Malle Babbe, Han van Meegeren, 1930 - 1940
Henricus Antonius "Han" van Meegeren 10 October 1889 – 30 December 1947 was a Dutch painter and portraitist, considered to be one of the most ingenious art forgers of the 20th century. As a child, van Meegeren developed an enthusiasm for the paintings of the Dutch Golden Age, and he set out to become an artist himself. Art critics, however, decried his work as tired and derivative, and van Meegeren felt that they had destroyed his career. He decided to prove his talent to the critics by forging paintings of some of the world's most famous artists, including Frans Hals, Pieter de Hooch, Gerard ter Borch and Johannes Vermeer. He so well replicated the styles and colours of the artists that the best art critics and experts of the time regarded his paintings as genuine and sometimes exquisite.
