Imagine being able to create a painting so convincing that even experts believe it’s a masterpiece. That’s exactly what Han Van Meegeren, one of the most famous art forgers of the 20th century, did. He mastered the art of making fake paintings look old by using special chemicals, baking them, and even cracking the paint with a rolling pin. His forgeries were so convincing that he once traded a single fake painting for 137 priceless originals. Today, some of his forgeries are displayed in Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum.
Identifying a bad fake is easy, but recognizing a world-class forgery is much harder. Historians often rely on their eyes and knowledge, but even they can be fooled. However, modern science has introduced new tools that make it nearly impossible to pass off a fake as genuine. Surprisingly, one of these tools is a result of the nuclear arms race.
In the 1940s, over 550 nuclear bombs were detonated above ground, releasing radioactive isotopes into the atmosphere. These isotopes didn’t exist on Earth before 1945 and have since spread everywhere, including into art materials. Any artwork created after 1945 will likely contain traces of these isotopes, making it detectable as a forgery. This method can also be used to test other items, like old wine bottles and wood carvings.
For forgeries made before 1945, scientists use carbon dating. This method involves measuring the amount of carbon-14, a radioactive isotope, in organic materials like canvas or wood. Carbon-14 decays over time, so by comparing it to normal carbon, scientists can determine when the material was last alive. This technique revealed that a painting bought by collector Peggy Guggenheim was actually created in 1959, four years after the artist’s death.
Sometimes, what’s under a painting can be as revealing as the painting itself. Before online shopping, canvases were hard to come by, so artists often painted over existing works. X-rays have shown that Van Gogh’s “Self Portrait with Glass” has another portrait underneath, and Picasso’s “Old Guitarist” was painted on a reused canvas. A clever forger might paint over an old painting, but they must ensure the underlying work matches the style and era.
Paint consists of three main ingredients: pigment for color, a binder to hold it together, and a solvent like water or oil. By analyzing the chemical composition of paint, scientists can determine when and where it was made. Different pigments were used in different eras, so identifying them can help spot a fake. For example, a painting by Frans Hals was found to contain zinc white, a pigment not invented until after his death, confirming it as a forgery.
Despite his skills, Han Van Meegeren was eventually caught. He used authentic 1500s pigments like cinnabar red and lead white, but the formaldehyde he added to age the paints was too modern. Even with genuine materials and techniques, he couldn’t replicate the natural aging process. Time, it seems, is the one thing that can’t be faked.
Next time you visit a museum, take a moment to wonder how many forgeries might be hiding in plain sight. With science on the case, it’s only a matter of time before the truth is revealed. Stay curious!
Try your hand at creating a “forgery” by painting a replica of a famous artwork. Use materials like tea or coffee to age your paper and add cracks with a rolling pin. Share your artwork with the class and discuss the techniques you used to make it look old.
Conduct a research project on how radioactive isotopes are used to date artworks. Present your findings to the class, explaining how the nuclear arms race inadvertently helped art historians uncover forgeries.
Participate in a simulation where you use a simplified version of carbon dating. Use a timeline and “samples” with different levels of carbon-14 to determine the age of various objects. Discuss how this technique helps identify forgeries.
Explore the concept of x-ray analysis in art by examining images of famous paintings with hidden layers. Create a presentation on how x-rays have revealed secrets beneath the surface of well-known artworks.
Conduct an experiment to analyze the chemical composition of different paints. Use simple tests to identify pigments and discuss how scientists use these methods to date and authenticate paintings.
**Sanitized Transcript:**
[MUSIC] Han Van Meegeren might be the most famous art forger of the 20th century. He perfected the art of making fakes look really old, adding aging chemicals to his paints, even baking the finished piece and using a rolling pin to crack the paint. He once tricked leaders into trading 137 priceless paintings for one forgery. Han’s forgeries are so well-known that they’re on display in Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum.
Bad fakes are easy to pick out, but how do you detect a world-class forgery from a world-class artist? Historians typically rely on their eyes and their knowledge, and they’ve been fooled many times. But if you want to be the next master forger, you’ve got your work cut out for you. There are new scientific tools that make it almost impossible to pass off a fine art fake, and one is thanks in part to the nuclear arms race.
