Geert Jan Jansen - mixed media on paper | 'Untitled'

Who doesn't know him... Geert Jan Jansen, the Netherlands' most famous 'master forger'.

Geert Jan Jansen himself has shared his stories in book form with the world, but others have also paid a lot of attention to his life story. Het Zwarte Schaap, Tv-Show with Ivo Niehe and recently 'Het geheim van de meestervervalser'.

Signed by the artist lower right. The whole is in neat condition.

With quick movements his drawing pen moves over the paper. 'Even kicking the habit' he calls it. Characters and lines of text cross the image. As if there is a battle going on between ink and paper. At first glance they are absurd combinations of loose words, numbers, birds and whales. A regiment of toy tanks passes by. The enemy is being fought. Dozens of drawings lie on the table and they all get a turn. After the ink comes the crayon. Coloured pencils from Cumberland, Faber-Castell, Karisma, Bruynzeel, Conté à Paris. Boxes full From other studios, purchased in other times. And everything in large numbers. Chinese reed pens and the most exclusive oil crayon from Sennerlier. But also ballpoints from Hema. As long as it writes. And when it doesn't write, it scratches.


13 is his lucky number, but it's all about the composition. The place of the number 13 among the other characters on the paper. It seems like coincidence and nonsense, but with the repetition of the motifs a world of its own is created. One plus one becomes more than two. It is a world where weirdos and losers call the shots, where one-liners from the radio gain a profound value.