The Valse Kunst museum in Vledder has discovered the provenance of a forged work by the American artist Alexander Calder. This happened by chance, when another spurious work was examined.
It is not clear who the maker is of most of the works in the museum’s collection. “Forgers usually do it for money, so they prefer to remain anonymous,” says curator René Loesberg of Valse Kunst. But it was different with Alexander Calder’s forged work.
Another counterfeit played a role in this, namely a fake ‘Matisse’ (by the Frenchman Henri Matisse), which was previously donated to the Drenthe museum. About the Matisse Bert Voskuil, author of the book Master counterfeiters, more information. Voskuil was certain that the screen print of the counterfeit Matisse came from the printer of master forger Geert Jan Jansen.
During an inspection of the Calder, curator Loesberg suddenly noticed the similarities with the Matisse. Certain shapes seemed familiar to him when he turned the work upside down. And so the matter was resolved.
The forgeries can be seen in the museum in Vledder.