Forgeries

Many great masters copied works produced by their predecessors to improve their styles or to prove they were at least their equals. After several decades, many copies were mistaken with genuine works or sold by unscrupulous dealers as such.

Some artists also produced forgeries for fun or out of sheer jealousy to demonstrate that collectors were stupid. Others followed new trends set up by revolutionary artists and adopted their styles not knowing again that their works would then be attributed to those better sought by collectors.

For example the Carracci brothers founded an academy aimed at synthesizing the talents of Michelangelo, Correggio, Raphael and Titian. Other members of the Carracci family such as Francesco, Antonio, Paolo and Clovio limited themselves to copying the works of their illustrious parents. Today it is quite difficult to distinguish copies or genuine works produced by such painters.

Many painters were also inspired by the Carraccis such as Guercino and his pupils or followers like Schidone who produced many copies after Corregio, Antonio Crespi, Badalocchio, A. Milani, Piola, Viola and Alessandro Turchi making authentications quite uneasy to carry out.

The French painter François Perrier was employed by an artist in Rome to produce copies after old masters, which were sold afterwards as "genuine" by his unscrupulous patron and now experts have had the arduous task to correct many previous wrongful attributions.

The Dominican also produced many paintings after Raphael and Carracci and was himself much copied, notably by Leonello Spada.

Jean de Boulogne, a gifted imitator of Caravaggio, copied a painting by Reni, which was eventually sold on the advice of Pierre Mignard as a genuine Reni to the brother of King Louis 14th. The monarch, who was eventually informed about such trick, finally said that Boulogne should have better tried to produce works believed to be by Reni rather than his own.

Mignard himself deceived his rival Le Brun with an imitation of Reni, an artist who in fact had a great influence over many 17th Century painters in France and in Italy.

Some of these painters, such as Andrea Pozzo, Carlo Maratta or Nicolo Berettoni produced works, which were eventually authenticated as being by Reni. Maratta was in turn copied by Luigi Gazzi and Lazzaro Baldi while Michel Corneille, a French painter, was accustomed to copying works by the Carracci brothers.

Another most copied artist was Caravaggio who had numerous followers such as Jean Valentin, Manfredi, Nicolas Régnier, G. Seghers, Evaristo Baschenis, Orazio Gentileschi, Domenico Tati or Ribera.

GREAT MASTERS OFTEN COPIED OTHERS

Luca Giordano was not only a copyist but also a much gifted forger. At 13, he used to copy works by Michelangelo, Raphael, Amerighi or Pietro da Cortona. Giordano notably sold many of these copies pretending they had been produced by such masters. He also sold a painting reputedly as by Bassano to King Carlos II of Spain and admitted later that it was a forgery but the monarch did not complain and praised him instead.

Giordano also painted a copy of a painting, "The Adoration of the Magi" by Dürer but his patron decided to sue him on learning of such trick. A Neapolitan court in charge of that case however congratulated Giordano who also had many imitators such as Frederico Crivelli, Anselmo Gabriel, Giuseppe Simonelli or Solimena.

Velasquez, the great Spanish master, copied elements from works by Titian or Michelangelo. Mazo, his son-in-law, completed some of his paintings and even copied a certain number of his works.

Mazo also copied works by certain great masters such as Tintoretto, Titian and Raphael and today specialists have been experiencing problems when it comes to authenticate works by these painters.

Other imitators of Velasquez were Carreno de Miranda, Juan de Alfaro y Gomez, Pablo Legote, Ginès de Aguirre, Alonso Cano or Andrea Sacchi.

In addition, the so-called journal written by Velasquez during his first trip to Italy was a fake.

Murillo on his part became a reknown painter after copying Old Masters such as Titian, Veronese, Rubens, Van Dyck and Velasquez. He worked under the influence of these masters until at least 1655.

Ignacio de Iriarte, Murillo's pupil, and Meneso Osorio, Pedro Nunes de Villa Vicenzio or Miguel Tobar then copied this master.

Other imitators of Murillo were Felipe de Leon, Germano Clorante, Tomas Martinez, Lorenzo Quiros, Joachim Cano, Jose Lopez, Gazon Gutierrez, Marquez, Aiguilar, Perez de Miranda and de Sarabia as well as Sebastiano Gomez, a black slave.

