Real or Fake #6

Can we fool you? The term “fake” may be slightly sensationalist when it comes to old drawings. Copying originals and prints has formed a key part of an artist’s education since the Renaissance and with the passing of time the distinction between the two can be innocently mistaken.

Can you discern the real from the fake? For this month’s bonus points, name the artist and the sitter. A clue: they’re related.

Scroll to reveal the answer.

The original, of course, is on the right (lower image on mobile). The drawing is by Moses ter Borch and the sitter is the artist’s father, the artist Gerard ter Borch the Elder.

On the left (upper image on mobile): Manner/Style of: Gerard Ter Borch II, Head of a bearded old man wearing a large hat; slightly to right, British Museum, London, inv. no.: 1992,1003.178.

On the right (lower image on mobile): Moses ter Borch, Portret van Gerard ter Borch de Oude, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, inv. no.: RP-T-1887-A-1042.