Two Artists Vermeer's Forger

Great Masters When Han van Meegeren was a young child in Holland, he loved to draw. He enjoyed visiting museums and gazing at pictures by Dutch artists. The great painters Rembrandt and Vermeer had died more than 200 years earlier, but their paintings lived in Han's mind. Han longed to spend his life as an artist. If only he could paint like those great Dutch masters. If only he could spend his life mixing colors and creating beautiful pictures. If only.

大师传奇 汉·凡·米格伦小时候住在荷兰，他特别喜欢画画。 他爱逛博物馆，总盯着荷兰大师的画作看不够。 大画家伦勃朗和维米尔已经去世两百多年了，但他们的作品一直刻在汉的脑海里。 汉满心渴望一辈子都做画家。 他多希望自己能像这些伟大的荷兰大师一样画画呀。 他多希望一辈子都能调颜料，画出好多漂亮的画呀。 要是能实现就好了。

Van Meegeren's First Paintings In 1908, when he was 19, Hahn began studying architecture. He designed a few buildings, but he still loved art, painting, and the great Dutch masters. So he quit architecture and began to study art.

米格伦的早期经历 1908年，19岁的汉开始学习建筑学。 他设计了几栋建筑，可心里还是爱着艺术、画画，还有那些荷兰大师。 于是他放弃建筑学，转而学习艺术。

At first, he did very well. He graduated from art school and was hired to teach other students. He even won some awards for his painting skill. As time went by, Hahn did not work as hard, and many critics did not like his work. They said his work followed the old masters too closely. They said he had no talent. The bad reviews that these critics wrote about Hahn made him sad and very angry.

一开始，他做得非常出色。 他从艺术学校毕业，还受聘去教其他学生。 他甚至还因为作画技巧拿了不少奖。 时间久了，汉不再努力，很多评论家都不喜欢他的作品。 他们说他的作品太贴近老大师的风格，没有新意。 他们说他根本没有天赋。 评论家们这些差评让汉既伤心又愤怒。

Hahn could not stop thinking about the critics. He wrote angry letters. But that was not enough. There had to be some way to get back at them. He wanted to fool and embarrass them the way they had embarrassed him. An idea formed in Hahn's mind. What if he were to paint a picture and say the great artist Johannes Vermeer had painted it? Could he fool the critics into thinking his forgery was a genuine Vermeer painting? Would they praise it as they did Vermeer's other work? Hahn imagined what the critics would say when they found out he had painted it.

汉一直对评论家的话耿耿于怀。 他写了好多愤怒的抗议信。 可这根本不够解气。 他得想个法子报复他们。 他想捉弄这些评论家，让他们也尝尝难堪的滋味，就像他们让他难堪一样。 汉的脑子里冒出了一个点子。 要是我画一幅画，谎称是大画家约翰内斯·维米尔画的，会怎么样呢？ 他能骗过评论家，让大家把赝品当成维米尔的真迹吗？ 他们会不会像称赞维米尔其他作品一样称赞这幅画呢？ 汉已经开始想象，等评论家发现这幅画出自他手，会是什么反应了。

Copying a Master Hahn knew a great deal about art and life during the years that Vermeer was painting. He was a smart man, and he knew that a convincing art forgery required many things. The subjects of the painting had to look as if they were from the time period when Vermeer lived. The paint and canvas also had to appear old, but most of all, his painting technique had to reflect Vermeer's style.

模仿大师 汉非常了解维米尔作画那个年代的艺术与生活。 他很聪明，他知道要做出一幅以假乱真的赝品，得满足很多条件。 画的主题得看起来就属于维米尔生活的那个年代。 颜料和画布也得做出旧感，最重要的是，作画技法必须符合维米尔的风格。