Murillo's mystical "Marriage of Saint Catherine", offered by Queen Christina of Spain to Pope Pius 9, was in fact a fake produced during the 18th Century as proved by an X ray examination carried out in the Vatican recently.

Pieter Paul Rubens had many pupils who had been specialising in painting backgrounds, costumes, fruit and elements in his works as a result of his demanding activity as a diplomat attached to the Spanish king. Some of his aides were Jan Fyt, Paul de Vos, Peter Snyders or Lucas van Linden.

Rubens himself copied many Italian masters during his first trip to Italy. He was notably a talented imitator of Michelangelo, Raphael, Tintoretto, Titian, Veronese and Cambiaso. He also made copies of his own works with the help of attendants. On the other side Ciro Ferri, a gifted imitator of Rubens, reputedly produced some
3 000 copies or fakes during his career.

Luca Cambiaso was also the victim of many forgers but he himself was a keen imitator of Raphael and Giulio Romano.

Caspar de Krayer produced paintings with the help of de Vadder and
L. Achtochellings the Younger while Lucas Van Uden was David Teniers' close aide.
Van Thulden added figures in paintings by Snyders and Jos de Momper while Erasmus Quellinus, a friend and disciple of Rubens, painted figures in the works of Seghers and Van Thielen and copied works by Jordaens. Mytens or Abraham Diepenbeeck copied Rubens whose main aides were Cornelis, Paul and Simon de Vos. One can therefore note that Rubens had left his mark over many painters during the 17th Century.

Jan Brueghel painted landscapes and flowers while Jan Wildens painted backgrounds and trees in many paintings by Rubens. Certain paintings by Paul de Vos or Jan Fyt representing dogs have also been attributed to Snyders. Jan Fyt was on his part much copied by Frans Werner von Tamm.

J. van Sandrart, Jacques Moermans, Willem Panneels, Frans Wouters, Schafteleven, Boeckhorst, Boeyerman, Gonzales Coques, J. Cossiers, Lucas Franchoys, Peter Strudel, Jacques Fouquières, J. van der Hoecke, P. van Heysebetten, Cornelis Schut, Antonis Sallaert, Pieter Thys, J. Thomas,
P. Verhulst, Thomas Willeborts and V. Wolfvoet, who all worked for Rubens, also copied many works by this master who reputedly produced 3000 paintings, an unbelievable number in fact since he travelled a lot during his lifetime, notably for his diplomatic missions.

Snyders used to apply a secret signature representing a vase of flowers, including roses and irises, which appears in several paintings that were attributed to Rubens, and perhaps painted many works given as by the latter.

Rubens was said to have offered Snyders a partnership in 1610 on condition that all works sold would bear his signature. Today many paintings authenticated as by Rubens have been in fact considered to be by Snyders.

Rubens also took advantage of van Balen, who was Van Dyck's and Snyders' master. Several religious paintings by van Balen have thus been wrongly attributed to Rubens during the past two centuries.

Van Dyck was said to have painted some 2000 works, a considerable number given the fact that he died at 41. He also reportedly painted over 800 works that were attributed to Rubens and it has thus been quite difficult to determine how many paintings he really produced as well as how many were wrongly attributed. In addition, Van Dyck worked with Rubens during a certain time. Still, van Dyck himself was much copied by many 17th Century European painters.

Other imitators of van Dyck were Gainsborough and Rigaud and it is easily understandable that numerous copies produced by so many great artists were eventually considered as genuine van Dyck works two or three centuries later.

Jordaens, another good painter, used the services of Adriaen van Utrecht, Jan Wildens or Paul de Vos to paint figures in his paintings and many of his works were also attributed to Rubens.

Jordaens employed many aides as well to produce some enormous quantities of works commissioned by several European courts. These aides were Charles du Val, Pieter du Moulin, Jan Kergiter, Matthew Peetersen, Roger de Cuyper, Henrik Willemsen, H. Rockx, Guilliam de Vries, A. de Meyer, A. Snyders, Conrad Hanssens, Paul Goetvelt, Arnold Jordaens, Mercelis Librecht, Jan de Bruyn, H. Kerstens, H. Wildens, Daniel Verbraken, J.G Huybrechts, J. B. van der Broeck or G. Waldon.

