calvisson-leblon

Forgery has always been an integral component of the art world.   As a matter of fact, it gives art an energizing roguish dimension.   In the matter of art fakery, the city of Arles in Provence has reached a new level.   Vincent Van Gogh spent over a year (1888-89) in Arles where he produced some 200 works.   S everal sites of his iconic paintings no longer exist.   The city was heavily bombed in WW2.   The house where Van Gogh and Gauguin had lived was flattened, so was the café where he got high on cheap absinthe and chatted up prostitutes.   The café, painting of which is titled Terrace of a Caf é at Night ( Café la Nuit ) had stood on Place Lamartine.   Van Gogh also painted its interior Café at Night . This destruction gave ideas to three creative local entrepreneurs who made an identical replica of the café on the Place du Forum, the most central part of the city.  The fraud paid, tourists flocked to see Vincent’s caf é , business ...

  Since I began paying attention to paintings, stimulated by my aunt who offered me art books for Xmas, I took a liking to the Flemish masters.   I was impressed by their color-photo-precision quality and the balance between cheerful realism and mythical symbolism.   One painter in particular fascinated me: Johannes Vermeer. His canvas inspired meditation.   His serene female sitters, and the purity of light of his city and interior scenes were very distinctive from those produced by other Flemish painters.   For me Vermeer’s painting style was fresh and a world apart from that of the period.   The Girl with a Pearl Earring (c.1665) was my most beloved painting.   The beauty and mystery of the girl had an overpowering effect on me.   The painting was lost for 200 years but reappeared in 1902 when it was purchased for a few guilders.   Tracy Chevalier gave flesh to The Girl , the historical novel captivated me and started the craze. But ...