THE FAKE-ART MUSEUM

When Erna Jansen and Henk Plenter found that they had bought a fake painting of Matisse in a well-respected gallery in Amsterdam, they decided they might as well start focusing on collecting fake paintings. In the old city hall of the village Fledder, Erna and Henk started a fake paintings museum. From Picasso to Leichtenstein and from Klee to Appel, all the movements are present.

Holland has a professional tradition in the production of fake paintings. It came out that the first fake Matisse that initiated the museum came from the counterfeiter Geert Jan Jansen, who was producing an incredible amount of fake paintings in a castle when he was caught by the French authorities. Even the well-known counterfeiter Hans van Meegeren - one of his imitations is exhibited in the respected Rotterdam museum Boymans van Beuningen - is imitated now.

The couple says that there is a large amount of fake paintings on the market. The official buyers leave the fake ones, which leave them for the fake-paintings-museum. The museum still misses some important works of art, like the sunflowers of Van Gogh for example. If somebody has a spare one the fake museum is very interested.

Extra: Erna and Henk are planning to open a special exhibition on the work of Geert Jan Jansen this spring! more features

February 22, 2000