During Teniers' lifetime many artists were used to copying his works simply in order to improve their own styles.

Teniers also lent his hand to the works of many of his pupils or colleagues and had himself many followers such as Mattheus van Helmont, Egbert van Hemskeerk, Hendrik Govaerts, B. van den Bossche, Jan Joseph Horemans, H.M Rokes called Sorgh, Theobald Michau, Beschey, Pieter Angelis, Apschoven, David Ryckaert,
M. van Kessel, W. Dietrich, A. van Maas, Pieter van Laar and even P. Wouverman.

Bamboccio had many Flemish or Italian imitators such as Jan Miel, Jan van Ossenbeck, Thomas Wyck, M. A Cerquozzi, Philips and Pieter Wouverman while the latter reportedly burned several drawings and copies after Bamboccio on the eve of his death.

Meanwhile, many tapestries were produced with scenes after Teniers without the artist's consent.

Teniers apparently was amused, notwithstanding the fact that several copyists or manufacturers producing tapestries were promoting his name. He even was said to have gone as far as spreading the rumour of his death and scores of collectors and dealers reportedly rushed to his house to acquire his works at solid prices before Teniers reappeared as if he had resuscitated.

Frans Hals had also many imitators among his pupils and followers and Adriaen Brouwer painted several works that Hals sold with his own signature. Brouwer was then copied by Joos van Craesbeck and also by Teniers or Saftleven.

Dirk Hals found an imitator in Jacob Duck but also copied his brother Frans whose other followers were Salomon de Bray and Jan de Bray.

Adriaen Van Ostade was much inspired by Brouwer and was copied by his brother Isaac as well as by Jan Steen, Cornelis Dusart, Cornelis Bega or van Hoogstraten.

Hendrik Pot and Judith Leyster, Molenaer's wife, both copied Frans Hals in
a stunning way and the former even imitated Daniel Mytens when he painted a portrait of King Charles 1st of England in 1632.

Gerrit van Honthorst was influenced by Molenaer and Ter Borgh who was also copied by Jacob Duck, Willem Duyster, Gaspar Netscher or Gabriel Metsu.
These painters also painted works in the style of Gerard Dou.

Certain works attributed to van Honthorst were in fact painted by Molenaer while Dou had dozens of imitators, notably Slingeland, Godfried Schalken, Jan van Staveren, Dominique van Tol or Batholomeus Maton who all painted exquisite interior scenes with men wearing armours and women playing music in silk dresses executed with minute precision.

Willem van Mieris copied his father Frans quite faithfully and Frans van Mieris himself worked like Dou who in fact had been his master.

Jacob Ruysdael was copied by his nephew Salomon as well as by Gerrit van Hees, Jan de Vries, Isaac Koene or Gillis Neyts while some unscrupulous dealers sold works by Albert Everdingen in erasing his name and replacing it with that of
J. Ruysdael or G. Rombouts whose style in fact was rather close to that of Hobbema.

Philip Wouverman was also an imitator of J. Ruysdael but was copied by his brother Pieter and by Joseph van Bredael who produced faked Wouverman and Brueghel works at the request of the dealer J. de Witte between 1706 and 1715.

Adriaen van Utrecht, August Querfurt, Nicholas Berchem and Conrad Decker also produced paintings that resembled those by Ruysdael.

Many Hobbema forged paintings were produced in Belgium between 1860 and 1880 while certain of his genuine works had their signature erased to be replaced by that of Decker during the 18th Century simply because this painter was much sought by amateurs at that time.

Meanwhile, Adriaen van de Velde, a pupil of Philip Wouverman, often painted figures in the works of Ruysdael and Wynants who himself also employed Wouverman to represent horses in his pictures.

Lingelbach notably requested the help of Beerstraten, J. Hackert, Hobbema, P. de Koninck, Jan Looten, F. de Moucheron or A. Verbom to complete his works.

