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Image: person standing infront of a large painting with their hands behind their back

How Nuclear Bombs Are Revealing Forgeries!

What do nuclear bombs, the world’s best tricksters, and Van Gogh have in common? Well, in a chain of events that most of us would overlook, nuclear bombs have become a key witness in stopping some of the best art forgeries in the world!

How is this possible?! Well, if you like mystery, science, art, or just a good ole tale of intrigue, I’ve got just the story for you!

Image: person standing infront of a large painting with their hands behind their back. Begs the question about art forgeries: how detectable are they?
Source: Pixabay

The forensics of art forgeries!

Since the time of the Romans, people have been passing off modern works as ancient artifacts and priceless pieces. Along the way, those tasked with sniffing out these nefarious forgers had little to go on but their senses and know-how. Was that Vermeer that turned up real or a clever fake? Was that statue a genuine Greek masterpiece or a modern marble from this era?

Sometimes, collectors and art historians guessed right. But a lot of the time, they shelled out hundreds of thousands of dollars on pieces so skillfully forged they couldn’t be detected!

Surely, it mustn’t be so hard to determine if a painting was made in 1950 instead of 1750? Right?

Well, these cunning forgers have come up with ways of aging paintings! Using chemicals, cookware, and careful brushstrokes, they can make something painted now appear as if it was created in an entirely other time. These tactics are so clever and believable that we now have to turn to some seriously high tech solutions to sniff out the world’s greatest fakes.

Using science that you’d expect to see at a crime scene (or at least a very sophisticated scientific lab), pieces of art that have perplexed historians are going under x-rays, being analyzed with carbon dating, and even having their atomic fingerprints taken. Oh yeah—this is where the bombs come in.

Here’s Joe Hanson of It’s Okay To Be Smart to let us in on how these mysteries are solved!

Via: It’s Okay To Be Smart 1

‌If you want more science content that will leave you feeling like the smartest person in the room, check out the It’s Okay To Be Smart YouTube channel. It’s one of our favorites, and it’s sure to have a video (or seven) that will leave you saying “Wow!”

When science (history) and art collide!

Hidden paintings under Van Gogh’s? Carbon dating? Nuclear bombs?! I certainly never knew that art history could be so…scientific. But that’s the thing when you dig a little deeper into most subjects—you’re bound to find something new that piques your curiosity.

Perhaps these stories of forgeries are a great example of what happens when we allow ourselves to explore these new paths of intrigue!

I might be the rare person who is already fascinated by stuffy old paintings, but even my fascination with art history is reinvigorated with a good story of international scandals and art forgery heists.

Our world becomes so much richer when we allow ourselves to tumble down rabbit holes of curiosity and expand our notions of what “interests” us. Now, you know a little bit more about art forgery! Maybe, the next time you hear something about carbon dating, you’ll have a little know-how there, too.

For more surprising connections to subjects you may have once thought were “not for me,” give these next articles a read. They are sure to have you finding new corners of the world to delight in!

Bugs Raining from the Sky?! They’re Strawberry Superheroes!

Do you like strawberries? You have a little red bug to thank for their safety! Each year, millions of crops (including strawberries) are under threat of being destroyed by spider mites. But farmers and scientists have once again teamed up with nature to solve the problem. Here’s the story of persimilis—a surprising hero on the agricultural stage!

Read Article Watch Video Listen to Podcast
’60s Psychedelic Posters: Why This Visual Language Speaks to Us

Can works of art perfectly capture the look and feel of a generation? Let’s time-warp to San Francisco in the psychedelic 60s, when trippy band posters communicated far more than who was playing a show!

Read Article Watch Video Listen to Podcast
Are Automatons the Ancestors of Google? How Finding Inspiration in the Past Improves the Future

What can we learn from a mechanical humanoid that mesmerized people hundreds of years ago? Let’s see what the future can gain from peering into the past, at phenomenons known as automata.

Read Article Watch Video Listen to Podcast

So, whether you’re about to pack up and head off to become an art forgery expert or are just finding yourself walking a bit taller with the knowledge you now have about the worlds of art and science, go forth with your curiosity in hand.

You never know where the next question you have may lead, or when you’ll need to find a little more wonder in the world around you.

Stay beautiful & keep laughing!

-Liesl

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Notes:

  1. It’s Okay To Be Smart. “How Atom Bombs Can Help Us Detect Art Forgery.” YouTube, 2 Jan. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=egBZUPVGqj4&feature=emb_title. Accessed 25 Jan. 2021.
Image: Liesl Ulrich-Verderber

Liesl Ulrich-Verderber

CEO

Since 2015, Liesl has been a writer, editor, and is now the CEO at the Goodness Exchange. She is a life-long camera-toting traveler, a global story seeker, and an aspiring—but more often root-tripping—outdoor enthusiast. She can be found on Instagram @Liesl.UV

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