealed them to be modern forgeries. These works are now kept in storage, and although rumors have existed about their true origins for many years, they have never before been traced back definitively to Van Meegeren, a figure far better known for his later exploits, which included selling a fake Vermeer to Hermann Göring
at the height of World War II
.
The Apollo article summarizes the conventional account of Van Meegeren's career as follows: "As is fairly well known, the government of the Netherlands
arrested Van Meegeren as a Nazi collaborator at the end of the Second World War, charging that he had sold a priceless Vermeer to Göring during the German occupation. When Van Meegeren revealed that he himself had painted Göring's prized masterpiece, the news made him quite popular with the general public, and his case was thereafter handled with kid gloves. He only acknowledged forging the six biblically themed Vermeers that the government already knew to be connected to him through the strawmen who had brought the works to market; two Pieter de Hooch
s sold in the same manner; and a few unfinished items that remained in his atelier. Although confidential sources informed the investigative team working on the case that Van Meegeren had sold forgeries to 'Englishmen and Americans' decades before the outbreak of hostilities, the matter seems not to have received any official attention."
Supporting his argument with archival documents and interviews with the descendents of Van Meegeren's partners in crime, Lopez suggests that these rumors about Van Meegeren had a strong foundation in reality and, indeed, that much of what the forger said about himself in 1945 was untruthful. Not only was Van Meegeren a professional art forger for most of his adult life, but he was also a fascist sympathizer going back as far as 1928. During the occupation, Van Meegeren had created propagandistic artworks (under his own name) at the behest of the German-installed puppet government of the Netherlands and even sent an admiring note to Adolf Hitler
in 1942 as a token of esteem. Koen Kleijn, the art and culture editor of De Groene, has stated that Lopez's work "shatters the popular image of Han van Meegeren as a lone gunman or picaresque rogue."
Lopez lives in Manhattan
with his wife, who is an art critic and professor of art history.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, he was educated there and at Harvard. He writes a monthly column for Art & Antiques called "Talking Pictures" and is a frequent contributor to London-based Apollo: The International Magazine of the Arts.
Apollo (magazine)
Apollo is a British fine and decorative arts magazine. Founded in 1925 and based in London, it features a mixture of exhibition reviews, art-world news, profiles of collectors, and articles by scholars....
His noted December 2007 Apollo article "Gross False Pretences" related the details of an acrimonious 1908 dispute between the art dealer Leo Nardus and the wealthy industrialist Peter Arrell Brown Widener
Peter Arrell Brown Widener
Peter Arrell Brown Widener was an American businessman and head of the prominent Widener family of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-Biography:...
of Philadelphia. Lopez has also written for ARTnews
ARTnews
ARTnews is an arts magazine based in New York, founded by James Clarence Hyde in 1902 as Hyde’s Weekly Art News. It is published 11 times a year.ARTnews covers all art, from ancient to Post-modernism...
, the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is an American news magazine published from Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek it was for many years a leading news weekly, focusing more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...
, The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
, The International Herald Tribune, and the Dutch newsweekly De Groene Amsterdammer
De Groene Amsterdammer
De Groene Amsterdammer is an independent Dutch weekly newsmagazine published in Amsterdam and distributed throughout the Netherlands. It is conventionally considered to be one of the four most influential written media in its sector, along with HP/De Tijd, Vrij Nederland and Elsevier.- History and...
. His book, The Man Who Made Vermeers is a biography of the Dutch art forger Han van Meegeren
Han van Meegeren
Han van Meegeren , born Henricus Antonius van Meegeren, was a Dutch painter and portraitist, and is considered to be one of the most ingenious art forgers of the 20th century....
.
Lopez has written extensively on Van Meegeren in both Dutch and English, including an Apollo article entitled "Han van Meegeren's Early Vermeers," which revealed that Van Meegeren was behind three Vermeer forgeries of the 1920s that had been floated on the international market by an organized ring of art swindlers based in London and Berlin. Two of the three forgeries in question were purchased by the art dealer Joseph Duveen who then sold them in good faith to the great Pittsburgh banker Andrew Mellon. At the time, Mellon was serving as secretary of the Treasury in the administration of President Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
. Unaware of his error, Mellon ultimately donated these two "Vermeers" as part of his founding gift to the National Gallery of Art
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
They hung there through the 1960s as genuine works by Johannes Vermeer
Johannes Vermeer
Johannes, Jan or Johan Vermeer was a Dutch painter who specialized in exquisite, domestic interior scenes of middle class life. Vermeer was a moderately successful provincial genre painter in his lifetime...
, until technical analysis revealed them to be modern forgeries. These works are now kept in storage, and although rumors have existed about their true origins for many years, they have never before been traced back definitively to Van Meegeren, a figure far better known for his later exploits, which included selling a fake Vermeer to Hermann Göring
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"...
at the height of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
The Apollo article summarizes the conventional account of Van Meegeren's career as follows: "As is fairly well known, the government of the Netherlands
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...
arrested Van Meegeren as a Nazi collaborator at the end of the Second World War, charging that he had sold a priceless Vermeer to Göring during the German occupation. When Van Meegeren revealed that he himself had painted Göring's prized masterpiece, the news made him quite popular with the general public, and his case was thereafter handled with kid gloves. He only acknowledged forging the six biblically themed Vermeers that the government already knew to be connected to him through the strawmen who had brought the works to market; two Pieter de Hooch
Pieter de Hooch
Pieter de Hooch was a genre painter during the Dutch Golden Age. He was a contemporary of Dutch Master Jan Vermeer, with whom his work shared themes and style.-Biography:...
s sold in the same manner; and a few unfinished items that remained in his atelier. Although confidential sources informed the investigative team working on the case that Van Meegeren had sold forgeries to 'Englishmen and Americans' decades before the outbreak of hostilities, the matter seems not to have received any official attention."
Supporting his argument with archival documents and interviews with the descendents of Van Meegeren's partners in crime, Lopez suggests that these rumors about Van Meegeren had a strong foundation in reality and, indeed, that much of what the forger said about himself in 1945 was untruthful. Not only was Van Meegeren a professional art forger for most of his adult life, but he was also a fascist sympathizer going back as far as 1928. During the occupation, Van Meegeren had created propagandistic artworks (under his own name) at the behest of the German-installed puppet government of the Netherlands and even sent an admiring note to Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
in 1942 as a token of esteem. Koen Kleijn, the art and culture editor of De Groene, has stated that Lopez's work "shatters the popular image of Han van Meegeren as a lone gunman or picaresque rogue."
Lopez lives in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
with his wife, who is an art critic and professor of art history.