A. van de Velde painted figures in the works of van der Heyden who also called upon Willem van de Velde to paint boats in his landscapes.

Albert Cuyp was often mistaken with H. de Meyer, Paulus Potter or A. Meulen. Abraham Calraet painted still lifes given to Albert Cuyp who himself influenced L. de Jongh or Govert Camphuysen.

During the 18th Century van Stry forged paintings by Cuyp, Hobbema and Potter whose works were then often believed to be by Berckheyde.

Many church interiors were indifferently attributed to Saenredam, Houckgeest, Hendrik van Vliet, Emmanuel de Witte, Both, Lingelbach or Berckheyde.

Karel Dujardin also imitated Potter and at the start of the 19th Century many dealers were selling copies or fakes in quantities. In addition, certain paintings were transformed even during the course of the 18th Century, notably some Dutch portraits heavily retouched and sold as 16th Century works.

It has been suggested that 2000 paintings by Rembrandt were now in the United States whereas the known works produced by this famous artist only exceed a total of 250.

The 26 Rembrandt paintings in the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Berlin and many among those in the Metropolitan Museum in New York have been considered as copies while only four works hanging in the Louvre Museum have been regarded as genuine.

Govaert Flinck also imitated Rembrandt as well as Murillo or Ferdinand Bol, one of his most talented disciples, whose ink drawings were often sold as by Rembrandt. Other imitators of the Dutch master were Philip de Kooning, Karel Fabritius, Jan Victors, Jan Lievens, who also copied Van Dyck, Cornelis van Haarlem, Heyman Dulaert, Salomon Koninck and later C. W Dietrich who also copied Alexander Thiele, van Ostade, Berghem, Ruysdael, Karel Dujardin, Salvator Rosa and Watteau.

There are many works by Dietrich now in the Dresden Gallery, which were previously attributed to other great masters.

A. de Vries, W. de Poorter, A. Verdoel, H. Heerschop, J.Ovens, Willem Drost or Nicholas Maes also copied Rembrandt.

These copies were produced during the 17th and 18th centuries but others are quite modern like a self-portrait in the Museum of Kassel. In addition there are hundreds of faked drawings attributed to Rembrandt throughout the world.

But there are also genuine works that have been retouched or transformed. For instance, Rembrandt's «Lesson of Anatomy» had been badly damaged in a fire and what had remained of it was later found in England though quite rearranged by an unscrupulous restorer.

Many forged Rembrandt works also appeared in some major exhibitions, notably in Amsterdam and Rotterdam in 1956 such as «The Painter in his studio» from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, «Young Girl in a local costume» from a collection in Cleveland, «The Studio» from the Glasgow Museum, «The Holy Family» from the Ludlow Collection, a landscape from the Montreal Museum, a «Monk reading» from the Museum of Helsinki, «Ann and Tobias», «The fight between Jacob and the Angel», «St John the Evangelist», all from the Boston Museum and Saint Bartholomew the Apostle, a fake produced during the 19th Century.

Another painter much copied was Vermeer of Delft whose works were sold during many decades as by Pieter de Hooch.

In fact there were several artists bearing the name of J. Vermeer during the 17th Century and it was Joshua Reynolds, a celebrated English painter of the 18th Century, who first discovered the existence of that mysterious master.

A list of 63 works by Vermeer was made up in 1866 but now only 41 or 42 have been authenticated as by his hand.

Several Vermeer paintings were sold as genuine between 1900 and 1945 as this rediscovered master had become the target of several forgers. As an example, the most sensational forgeries were produced by a painter called Hans van Meegeren.

In 1937, Abraham Bredius, a well-known expert, judged that a painting titled «The Pilgrims of Emmaus» was Vermeer's masterpiece, an opinion that prompted the Boymans Museum in Rotterdam to decide to acquire such piece.

Between 1939 and 1943 several experts claimed they had discovered other works by Vermeer, «The Blessing of Isaac», «Isaac Blessing Jacob», a head of Christ, «The Last Supper» and the «Adultery Woman».

