After the end of WWII, the Allies discovered several valuable paintings attributed to Verer in the residences of high-ranking German officials.
Upon investigation by the relevant staff, it was soon discovered that these paintings were sold by Van ijeren to these German officials.
Thus, Van ijeren was detained by the Allies as a Nazi collaborator, awaiting trial.
At this point, Van ijeren no longer hid anything and quickly jumped out to claim that these paintings were not by Verer, but fake paintings he made himself in imitation of Verer’s style.
Initially, the Allies naturally did not believe him.
However, soon under the witnesses of reporters and the court, Van ijeren crafted his final forged painting on the spot.
Then, people found that the paintings Van ijeren created indeed resembled those of Verer’s that were circulating on the market.
Of course, re resemblance wasn’t enough to clear Van ijeren of suspicion.
Experts quickly identified the fake paintings following Van ijeren’s confession for appraisal.
Based on the analysis of the paint ingredients in the paintings, experts found that these paints contained phenolic resin Bakelite as a curing agent.
Since Bakelite wasn’t discovered until the 20th century, this was sufficient to prove that these paintings were not from the 17th century.
Thus, Van ijeren’s charges changed from Nazi collaboration to forgery and fraud.
However, although Van ijeren had sold many fake paintings even before WWII, during the war, he used his own forged paintings in trade with German officials to retrieve many Dutch national treasure paintings that had been looted.
As a result, his reputation among the populace after the war was actually quite good, with many civilians seeing him as a hero.
Although the fake paintings he initially made were still not priced as high as Verer’s originals, they sold for more than those of the average minor artist due to their story.
The painting currently in this Italian gallery is a work by Van ijeren in imitation of Verer.
"This painting was acquired by the gallery from Van ijeren’s family and is a rare piece that Master Van ijeren didn’t sell during his lifeti."
The gallery staff gave Chen Yiyang a detailed introduction to the origin of this painting.
"How much does this painting sell for?" Chen Yiyang inquired.
"Four hundred thousand Euros," the staff replied.
For a modern artwork, four hundred thousand Euros is not a low price.
After all, this is a forged painting.
Even though there are so legendary stories behind it, it’s just worth this price, and buying it back basically has no potential for appreciation.
Even among the fake paintings, only the one Van ijeren sold to the German high official has significant collectible value; the rest are quite ordinary in collectible worth.
At this price, there’s absolutely no room for a bargain.
Chen Yiyang looked at the forged painting before him, which bore Verer’s na but was said by the staff to be Van ijeren’s work, and suddenly had a thought.
What if this painting wasn’t a forgery by Van ijeren but rather an original by Verer?
Chen Yiyang’s brain began to think rapidly.
For Van ijeren to imitate Verer’s paintings, he surely needed to frequently study and observe Verer’s works up close.
In his era, a painter wanting to observe a master’s paintings up close would either go to a museum or have one in his possession.
So, is it possible that this was a Verer original that Van ijeren obtained accidentally through other channels?
After WWII ended, although Van ijeren received only a light sentence for forgery,
he had swindled many people with fake paintings before that and made a lot of money.
After the forgery was exposed, many victims ca forward demanding compensation.
If he dared to publicly claim this was a Verer original, the painting would undoubtedly be seized and auctioned to repay the victims.
So, it’s possible that Van ijeren concealed this painting and outwardly claid it was his imitation of Verer’s work.
Thinking of this, Chen Yiyang looked up the cause of Van ijeren’s death.
Two years after WWII ended, Van ijeren died unexpectedly from a heart attack.
That would make sense.
His unexpected death ant he didn’t have ti to tell his family the truth, resulting in them selling the painting as a forgery.
Chen Yiyang understood the aning of the "true painting, fake painting" headline in this leak of information.
"This painting looks nice, with a lot of storytelling value," Chen Yiyang turned and said to the gallery staff, "I’ll take it, please wrap it up for ."
Upon hearing Chen Yiyang’s purchase decision, the staff imdiately bead and hurried to guide him to sign the contract.
After paying the money and signing the contract on the spot,
the staff wrapped up the painting, which was originally hanging in the gallery, and handed it to Chen Yiyang.
Chen Yiyang casually handed the painting to the bodyguard behind him and then stepped out of the gallery.
After returning to the hotel, Chen Yiyang ran into Schaefer, who had also just returned from outside.
"Did you go buying antiques again?" Schaefer knew about Chen Yiyang’s little hobby.
"Yes, I spent four hundred thousand Euros on a Verer imitation by Van ijeren," Chen Yiyang replied.
"Hahaha, then you got ripped off," Schaefer, well-versed in European paintings, remarked.
After all, he often needed to converse with many upper-class people, requiring a wealth of knowledge about art.
"Van ijeren’s most valuable asset is his na; the actual level of his forged paintings, apart from a few exceptions, isn’t very high.
Four hundred thousand Euros could end up tying up your money. The gallery probably saw you as a clueless foreigner and fleeced you."
"Is that so?"
Chen Yiyang showed the painting to Schaefer.
"Take a look; I think this painting is quite good."
"Let see this imitation," Schaefer took the painting from Chen Yiyang and looked at it for a while before comnting,
"This seems to be a peak work from Van ijeren’s healthy period; it truly captures Verer’s essence."
"Do you think there’s a possibility this painting could be an original by Verer?" Chen Yiyang shared his previous speculation.
"That possibility is just too low," Schaefer said directly after hearing Chen Yiyang’s guess, "though it’s not impossible, the odds are about the sa as winning the lottery."
"But didn’t you also say the painting seems of high quality? Why don’t we find a professional appraiser to examine it?"
"How about we make a bet?" Schaefer, sparked by Chen Yiyang’s words, welcod the playful challenge.
"Sure." Chen Yiyang agreed straightforwardly.
The two made a deal: if the painting was a Van ijeren forgery, Chen Yiyang would owe Schaefer a full month’s worth of his entertainnt expenses.
If it turned out to be a Verer original, Schaefer would act as an agent for free for Chen Yiyang once, helping to bring in business.
After making the bet, the next day, Schaefer contacted a top local Italian expert team in art appraisals to authenticate the painting.
To determine whether this painting was a Verer imitation forged by Van ijeren or an undiscovered original by Verer.
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