Karel la Fargue

Paris, Galerie Claude Aubry, Dessins des écoles du nord dans les collections privées françaises, 1974, n° 105 (comme J. van der Ulft)

C. Dumas and M.C. Plomp, 'Karel la Fargue (1738-1793) as a forger of seventeenth-century Dutch drawings', Oud Holland, vol. 112, 1998, no. 1, p. 62, n°144

Fixed to mount with brown paper hinges in three corners. Extensive but light foxing throughout. Paper somewhat uneven in places. Sold in a carved and gilded frame.
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Nous avons ici une contre-épreuve d’après un autre dessin de La Fargue qui se trouvait autrefois sur le marché parisien. La paternité de ces deux dessins a d’abord été attribuée à La Fargue par Charles Dumas qui les a publiés, avec Michiel Plomp, dans un fascinant article qui révèle que l’artiste était un faussaire de dessins hollandais du dix-septième siècle. Cet article présente 179 feuillets qui vont de la simple imitation à la reproduction d’œuvres d’artistes antérieurs. Il semblerait que La Fargue ait commencé à produire de tels dessins à la fin des années 1760, la plupart datant des années 1770-80.

This is a reworked counterproof of another drawing by Lafargue, formerly counterproof of another drawing by Lafargue, formerly on the Paris market (Dumas and Plomp, n°143). La Fargue’s authorship of both sheets was first recognised by Charles Dumas, who, together with Michiel Plomp, published the drawings in a fascinating article which revelated the artist to be a forger of seventeenth century Dutch drawings. The article presents 179 sheets which range from imitations to clear forgeries of earlier artists’ work. La Fargue apparently began to produce such drawings in the late 1760s, with most dating from the ‘70s or ‘80s.