A Master of Restoration and Mimicry
Josephus Maria Van der Veken was a Belgian art restorer, copyist, and art forger. Born in Antwerp, he attended drawing classes at the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp during his military service, where he learned to paint by copying photographs and making adaptations of old masters. He eventually established himself as an antique dealer in Brussels in 1908.
Van der Veken developed a restoration process known as "hyperrestauration," which involved recovering damaged or modest works to serve as the support for new creations. His work was closely associated with the Renders Collection, built by Émile Renders. Some of his works were so skilled in mimicking the style of old masters that they were exhibited as originals, such as at a 1927 London exhibition.
Technical Methods and Controversies
Van der Veken's techniques included the use of what he believed was an egg-based painting method, though it was later demonstrated that early Netherlandish painters used oil-based paint. In his work on the panel of The Just Judges, he applied a layer of wax to create a specific patina. He also made a copy of the missing panel of the Ghent Altarpiece using a two-century-old closet shelf as support.
Scientific research into works like the Renders Magdalena and the Renders Madonna revealed that Van der Veken had scraped off original paint layers to repaint surfaces and used various methods to recreate craquelure. These findings led to conclusions that he engaged in intentional art forgery. He worked for the Central Laboratory of the Museums of Belgium and continued his restoration work until the onset of blindness.
