{"id":6955,"date":"2017-12-12T07:06:55","date_gmt":"2017-12-12T12:06:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=6955"},"modified":"2018-01-01T15:11:28","modified_gmt":"2018-01-01T20:11:28","slug":"the-craftsman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=6955","title":{"rendered":"The Craftsman"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Vermeer,

Girl with a Pearl Earring, Johannes Vermeer, c. 1665<\/p><\/div>\n

The world premiere of Bruce Graham\u2019s play The Craftsman,<\/em> held over until December 17 at the Lantern Theater Company<\/a> in Center City Philadelphia, explores a thought-provoking dilemma from the fine art world.<\/p>\n

You may remember the post-World War II scandal created by an exceedingly minor Dutch artist (Han van Meegeren) charged with high treason for stealing his country\u2019s cultural heritage. He\u2019d sold hitherto undiscovered paintings by Johannes Vermeer out of the country, one of them to German Reichsmarschall Hermann G\u00f6ring. The crime was the more heinous because of the very small number of Vermeer\u2019s works. Only 34 of his confirmed paintings survive.<\/p>\n

At his trial, Van Meegeren mounted an unexpected and now-famous defense that shook the art worlds in The Netherlands and beyond. He claimed he painted the \u201cVermeers\u201d he sold himself. The critics who\u2019d authenticated the works wouldn\u2019t back down, making the trial a legendary showdown.<\/p>\n

The Craftsman<\/em>, directed by M. Craig Getting, covers the arrest of van Meegeren (played expertly by Anthony Lawton) by former Dutch Resistance officer, Joseph Pillel (Ian Merrill Peakes), flashbacks of the scathing criticism of van Meegeren\u2019s own work by noted art critic Abraham Bredius (Paul L. Nolan), and the trial.<\/p>\n

In this small theater, a clever L-shaped set, designed by Meghan Jones, effectively works as van Meegeren\u2019s cell, Pillel\u2019s office, and the courtroom. Janelle Kauffman designed projections of Vermeer\u2019s paintings and the disputed works that turn the walls into an art gallery, enabling the audience to consider for itself the controversies the case raises.<\/p>\n

If you saw the documentary Tim\u2019s Vermeer<\/em>, you will recall that Vermeer\u2019s characteristic style, as the \u201cmaster of light,\u201d has engendered admiration for hundreds of years, and special exhibitions of Vermeer\u2019s paintings draw record crowds.<\/p>\n

By exploring the van Meegeren episode, The Craftsman<\/em> asks a series of interesting questions: \u201cwhat makes a Vermeer a Vermeer?\u201d; what are the limits of connoisseurship (a timely question, given the recent $450 million sale of a painting that may or may not be<\/a> by Leonardo da Vinci); and, for that matter, how is the value of any creative work established?<\/p>\n

Can\u2019t Get to Philly?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Art of Forgery<\/a><\/em>, by Noah Charney, profiles van Meegeren\u2019s escapade, and many other famous forgeries throughout history, reviewed here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tim\u2019s Vermeer<\/a><\/em>, an entertaining documentary about how a non-artist used a camera obscura in an attempt to duplicate Johannes Vermeer\u2019s technique, reviewed here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Girl with a Pearl Earring: A Novel<\/a><\/em>, by Tracy Chevalier, a romance about Vermeer\u2019s most famous painting; made into a film starring Scarlett Johansson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The world premiere of Bruce Graham\u2019s play The Craftsman, held over until December 17 at the Lantern Theater Company in Center City Philadelphia, explores a thought-provoking dilemma from the fine art world. You may remember the post-World War II scandal … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"The Craftsman - world premiere in Philadelphia about a delicious case of art forgery, based on a true story.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[52,366,682,104,147],"tags":[1192,166,1191,416],"class_list":["post-6955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crime","category-drama","category-fine-arts","category-the-morgue","category-theater","tag-bruce-graham","tag-creativity","tag-lantern-theater-company","tag-real-life"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2NkiT-1Ob","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6955"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6957,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6955\/revisions\/6957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}