stroke of fake

^ Art Authentication: a taste of fakery | The entire episode on Nova scienceNOW (13 min.)

If you're a reasonably good judge of character you can spot fakery in someone perhaps right away (or perhaps not, how unfortunate for them). Sometimes a bit of scientific knowledge or psychology helps. But what if it isn't a person? What if it's a work of art created by a master and worth tens of millions of dollars? In this case, a lot of science helps a great deal. Well, that and a very keen eye, patience, a bit of scrupulous detective work, and luck.

The full version of this Nova special focuses on the cutting edge computer technology involved in discerning the authentic van Gogh from a counterfeit made by the very skilled painter, setting up a suspenseful forensic game of cat and mouse. I'll not tell you if the scientists and art experts were spot on with the real work or put on the spot by the fake. You'll just have to watch the video and see for yourself.

< Starry Night, Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, by Vincent van Gogh, 1889. Oil on canvas. The Museum Of Modern Art, New York.

This one is hands down my favourite piece from van Gogh (btw, the proper pronunciation is 'vuhn-HOC', as I learned from watching the video - I am soooo much smarter now! LOL!). I never tire of gazing into it and surrendering, as if in a dream. It's magical, dynamic, engulfing and I feel like I could, at any second, be lifted off the ground and swirled up in the atmosphere by the effervescence of the indigo night sky and I feel the cooling breeze and see the faintest glow of moonlight on my skin. Van Gogh was nothing if not a unique visionary to bless the viewer with such an emotionally and psychologically charged transfixing experience through the deceptively simple brush stroke on humble canvas.

Related:
Nova scienceNOW
Vincent van Gogh Gallery
Vincent van Gogh | Wikipedia