the MEEGEREN website

There are at least twenty-five Meegeren related books, as well as countless articles about the relation Meegeren Vermeer. The more important Meegeren books are discussed here. For a complete survey see reference 6. All these books are still available, either with antiquarians, regular bookshops, or at internet bookshops.

DUTCH BOOKS

1. Meegeren, Han van: Teekeningen 1 (Drawings nr 1),  The Hague 1942.
   A large volume with drawings by van Meegeren and a foreword by his old friend Van Genderen. Although in Dutch it is also of interest for non-Dutch readers as it contains 40 large reproductions of drawings and watercolors. The excellent watercolour Nachtlokaal 1924 is included as well.
   Browse in antiquarian’s catalogues, or place a commission, the book is not that rare.
   
   

2. Marie-Louise Doudart de la Greé: Geen Standbeeld voor Van Meegeren (No Statue for Van Meegeren),  Amsterdam 1966. Containing 18 illustrations.
   The oldest serious report on Van Meegeren’s life, based on interviews with the artist in 1946. Both this book and the book by Kilbracken are vital for Meegeren related studies.
   See www.boekwinkeltjes.nl and insert “geen standbeeld” as a title to find antiquarian copies.
   
   

3. Frederik H Kreuger: Han van Meegeren, Meestervervalser (Master forger), Diemen (Amsterdam) 2004, ISBN 90-76988-53-6. Containing 120 illustrations, many in color.
   New facts and recently found paintings and photographs are shown here.
   See www.veenmagazines.nl click “Boeken en producten” and insert “Meegeren” as a title

ENGLISH BOOKS

1. John Godley: The Master Forger, London 1950. Contains 3 illustrations.
   The journalist John Godley was asked by the Meegeren family (his first wife and her children) to write this book.
   See www.bookfinder.com and insert “meegeren” as a title to find antiquarian copies.
   
   

2. Lord Kilbracken: Van Meegeren, Master Forger, New York 1967. Contains 40 illustrations.
   After he had inherited the title Lord Kilbracken, John Godley wrote this second Meegeren book with the aid of van Meegeren’s son Jacques. Together with Doudart’s book from 1966 it forms the most valuable source of information, although one has to “read between the lines” because of misinformation caused by van Meegeren himself. Contains 40 illustrations.
   See www.bookfinder.com and insert “meegeren” as a title to find antiquarian copies.
   
   

3. Frederik H. Kreuger: A New Vermeer, Life and Work of Han van Meegeren,  Rijswijk (The Hague, Holland) 2005, ISBN 978-90-5959-047-2.  With 185 illustrations.
   The most complete biography of the three, based on new facts, recently found documents and interviews with witnesses.
   Available from www.quantes.nl or mail uitgeverij@quantes.nl for information or ordering.

OTHER BOOKS

More books have been published about the Meegeren affair, but not all of them are reliable. Reference 6 gives indications about the various works.

SHORT SURVEYS

For a short survey of the life of Han van Meegeren the lemma ” Meegeren “ yields excellent results in Wikipedia. The author has checked the English, Dutch and German versions of the Meegeren lemma and has found them to be adequate. He made corrections in some of these texts.

COLLECTION OF PICTURES

The largest collection of digital pictures of Meegeren work can be found in the files of the RKD, the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (Netherlands Institute for Art History) in The Hague, Holland.
See http://website.rkd.nl  in English and search for “ Meegeren “.
For specific questions contact RKDdatabases@rkd.nl since not all collections are on-line.

A choice of Van Meegeren miscellania is shown in the gallery below.

Two comprehensive books about the life and work of Han van Meegeren: (1) Lord Kilbracken pioneered in the 1960’s with his prominent study. It is still available today at antiquarian bookshops. Click on the image to enlarge and read the back-cover

(2) Kreuger made this recent study in 2004 and 2007 and updated our knowledge of Han van Meegeren. Up till now an integral study on Van Meegeren's life was missing. The author, Frederik H. Kreuger has filled this gap and was in an optimal position to do so: - he lived in war-time Holland and speaks Dutch - he met the last surviving relatives and witnesses - he discovered an unpublished biography of Van Meegeren's son. Click on the image to enlarge and read the back-cover. For info or ordering, copy and paste the following URL: http://www.quantes.nl/uitgeverij.php?aut=4

() The Forger’s Spell, by Edward Dolnick, Harpers Collins New York 2008 As the authorized biographer of Han van Meegeren I have read this book with great interest, an interest bordering upon curiosity. Although I know Van Meegeren’s life well – in detail I may say – I was enthralled and kept on turning the pages to see what happened next. Mixing the life of Hermann Goering, the psychotic Nazi leader, with that of Van Meegeren, the fanatic forger, was a find. The grim back-ground of Nazi-occupied Holland – in the town and at the time of Anne Frank – creates an atmosphere of inevitable disaster. Ed Dolnick has gone to great lengths to explain the unexplainable: the greatest hoax in art-history. And he has succeeded. But sometimes he goes too far, for instance when he speaks of Van Meegeren as an incorrigible drunk and a lecher at a time when he wooed and won the most beautiful woman – and a famous actress at that – whom he married in 1928. A combination of circumstances that doesn’t make much sense, I’m afraid. There are other shortcomings, but they are off-set by the narrative and lively style of the author of this book. If one wants to be enthralled by the story of Han van Meegeren just read The Forger’s Spell by Edward Dolnick.

And if you are still interested in Van Meegeren after that, read the above authorized biography A New Vermeer by Frederik H. Kreuger, and read the escapades Ed Dolnick didn’t cover: the complicated relationship of Van Meegeren with his three successive partners-in-life and the hilarious story of Van Meegeren’s own work that in his turn was faked by others... I wish the readers of Dolnick’s book much pleasure, they will be immersed in a world of luxury, fraud and old-style atmosphere that will for a long time stay in their mind.

() Young Christ in the Temple Han van Meegeren painted a Young Christ in the Temple when he was arrested in 1945 after the war. They didn't know, however, that he made already a Young Christ in the Temple in 1922 when he was a young and an unknown painter.

() A Grave that is not a Grave Han van Meegeren was cremated after his death. Later on a grave was arranged in Deventer, his birth-place, and his urn was placed there. Properly speaking this grave is thus not a grave but a shrine for his urn.

Three Colonial Portraits These portraits were made by Van Meegeren when Tineke Peek (29) and her two children were on leave in Holland in 1929. They lived in Bandung (Java) when the Japanese army conquered the Dutch East Indies in 1942 and imprisoned women and children in concentration camps. Maria told her son to cut the portraits out of their frame. He did so and two of the three paintings were rolled up and taken with them to various concentration camps as a remembrance of better times. The third one (that of the boy) couldn’t be cut out as it was painted on wood. But after the war a Dutch prisoner of war brought it back. He had been locked up in the house of Tineke, he had recognized the portrait and had taken it with him. An amazing story: the three portraits being reunited after so many years, and the three sitters of the portraits still alive.