Twin Paintings: Century Old Mystery Unraveled in Israel Museum

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Guess how much a 19th century painting by famed Dutch painter Jozef Israels went for at a recent Southebys auction? Zero. That’s because the very same painting, down to the very last brushstroke, has been sitting in the Israel Museum since the early 20th century. The Israels self-portrait first arrived in Israel via a friend of the artist, Boris Schatz, who had received it as a gift in 1909. As the story goes, upon Mr. Schatz’s death, it was donated to the museum.

Flashforward a century, and Mr. Schatz’s great-great-nephew Jimmy Lewensohn was looking to auction off an Israels self-portrait dated 1909 that had long been in the family’s possession. This prompted many to wonder which one is the impostor.

Boris Schatz himself was a well-respected painter, leaving many to believe at first he must be responsible for the duplicate work. But why? He never tried to sell any Israels self-portrait, choosing to donate one to a museum while its evil twin lurked in the family attic for decades.

One of the more interesting theories is based on a story first written down in a 1972 book by art historian Heinrich Strauss. According to him, Mr. Schatz was ordered by the Ottoman Turks who controlled Palestine at the time of the first World War to surrender the painting as it caught the eye of an officer. As the story goes, Mr. Schatz did not wish to give up his prized painting, so he secretly made a fake. However, since the painting was never surrendered to the Ottomans, many remained skeptical of this story’s authenticity.

Recalling the old standby of Occum’s Razor, that the simplest answer tends to be the correct one, art historians studying the painting believe that Mr. Schatz did in fact make a copy – but it was most likely as a project at his art studio. While the two paintings are extremely similar, the one owned by the great-great-nephew was less technically proficient and painted on a cotton canvas, while the Israels painting in the museum was done on linen, a more expensive fabric better suited for a wealthy Dutch painter.

The conclusion reached by art historians at the Israel Museum is that their copy is indeed the original, while that kept in the Schatz family is merely a copy done by Mr. Schatz himself or his students.

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