Beginning in the 1940s, we exploded over 550 nuclear bombs above ground, which released large amounts of two radioactive isotopes into the atmosphere. These isotopes didn’t exist on Earth before 1945, as they are only created by fission reactions. Since then, they’ve been sprinkled into the environment in minuscule amounts and show up everywhere from our bones and brains to pigments and painting supplies. Any forgery made since 1945 will almost certainly contain a trace of radioactivity from these isotopes. Everything from old wine bottles to wood carvings can be tested to determine if they were made after 1945.
But if someone forged a Leonardo way back in the 1800s? We need a different method, like carbon dating. Carbon-14 is a heavier, radioactive isotope of carbon that’s much rarer than ordinary carbon. Things that consume air, like plants, and things that consume those plants, have a fraction of this heavy carbon in their cells alongside all their normal carbon. The radioactive carbon-14 is constantly decaying, but it’s also being replenished as they consume. However, the moment something dies, the carbon-14 stops being replenished, and what’s there slowly decays away. By comparing the radioactive carbon to normal carbon, we can date the material. Canvas, wood, and even the oils used in paints are all plant-based and can be carbon dated.
This method proved that a painting bought by collector Peggy Guggenheim was actually painted in 1959, four years after the artist’s death. What’s under a painting can be just as informative as the art itself. In the days before online shopping, canvases were hard to get, so artists often painted masterpieces on top of other paintings. X-rays revealed that Van Gogh’s “Self Portrait with Glass” has a woman’s entire portrait underneath, and Picasso’s “Old Guitarist” was a re-used half-finished canvas.
A clever forger today knows that if you want to make a good fake, you have to paint over an old painting. When “Portrait of a Woman,” attributed to Goya, was x-rayed, it was shown to be a fake when a portrait by a completely different artist was found underneath. So, it’s also important to ensure you’re painting over something that matches.
If these other methods fail, the paint holds one more clue. Paint has three main ingredients: pigment for color, a binder to hold the paint together, and a solvent, like water or oil. It’s a chemical palette that’s ripe for forensics. Since different pigments were used in different places over the centuries, they can give us an idea of when and where a painting was made. Zapping the paint with electromagnetic radiation and looking at the light it emits can tell us what elements are present. These spectra are like a fingerprint for specific atoms. They can indicate if a red, for instance, is from cinnabar or rust. If there’s one element that doesn’t belong, the painting may be fake.
For most of history, white pigments contained toxic lead, which was later phased out in favor of other white pigments. So when investigators examined a painting by Frans Hals and found white paint containing zinc, a pigment not invented until after Hals’ death, forgery was confirmed. Only they didn’t find out until after it sold for $10 million.
But remember Han Van Meegeren? He beat this atomic forensics by making his own authentic 1500s paints, using old pigments like cinnabar red and lead white. So with all his tricks, how was he caught? The chemical formaldehyde he added to harden and ‘age’ the paints was too modern. Even with authentic paint and canvas, and a master’s touch, the one thing he couldn’t do was make his paintings look the right kind of old. There’s just no substitute for time.
So the next time you’re in a museum, look around and ask yourself how many forgeries you think are hiding there in plain sight, and how long until science sees the real picture? Stay curious.
Forgery – The act of creating a fake version of a piece of art with the intent to deceive. – The museum discovered that the painting was a forgery after experts analyzed the brush strokes and materials used.
Painting – A visual artwork created using pigments on a surface such as canvas or paper. – The painting of the sunset used vibrant colors to capture the beauty of the scene.
Chemicals – Substances with distinct molecular compositions that are used in or produced by chemical processes. – Artists often use chemicals to clean brushes and prepare canvases for painting.
Isotopes – Atoms of the same element that have different numbers of neutrons and therefore different atomic masses. – Scientists used isotopes of carbon to determine the age of the ancient artwork.
Carbon – A chemical element that is found in all known life forms and is a key component in many materials used in art. – The charcoal drawing was rich in detail, thanks to the carbon-based medium.
X-ray – A form of electromagnetic radiation used to see through objects, often used to examine the layers of a painting. – The conservators used an x-ray to reveal the hidden sketch beneath the painting’s surface.
Pigment – A substance used to give color to paints, inks, and other materials. – The artist mixed different pigments to create a unique shade of blue for the ocean scene.
Binder – A substance that holds pigment particles together in paint, allowing it to adhere to surfaces. – The quality of the binder affects the texture and durability of the paint on the canvas.
Solvent – A liquid used to dissolve other substances, often used in art to thin paints or clean brushes. – The artist used a solvent to dilute the oil paint and create a smoother finish.
Art – The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture. – Art can evoke emotions and provoke thought, making it a powerful form of communication.