During the German occupation of Holland another Vermeer titled «The Washerwoman» appeared on the market while in 1943, a group of art dealers from Amsterdam sold to the Rijksmuseum a painting titled «Christ in the house of Martha and Mary». After such purchase was made it was then rumoured that several paintings by Vermeer were in the possession of some Dutch dealers.

However many specialists started to cast doubts over these works after it had been discovered that they had all belonged to Hans van Meegeren, a modest artist. They then noticed that some of his paintings were closely similar in style to «The Last Supper» and «The Pilgrims of Emmaus».

It was also discovered that a banker in Amsterdam had been in touch in 1943 with van Meegeren who had met in his office a representative of the Goudstikker Gallery to whom he had sold «The Adultery Woman» for an important sum of money.

Suspected of being a collaborationist van Meegeren was arrested and jailed despite claiming he had had no pro-Nazi sympathies. He however admitted that he had painted the work sold to Goering and such disclosure disturbed specialists and those who had acquired those so-called rediscovered Vermeer paintings. Many among them could not believe van Meegeren especially as «The Pilgrims of Emmaus» and «Christ in the house of Martha and Mary» had been bought on the basis of opinions delivered by some important experts.

One thing is for sure, van Meegeren had acted out of revenge against Dutch art critics who had labelled him as a mediocre artist. He had closely studied the works of Vermeer and had found ways to produce perfect forgeries after determining what sort of colours and pigments the 17th Century Dutch master had used.

Van Meegeren was asked by Dutch justice to prove his claims and went on to paint a work similar to those he said he had produced. Such test was conclusive enough especially as during the course of their investigations Dutch police found that van Meegeren had also painted faked works attributed to Pieter de Hooch, Ter Borch or Frans Hals.

Van Meegeren was sentenced to a one-year prison term on October 12th 1947 but died of a heart attack less than three weeks later.

His fakes were analysed with great care and it was found that he had painted them on 17th Century paintings that he had rubbed off, the traces of which were discovered via X rays under the scenes he had produced. However, the most important indication proving the forgeries was that van Meegeren had used synthetic resins to produce these.

Still, Dr Van Beuningen, a Dutch collector, seized a court in 1952 to defend his view that the «Pilgrims of Emmaus» belonging to the Boymans museum and «The Last Supper», which he had acquired in 1941 were authentic Vermeer works.

FRENCH COPIES

Many 17th Century French painters copied Italian masters notably Simon Vouet who was much inspired by Titian and Veronese. Vouet himself was much copied by his brothers Aubin and Claude as well as by Michel Dorigny, his son-in-law, Jacques Blanchard, François Perrier, Claude Vignon or Michel Corneille.

Claude Vignon copied works by Martin Fréminet, a painter of the School of Fontainebleau while another imitator of Vouet was Eustache Le Sueur.

Nicolas Poussin copied Raphael, Giulio Romano or Valentin de Boullongne. After becoming famous, Poussin had several aides who helped him produce many paintings. His main pupils or followers were Gaspard Dughet, Nicolas-Pierre Loir, Jean Mosnier, Jean Dominique, Nicolas de la Fage, Jean Letellier or Francisque Millet.

Dughet's works were often mistaken with those painted by Poussin. On the other hand, Dughet was copied by F. Joachim Blich.

Nicolas Colombel, Pierre Le Maire, Jacques Stella, Charles Evrard, Jean de Troy, Antoine Ranc and even Charles le Brun were over-zealous imitators of Poussin.

Sébastien Bourdon reproduced works by Claude Gellée, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Bamboccio, Poussin, Veronese, Cerquozzi or Jan Miel. Gellée himself called on the assistance of Miel, J. Courtois or Francesco Allegrina da Gubbio to add figures in his paintings while Gian-Domenico Romano and Jan Both were among his best imitators.

Jacques Callot, a celebrated engraver, was copied by Jean Leclerc, Abraham Bosse or Claude Dervet.

As for the Le Nain brothers no one really knows who was the best artist between Antoine, Louis and Mathieu; perhaps Louis according to certain specialists.

Louis's works were often mistaken with those of Georges de La Tour while the
Le Nain brothers had themselves some imitators, notably Jean Michelin.

De La Tour only became known during the first third of the 20th Century and many of his works had been previously attributed to French, Italian and Spanish masters such as Herrera, Murillo or Zurbaran.

