The Netherlands may be known for its Dutch Masters. But Geert Jan Jansen is a master forger who spent decades making fake paintings, and selling them off as original Picassos, Klimts, Appels before he finally got caught. Listen to the interview and view photos and video below.
Jansen never tried to copy famous paintings, instead he preferred to create works in the style of a particular artist and found he got an addictive kick from fooling the art experts.
Police raid
Things went well for decades - he was producing around 40 paintings a year which were put into circulation in the art market. Until 1994, when the police paid him a visit in his studio in Orléans, France and seized 1,600 paintings.
Unable to prove he was involved in forgery, he was charged instead with a passport-related offence. Geert Jan Jansen eventually served six months in prison along with a five year suspended sentence.
He tells The State We're In's host Jonathan Groubert why he’s unrepentant, and why he’d be pleased if anyone ever sold forgeries of his own paintings. Geert Jan’s website
Taken from the latest edition of The State We're In - Faking It.
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He is a great artist, wish he had carved a name for himself instead of using the name of the masters...But in a way, it proves-how fake are the art lovers. They buy paintings- not for the work, but for the name behind it..
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