Jan Theuns (1877–1961). Dutch painter born in 1877 in Breda (Netherlands) and well known as a landscape and portrait painter. Theuns studied at the ''Ambachtsschool'' and was trained as a decorator. Early on re-known romantic painter Karel Frans Phillippeau (1825–1897) saw that the young Theuns had talent and encouraged him to take drawing lessons which he did at the ''Avondtekenschool'' in Breda. Theuns was an accomplished painter of landscapes, interiors and rural peasant scenes in the romantic style of many of late 19th century painters (for example “Oosterschelde oever bij Bergen op Zoom, genaamd De Duintjes” Oil paint on board 1925-1950, Inv.nr. S 5783 Bruikleen Stichting Stedelijk Museum Breda). Jan Theuns was fascinated by the work of

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...

, Rubens and

van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh ...

. He studied their paintings at different museums in Antwerp and Rotterdam, and The Hague and even the

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the St ...

in Amsterdam. He mastered the technique, color and composition of the 17th century artists. He often imitated Rembrandt’s portraits with such a dexterity that earned him the nickname of “Breda’s Rembrandt.” These skills accidentally got him into trouble with the law in 1927 when Theuns was involved in a scandal. In 1909 Mr. Duynstee, an antique collector from Delft, bought in Breda for 10 guilders the painting of an old rabbi (similar to Rembrandt’s "Portrait of Jacob Trip" c. 1661, held by the

National Gallery, London The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

). Eighteen years later, Mr. Duynstee sold it for 70,000 guilders as a Rembrandt. The cleaning of the painting and later a technical investigation by authoritative Rembrandt scholars Dr.

Abraham Bredius Dr. Abraham Bredius (18 April 1855 in Amsterdam – 13 March 1946 in Monaco) was a Dutch art collector, art historian, and museum curator. Life Bredius travelled widely, visiting various art collections in his youth, and worked at the Dutch Mus ...

and Caspar Niehaus revealed that “The rabbi” was not an original despite its striking similarity to Rembrandt’s work and a mysterious forged signature now appearing in the painting. Jan Theuns alleged that he never sold the painting as a Rembrandt, that he sold it for a small amount of money, and that someone else added the forged signature to his work. Theuns never signed these early “Rembrandts” and only did so after the scandal. He was not a criminal master forger (this is an intentional malicious one) as his famous contemporary

Han van Meegeren Henricus Antonius "Han" van Meegeren (; 10 October 1889 – 30 December 1947) was a Dutch painter and portraitist, considered one of the most ingenious art forgers of the 20th century. Van Meegeren became a national hero after World War II when ...

, just a mater copyist. Jan Theuns maintained his innocence until his death in 1961 but this affair followed him throughout his life and made him world-famous–especially post-war--- as Rembrandt copyist. Such notoriety translated into many commissions of these “Rembrandt-heads” as he called them (according to his daughter Diny Ladner). Everywhere there were customers for such work. Theuns reputation reached from Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro. He continued to copy and imitate Rembrandt (and other 17th century painters) but since his copies were really difficult to distinguish from the originals he decided to sign them J. Theuns.
The Princenhage Museum
exhibited in 2007 forty fake Rembrandt by Theuns from private collections around the world. Theuns died in 1961.

References

* ''Signatuur Kunstenaars en collectie 1800 – hedenTekst: Jeroen Grosfeld. Catalogus.'' Ook de geïllustreerde versie van deze catalogus kunt u downloaden via www.breda-museum.nl onder de tentoonstelling Signatuur. Breda’s Museum 20-12-2008 t/m 30-08-2009 * In de voetsporen van Rembrandt: 8-10 sept
De 17e eeuwse schilderkunst van Jan Theuns
(1877-1961) Princenhaagsmuseum. * "In de voetsporen van Rembrandt

(1877-1961). Expositie. Princenhaagsmuseum. * Door Leo Nierse * ''Jan Moll (huis)schilder Schilderijen, aquarellen, tekeningen en schetsboeken 1930 - 1960''. Catalogus bij de tentoonstelling in Zorgcentrum Oranjehaeve, Locatie Lucia, Liesboslaan 6 Breda, van 28 februari tot 31 mei 2004. {{DEFAULTSORT:Theuns, Jan 1877 births 1961 deaths Dutch landscape painters Dutch portrait painters 20th-century Dutch painters Dutch male painters People from Breda 20th-century Dutch male artists