Many paintings have now been authenticated as by La Tour whose style closely resembled that of Gerrit Honthorst.

Charles Le Brun, official painter to the French court, often copied old masters and worked with the assistance of many aides, notably his nephew François Verdier, Claude Audran and Charles de La Fosse.

Le Brun's main rival, Pierre Mignard, copied the works of Rosso, Primaticcio, Carracci and Guido Reni but was also copied by Charles Dufresnois.

Philippe de Champaigne had two main assistants, his nephew Jean-Baptiste and Nicolas Plattemontagne who adopted his style and thus created some confusion about the authorship of several works.

There is also much confusion regarding the works of a family of painters called Parrocel as there were 16 painters bearing that name and it's not always easy to distinguish between the true authors of many paintings.

Ignace Parrocel's works were mistaken with those by Pierre or Joseph-François Parrocel while Charles Parrocel copied Rubens, Van Dyck or Jacques Courtois.

Bernini was copied by Pierre Puget, Legros or Stefano Moderno. Meanwhile,16th or 17th Century enamel works from Limoges were copied by a 20th Century French artist who did not hesitate to add on his pieces the initials JL of Jean Laudin, one of the great 17th Century masters.

18th CENTURY COPIES

Nicolas Largillière, a famous portrait painter, was copied by his nephew Jacob van Schuppen while Hyacinthe Rigaud, his main rival, had many assistants to meet the demands of his patrons. His aides were notably Nattier, Gaspard Rigaud, Bailleul, Parrocel, Levrac-Tournières, de Launay, Leclerc and Ranc.

François Desportes often imitated Jan Fyt and Snyders. His son Claude and his nephew Nicolas copied his works quite often.

When Antoine Watteau first came to Paris he first worked as a copyist for a modest painter. He also painted numerous works representing Saint Nicholas before meeting Claude Gillot whom he imitated much in turn.

Watteau also copied works by Teniers and Rubens as well as drawings by Titian, Veronese, van Venne, Metsu, Rembrandt or Guido Reni.

Watteau himself had several imitators such as Jean-Baptiste Pater, Nicolas Lancret, Amigoni, C. Audran, Louis Autreau, Pieter Angellis and Bonaventura de Bar.

Meanwhile, J. B. Bernard, F. J. Chantereau, C.W.E. Dietrich, J. F. Lemoyne, Michel Ollivier, M. A. Houasse, Huet, Etienne Jeaurat, F. C. Janneck, P.A. Quillard, F. Octavien, André Portail and Philippe Mercier also copied Watteau while Antoine Pesne opened a studio, in fact rather a kind of factory, to produce paintings after that master.

De Troy, Charles Coypel and Gabriel de Saint-Aubin did not really produce faithful copies after Watteau but included elements from his paintings in their works.

Nattier also had many followers such as B. Nonnotte, N. Dupont, F.L Marteau,
J. Valade, E. Jeaurat, Charles Natoire, Marianne Loir, J. B Le Prince, J. F Lagrenée, M. van Loo or J.F Delyen.

Several painters worked for the Versailles palace to produce works after studies by Nattier who also had F. H Drouais as one of his imitators.

François Boucher first copied the works of his master Lemoyne and then had many followers such as his own wife, who produced miniatures after his paintings, his son-in-law P. A Beaudoin, J. B Deshays de Colleville, , Challe, Charlier,
Le Mettay, J. F Clermont, N. Hallé, J. B Huet, M. Jacques, L. Pariseau,
J. B Le Prince, J. E Listard, F.M Queverdo, F. Guillaume, Oudry, Ozanne, Pierre Lelie, Pillement, L. D Soldini, Caresme, Ch. Eisen, Natoire, C. V Loo, Taraval,
A. Lucas, J.B Bénard and even Hubert Robert.

Today, many modern faked Bouchet drawings produced on 18th Century sheets of paper have been flooding the art market.

Chardin, who produced many replicas of his works during his career, had no pupil except his son but was much copied notably by Anne Valayer-Coster, a certain Miss Harrison, Etienne Jeaurat, Lépicié or Aved.

