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  • Hacker News
  • So refreshing to read something written by a human
    by crazycheesu
  • From bug bounty hunter to celebrated 'fixer' – the ultimate career pivot. Kinda makes you appreciate the hustle.
    by hexley19
  • A fictionalised account not entirely dissimilar to this kind of story is buried in "What's bred in the bone" (1985) by the Canadian author Robertson Davies. It's not a direct lift, but you'd see the resonances.
    by ggm
  • Respect the technical skill, even if the ethics are questionable. Reminds me of finding an elegant hack in a deeply flawed system.
    by lampcord
  • Reminds me of how some of the best security researchers started out on the 'other' side. Talent finds its way to usefulness, sometimes.
    by tugback
  • Ah, van Meegeren. I wrote about him in my latest book (in Czech).

    There was an element of subtle social engineering to his work. For example, Prof. Bredius, mentioned in the article, strongly believed that Vermeer had a religious period, only not discovered yet. The Supper at Emmaus was intended to confirm his conviction and Bredius was happily fooled.

    In the Nazi occupation period, Christ and the Adulteress was intended to reflect stark "Germanic" idea of morality and justice. It was maybe too good, because Goering took interest and inquired about the origin of the work (probably not suspecting it to be fake - rather than stolen). Meegeren was able to mollify him by promising to reveal the origin in two years' time, and the war ultimately proved shorter than that.

    This guy was talented, but also a totally amoral manipulator. He didn't only swindle Nazis, but innocent buyers as well.

    by inglor_cz
  • The point is made in the article; Art is about branding not quality.

    He made original art in Vermeer's style. All the experts of the day authenticated them as Vermeer's. Frankly, had he not confessed, they'd likely still be Vermeer's today.

    Their value was locked up in the Vermeer name; the brand. Once they weren't Vermeer their value dropped by 3 orders of magnitude.

    To all creators, heed the lesson. The brand is the valuable part. Building a brand is the expensive part. AI might replace your product but it can't replace your brand.

    by bruce511
  • He (Han van Meegeren) was also the subject of a 'Cautionary Tales' episode [0] which I would recommend

    [0] https://timharford.com/2021/03/the-art-forger-the-nazi-and-t... (sorry I couldn't find a transcript on that page, I'm sure there's one somewhere)

    by anitil

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