Old painting or obvious forgery?

Supposedly by a 17th-18th century artist.

Any pointers (as to whether or not this is a real or forgery) would be greatly appreciated. I am very much an amateur.

 

If that's a very thin piece of plywood, it's called lauan plywood and that pretty much says modern. I don't think the black staining is a good sign.

Stylistically, the effect is called chiaroscuro.

 

It is in the style of the Dutch painter Arnold Boonen, and signed with his name, but not Boonen's quality. And as mos pointed out, a modern panel.

A nice decorative piece, but it should not have been signed A Boonen. That implies a forgery.

 

Ooohh!! Interesting, so then basically they glued an imaged onto a piece of plywood?

 

It's probably painted on the plywood, but done quite recently.

 

That makes a lot of sense, as an Amateur I'm not good enough to tell the skill difference for paintings, but the signature did throw me off. Because 17th century painting didn't get signed (is what I heard)?

How much would you say this forgery is worth? The seller wants 60 euro.

 

From online sources, lauan plywood was developed in the 1980s.

 

hahaha, I've spend so many hours trying to figure out if this painting is real and you solved the question in a matter of minutes. I applaud you for your extensive knowledge.

 

I have a lauan painting that I quite like. I probably paid about 60 euros for it. This was before I knew about these paintings. They mostly come out of south east Asia and are a type of factory art. If you like it enough, I'd guess that price to be a very solid retail, but don't know for sure.

They can be nice decorator pieces, but they're not going to appreciate in value in my lifetime. Just so long as you know what you're getting.

 

Most 17th century paintings were signed.
This is Arnold Boonen's signature:


https://www.sellingantiques.co.uk/4...man-dated-169-signed-arnold-boonen-16291729/#

The signature of a better known 17th century Dutch painter:

 

Probably a copy/fake of this by Boonen in the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, Braunschweig

https://www.pubhist.com/w3401

 

The forger made The Hermit look older, probably to add the extra 300 years.

 

This is the one I bought:

 

I want to show you something, the first painting I ever owned. I bought it 2 weeks ago at a thrift store for 17,50. I really like it, but I don't know much about it other than it not being a "print" as there are no dots to be found. And it's very recent. The signature doesn't really allude to anyone, it just says "Jaso" or "JasD".

What do you think of my first painting?

 

Oh my, that is beautiful!

 

hahaha yeah, like a discount bin version of that one.

 

Old handwritings are so elegant.

 

I like everything about your painting. The color, composition, the frame, the detail. I assume it takes a lot of skill to paint such high detail in a smaller frame. The more I look at it the more I like yours better than mine hahah, it's just so lively.

 

I really like to put an original and a copy side by side, so one can pick apart the nuances of the copy!!! Obviously, copy on the left!! The artist on the left wasn't trying to hide the fact that his was in fact a copy....at least, not in MY opinion!!

​

 

But he did sign it A Boonen, which makes it a forgery.
Forgeries are not exact copies, but made to make people think they have a real painting by a well known painter. If forgers make an exact copy, people won't fall for it, because they know it is in a famous collection or museum.