Louis Tocqué, a pupil of Nattier, copied his master and Chardin while certain paintings by Louis Aubert were mistaken with works produced by the latter.

Many forgers sold some portraits by J. B Le Prince, Bachelier, Roland de la Porte, G. Voiriot, A. Labille-Guiard and F. Duparc as well as works by Chardin.
For instance, Michel-Honoré Bounieu was also an artist whose style closely resembled that of Chardin.

During the second half of the 19th Century, J.B Mayno produced excellent copies after Quentin de La Tour.

Jean-Baptiste Greuze was another painter who had many followers, notably his daughter Anna, Constance Mayer, Prud'hon's mistress, and several other women artists such as E. Vigée-Lebrun, Caroline de Valory or Jeanne Philiberthe Ledoux. Other copyists of Greuze were E. Aubry, A. Borel, Bounieu, L. Galloche,
J.B Hilaire, C. Hoin, A.P Mongin, P.A Wille, J.A Laurent, Danloux, Touzé, Vallin or Théolon.

During the mid 19th Century faked works sold as by Greuze were produced in quantities by an artist named Abrier while dealers were offering paintings by van Gorp or Debucourt as by this famous artist.

Debucourt himself was much copied at the start of the 19th Century while Jean-Honoré Fragonard, a brilliant painter who first worked under the influence of Boucher, also copied the works of old masters, notably Rubens and Poussin.

His wife Marie-Anne Gérard, and his sister-in-law Marguerite Gérard copied his works and produced miniatures, which were often attributed to him.

J.F Schall copied Fragonard's works as well as A. Callet, J. B Huet, C. Hoin or
P.C Le Mettay while Camille Groult, a well known collector, used to produce faked drawings as good as Fragonard's original works.

Carle van Loo, a painter to the King, had many pupils who adopted his style, notably Françoise Duparc who managed to paint a copy of one of his works, which was so spectacular that, the master himself designated his own work as being a copy.

Constance Mayer first studied painting with Greuze, whom she copied much, before producing faked works sold as by Prud'hon with whom she lived.

Other followers of Prud'hon were Charles Le Boulanger de Boisfremont who completed his last work titled «Andromache», Edouard Rioult, Louis Hersent or Anatole Devosges.

In Italy, Gian-Battista Tiepolo was much copied by his son Domenico while Pietro Longhi was imitated throughout the end of the 19th Century.

Works by Canaletto and by his nephew Bellotto are often difficult to separate while many faked works by Guardi were produced during many decades.

W. Turner copied drawings by Canaletto and was imitated by Auguste Ravier and James Webb while 3,000 works attributed to Richard Parkes Bonington, who died at 26, have been circulating on the art market since 1850. Paul Huet was notably the main follower of Bonington whose father was the main forger of his works.

It must be noted that forgers became quite active during the 19th Century, especially after 1860 when the Bourgeois society started to collect art pieces on a much higher scale. In fact forgeries have always been multiplying as a result of increasing demands on the market.

During the 18th Century, sculptors imitated much their elders. E. M Falconet copied Coustou and Bernini when he produced the equestrian portrait of Peter the Great in Saint Petersburg while C. Allegrain copied works made by his brother-in-law Pigalle. The famous Claude Michel called Clodion received the assistance of his brother Sigisbert and was much copied by a modest artist called Le Broc whose copies were often authenticated as genuine works by this master. Works by Pajou were copied by an artist named Visseaux during the late 19th Century.

Many forgers were also active in the field of ceramics as soon as during the 18th Century. From 1732 the manufacture of Samadet in southwest France produced copies of ceramic pieces from Moustiers, Marseille, Strasbourg or Sainceny.

The manufacture of Sainceny employed ceramists from Rouen who produced pieces similar to those executed in the manufactures in that city. Copies of Chinese Kien Long porcelain pieces were also produced in Sainceny.

The manufacture of Nyon specialised in producing porcelain copies of the Sax, Berlin, Furstenberg, Ludwigsburg, Lunéville, Niederwiller or Sèvres manufactures.

A 20th Century decorator named Henri Jung produced many faked 18th Century Sèvres pieces while the Samson studio sold thousands of good ceramic and porcelain copies throughout the 19th Century.

