This whole thing is not very certain because...
What's actually a forgery?
When is a piece of work fake?
What does that mean?
Hello. I'm Antonio García Villarán and in this video I'm going to talk about forgeries.
Before getting into it, I will leave you my social media here so you can follow me and mostly on Instagram
I upload Instastories every single day!
I'm going to tell you a story to speak about this forgery topic
Are you familiar with the name of Hermann Göring?
After Hitler, he became Chancellor of Germany
As you know, Hitler liked painting as well
Also, he liked collecting
There was some rivalry between them because both wanted to have an immense art collection
They wanted to have the biggest art collection of Europe
Their intentions wanted to create a museum in Europe
After the British defeat in Normandy
Göring sacked everything there but he also exchanged and sold pieces of work.
He mostly did it in France, Holland and Belgium
Göring persisting in having a Vermeer's art piece.
None other than Vermeers
You know who Vermeer is, don't you?
The author of 'Girl with a Pearl Earring'
Only around 33 or 34 pieces are recognized being from him.
He doesn't have many pieces of work
As Göring said he was the most talented Aryan artist
Göring wanted something almost impossible
However, Göring was told about a merchant who had Vermeers' paintings or at least one painting
He was a Dutch man named Han Antonious van Meegeren
From now on, let's call him Meegeren
Göring and Meegeren, Meegeren and Göring
Göring went to visit him and this person was a real dealer
He didn't want to sell the Vermeer to Göring
However, Göring made him one of those offers which cannot be rejected
He said "I could exchange you these 200 pieces which I've been buying during all this time for your Vermeer's"
Weeks after the meeting, Meegeren showed up with the canvas named 'Woman Caught in Adultery" or
It is also known by the name of " Christ and the Adulteress"
Göring happily exhange those 200 which value was 11 million of dollars
They paid for a Vermeer more than 11 million of dollars
It was a record of the time
After the war, Göering was captured and judged in the famous Nuremberg trials
He was sentenced to death
Before dying, there was a big surprise awaiting for him
The art equipment of Allied Forces did a paper research and the name of Meegeren
Imagine the trouble he was into!
He was imprisoned and accused of betrayal. He had sold a piece which was heritage
It was cultural property
Also, he sold it to the enemy
After three days of suffering in a cell, he confessed he didn't sell a Vermeer, he had sold a forgery
At the beginning, it was thought he said so to save himself
And he said he had painted it.
Just imagine everything
He confessed that this Vermeer was not the only falsification there were another three which he had painted
Nobody believed him so he asked them to bring him the materials so he could show them how he was able to do a Vermeer's
And, he did it, indeed.
He started mixing synthetic resin with pigments
He took a set of old wings and used it as a format
He used  an oven to hit the piece so it had a cracking effect
It was around 1945
Experts stated that one was even better than the previous ones
They didn't know Meegeren was a painter and he was focused on forgery
He started with forgery because he wanted to make a living as a painter and he wasn't lucky enough to do so
Or, perhaps his own painting didn't get good criticism. So, he realized he could have a better life doing painting falsification.
At the end, the forger was not sentenced to death or anything
He was sentenced for a year in prison but he was very unfortunate and
A week after the sentence he died of a heart attack
Göring was still in prison during that time
When he was told about the false Vermeer  he said for the first time  he was aware of the existance of evil in this world.
How ironic
You can look for this story on the Internet or in some books, it is an already known story.
However, it makes me think a lot still.
In addition, I don't know if you know this but there is an exact copy of the Mona Lisa in the Louvre Museum.
If you have visited this museum, are you sure the painting you've seen is the authentic Mona Lisa?
You might have seen a copy
Today, people go to the museums to take their selfies with the painting
To say they have seen a particular painting but they don't really enjoy the art piece.
There is no time to think if a painting transmits you some feeling or not or time to see if it is a copy or not.
I would like to ask you something:
If you are seeing La Mona Lisa and you feel great emotion because you have the original painting in front of you
but at that very moment someone tells you it is not the authentic one but a copy or a photocopy
I am sure your emotional level drops immediately
And I wonder...Why?
It seems that history is most important that the art piece's authenticity
Should we value a painting for its certificate of authenticity or for whatever it make us feel?
For instance, if I paint something Van Gogh-like and it turns our to be wonderful and it makes people move
What's the difference between signing Van Gogh or Villarán?
The painting would remain the same but I am sure that if it looks like a Van Gogh's and I sign like Van Gogh 
the result would be crazy
When I say a Van Gogh's, I say as well a Tápies's
I believe works of art are in our heads
They are images which we value more or less regarding many factors
Also, what's an authentic work? What's a falsification?
If an excellent painter does a perfect Matisse's shouldn't we value as we value a Matisse's painted by Matisse?
I leave it there.
I will be waiting for your comments. I am sure they will be very interesting.
Subscribe and turn on your notifications
Most important: share the video so we can create a discussion about art
We'll see each other very soon!
My pieces were defended by critics, by experts and by the public
During seven years in a national museum!
Without my confession they might have gone down history as authentic ones
Hi! I'm Antonio García Villarán and in this video we're going to talk about
There I leave it.
