An important painting by Dutch artist Karel Appel in the collection of the Groninger Museum may be a forgery. The painting The Bird (1951) cannot be a real Appel, says art dealer Nico Delaive.

By Sandra Smallenburg

Mr Delaive sold an almost identical piece titled L'Oiseau for 300,000 euros at the Tefaf art fair last year. He says that because the painter never produced identical works, his must have been the genuine Appel.
 

The dealer is backed by experts and by the Karel Appel Foundation, which handles the artist's heritage and which authenticated L'Oiseau in June. They experts say they are convinced the painting at the Tefaf was painted by Appel and the piece in Groningen must be a forgery.
 

Karel Appel (1921-2006) was one of the founders of the avant-garde Cobra movement - named after the cities Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam - in 1948. He is widely regarded as one of the most important Dutch artists since World War II. Appel was inspired by primitive art and the work of children and he developed a highly distinctive style, painting large canvasses in bright colours and broad strokes.
 

Doppelgänger
Both bird paintings are typical of his work, but there are some minor differences between the works. There is a slight difference in size and a more uniform blue background in the Groningen version. Delaive says that is a hint the Groningen version could be a forgery.
 

"Karel Appel was low on cash in the fifties and he watered down his paint with turpentine," according to Delaive. He says the painting in the Groninger Museum is "too solid and monotonous. There is no feeling in that piece."
 

The Groninger Museum bought The Bird in 1976 with financial support from the Rembrandt Society. The museum says it is "utterly surprised" by the news that there is a doppelgänger of its Appel. However, it feels supported by remarks made by René Widding, the son of the Dutch photographer Ad Windig (1912-1996) who was at the other end of the purchase in 1976, who says Appel painted both works.
 

"My father got The Bird from Karel Appel in 1951 or 1952. He knew Appel well and the painter came over to our house regularly. There are baby pictures of me where you can see the work hanging over the couch in our home," says Windig (1951). Appel let Ad Windig pick one of his paintings after he had photographed Appel's work. When Windig chose The Bird, Appel initially didn't want to give it up and urged him to choose another one. He finally got the painting weeks later. René Windig thinks Appel must have made a copy.

Found on Flickr
Despite all the publicity Delaive generated when he sold his piece to a private collector in Beirut last year, no one recognised its resemblance to the work in the collection of the Groninger Museum at the time. Delaive says he only found out last week, when he saw a picture of it on the photo-sharing website Flickr.
Jan Nieuwenhuizen Segaar, an expert on Appel's work, endorses Delaive. The expert wrote a certificate recognising the authenticity of the painting sold by Delaive.
 

"That piece is good, without a doubt. I knew the work previously and its origin is known." Nieuwenhuizen Segaar says he has not seen the painting in Groningen. "But I am afraid the museum bought a pig in a poke."
 

Amsterdam art dealer Nico Koster also says that Appel never made the same thing twice. "One of them has to be false and I consider L’Oiseau to be the real one," Koster said.
 

Arno Verkade, the head of post-war art at Christies has seen and approved L’Oiseau as well. He says it is bizarre that no one, not even the Karel Appel foundation, noticed that there are two paintings before.
 

Under investigation
Rudi Fuchs, the spokesperson of the foundation, says he was not aware of the painting at the Groninger Museum. "A false Appel is not a great surprise, but it is that the purchase was supported by the Rembrandt Society at the time. That means experts have seen the painting and must have been mistaken." Fuchs says the decisive factor is that Delaive's painting is well documented and appears in a guiding catalogue of Appel's early work.
 

In a response, the director of the Rembrandt Society, Huub Blankenberg says it is premature to assume The Bird is a forgery. "We will wait for the results of an investigation by the Groninger Museum."
 

Geert Jan Jansen, who made many Appel forgeries in the 1970s and served a six-months prison sentence for it, says he is not responsible for doing either of the pieces.