During the French revolution some 300 forgers of bank notes were executed while Napoleon's government did not hesitate to print faked notes from the Bank of England and the Bank of Russia to affect the economies of these countries. In addition, scores of forgers produced French gold coins before and after the French Revolution.

COPYING JACQUES-LOUIS DAVID

During the early 19th Century Jacques-Louis David employed many assistants, the works of whom he used to sign.

David himself extensively copied classical painters. While producing his first masterpiece, he borrowed many elements from a work painted by Jean-François de Troy and his «Leonidas» was inspired by an ancient cameo and by some sculptures produced by Giambologna.

His «Serment du jeu du Paume» (oath at the Jeu de Paume) also included elements from a painting by Carracci titled «Saint Francis and Two Saints» and from a work by Raphael, «The Parnassus».

David had some 50 pupils who copied his major works to satisfy official demands in France. One of them was Antoine Jean Gros who remained quite faithful to the spirit of his master. Other much active pupils were Vincent Girodet, Guillaume Lethière and Ingres who lent his brush much for the execution by David of the portrait of «Madame Récamier».

Pierre Franque, Biard, Rouget Langlois or Verdier also helped David produce several paintings or copied his works.

Other imitators of David were Bergeret, Camus, Cocheteau, Couder, Delafontaine, Desavis, Drolling, Forbin, Garneray, Granet, Gérard, Guillou, Guérin, Gautherot, Hennequin, Isabey, Lefèvre, Abel de Pujol, Richard, Revoil, Regnault, Riesener, Wicar, Vernet, Laneville, Georges Duvilliers or Langlois.

The celebrated Spanish painter Francisco Goya y Lucientes was also much copied, notably by Delacroix, Daumier and Manet.

Eugenio Lucas y Padilla imitated Velasquez and Goya also. His son Eugenio Lucas produced copies of works by Goya whose other followers were Estève and Leonardo Allenza y Nieto while even Goya's father-in-law Francisco Bayeu copied his works.

Jean-Dominique Ingres was also known to have copied scores of old masters, notably Raphael who inspired him much. He also copied 16th Century engravings when he painted his famous Turkish nudes.

Ingres once said he had no scruples copying old masters and was in turn copied by Mollez, J.P.E Balze and Chassériau.

Many faked Corot appeared in 1928 during an exhibition in London. These came from the collection of a certain Dr Jusseaume who reportedly owned over 2400 paintings by this artist.

During his lifetime Corot did in fact nothing to prevent certain artists from copying his works. Worse, he did not hesitate to sign many copies, which he judged interesting or just to please copyists.

In 1862, Frédéric Grobon inaugurated an agency specialising in the production of copies after Corot. These were produced by some good artists such as Jean Aubert, Amaury-Duval, Bida, Cabanel, Comte Calix, Dargent or Harpignies.

Other imitators of Corot were Dutilleux, Charles Desavary, André Julien Prévost, Désiré Trouillebert, Chintreuil, Victor Dupré, Alexandre Defaux, A. Anastasi,
Ch. Lambinet, Adolphe Appian, Lavieille, F. Français, Madame Pecqueur,
A. Bénouville, Norblin de la Gourdaine, Ravier, Caruelle d'Aligny, A. Fontanesi,
V. Vignon, E. J Dumax, Prosper Marilhat, Poirot, Meszoly, Vernon, Latouche,
J. Desbrosses, Damoye, Léon Fleury, Lessieux, Lapito, Delaberge, Lanoue, Comairax, E. Brandon, Hawkins, Richaume, Berthe Morisot, Daubigny, Jules Cognet or Harrison.

Géricault, an excellent painter of horses, was copied by Jean Gigoux, Philippe Ledieu, Wolmar, Michalowski or Luna.

C.F Daubigny was imitated by Pierre Herpin and his son Karl Daubigny while
C. Troyon and A.L Barye were also the targets of forgers.

Before becoming a major painter of the School of Barbizon, Narcisse Diaz imitated Corregio. He was in turn much copied by P. Vernon, Gourdon, A. M Longuet or Victor Vincelet.