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Facts About These Notorious Law Breakers and Their Criminal History

Khalid Elhassan May 20, 2020 34 min

Al Capone - Bugsy Siegel — 1930s mobsters. Eugene Cannevari Collection

37. Turning to Crime

Van Meegeren’s mansion in southern France, where he perfected his forgery skills. Imgur

Wounded and angered by the criticism of his talents, van Meegeren set out to show his detractors. They had derided him for imitating the old-time Dutch Masters, so he decided to prank and punk them by producing a painting so good that it would rival the best works of the Dutch Golden Age. So good, in fact, that the critics would be unable to tell the difference.

In short, van Meegeren decided to turn to criminal forgery, by producing artwork indistinguishable from the best of centuries past, and passing it off as the work of Dutch Masters. Aside from the satisfaction of pulling one over at the art critics, van Meegeren figured that his quest would be highly profitable – if he could pull it off. So in 1932, he moved to southern France, and began experimenting with the technical and chemical procedures necessary for producing the perfect forgery.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.