The Forger's Spell - Edward Dolnick [150]
This painting was different…Weerdenburg makes this argument in her doctoral thesis.
See full citation in chapter 46.
“conscious and deliberate decision”…Kilbracken, p. 40.
“I notice that you do not say anything”…Jim van der Meer Mohr kindly provided me a copy of this letter, which Read sent to Bredius on Sept. 22, 1937.
the great majority of connoisseurs attributed…Weerdenburg, pp. 49 and 80.
“Emmaus is from the painter’s late”…Veth, “Meesterwerken uit vier eeuwen.”
One notable exception was…J. H. Huizinga, Dutch Civilization, p. 84.
Bredius mentioned three surprises…Bredius, “The New ‘Delft’ (!) Vermeer in London,”
Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant, March 27, 1901.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE: TWO WEEKS AND COUNTING
“There are only 40”…Bredius letter to Hannema written on Dec. 7, 1937, Van der Meer Mohr, “Reconstructie.”
“I had assembled a considerable sum”…Hannema letter to Bredius written on Dec. 8, 1937, Van der Meer Mohr, “Reconstructie.”
“authentic as gold”…Bredius letter to Van Hasselt written on Dec. 9, 1937, Van der Meer Mohr, “Reconstructie.”
“there has to be a rich man”…Bredius letter to Van Hasselt, president of the Rembrandt Society, written on Dec. 11, 1937, Van der Meer Mohr, “Reconstructie.”
if only he could afford…See, for example, Bredius letters of Dec. 8, 1937, and Dec. 11, 1937, Van der Meer Mohr, “Reconstructie.”
“Everything possible must be done”…Dec. 13, 1937 meeting of the Rembrandt Society, Van der Meer Mohr, “Reconstructie.”
Two days later, Boon wrote…Boon letter to Bredius, Dec. 15, 1937, Van der Meer Mohr, “Reconstructie.”
Bredius immediately wrote…Letter written Dec. 15, 1937, Van der Meer Mohr, “Reconstructie.”
“Do I need to tell you”…Bredius letter to Van Hasselt written Dec. 26, 1937. Van der Meer Mohr, “Reconstructie.”
“People will talk for a long time”…Bredius letter to Hannema written on or near Dec. 26, 1937, Van der Meer Mohr, “Reconstructie.”
CHAPTER FORTY: TOO LATE!
“Duveen’s little man-servant”…Bredius letter to Hannema written on Nov. 12, 1937, Van der Meer Mohr, “Reconstructie.”
“A connoisseur’s eye is like a musical ear”…Schmidt-Degener’s remark was cited in his obituary in the New York Times on Nov. 22, 1941.
Hannema listened politely…Hannema tells the story of this meeting in his autobiography, Flitsen uit mijn Leven, p. 106 (Rotterdam: Ad Donker, 1973). (The title means Glimpses of My Life.) If we had only his account, we might suspect that he had invented or embellished the tale to save face—if Schmidt-Degener and the Rijksmuseum had proposed to trade one of their own Vermeers (and more) for Emmaus, then surely no one could blame Hannema for what turned out to be a colossal misjudgment. But we have a second, in de pen dent source that confirms Schmidt-Degener’s eagerness for Emmaus. This was an account of Schmidt-Degener’s tenure as director of the Rijksmuseum, written on the occasion of the museum’s 175th anniversary. See G. Luijten, “‘De Veelheid en de eelheid’: een Rijksmuseum Schmidt-Degener” in Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 1984 (1935), pp. 387–88.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE: THE LAST HURDLE
“What a difference,” Bredius exclaimed…Bredius, “Nog een word over Vermeer’s Emmausgangers,” Oud Holland 55 (1938): pp. 97–99. Unless otherwise attributed, all quotations from Bredius in this section are from this article.
“If only it doesn’t get”…Bredius letter to Rembrandt Society written on Dec. 2, 1937, Van der Meer Mohr, “Reconstructie.”
“Do you know what I’m scared”…Bredius letter to Hannema written very near Jan. 4, 1938, Van der Meer Mohr, “Reconstructie.”
“ripe for the restorer”…Author interview, Jan. 17, 2006.
Neither Luitwieler nor anyone else…Coremans, p. 35.
When it came to the technical side…Author interview, Jan. 17, 2006. That judgment echoes the verdict of P. B. Coremans, the Belgian scientist who headed the official investigation of Van Meegeren’s fakes. In his article on forgery, the journalist Richard Harris quoted Sheldon Keck, a renowned American authority on the scientific study of paintings: “Van Meegeren was close to being a genius.