John Berger's 'A Moral' Explores Art's Tangled Relationship with Property Through a Dutch Portrait's Journey
In his essay 'A Moral,' featured in the 1960 anthology 'Permanent Red,' John Berger examines the relationship between art and ownership through the story of a 17th-century Dutch portrait. Initially published in the New Statesman (1954-1959), Berger remarked in a 1979 edition on the 'disastrous relation between art and property.' The portrait, originally commissioned for £50, ended up in a furniture dealer's possession and was later forgotten in an attic. It reemerged at a charity auction, selling for £3.10.0, before being acquired for £40 by an advertising executive who mistakenly thought it was a Rembrandt valued at £40,000. After doubts about its authenticity arose, the executive gave it to a young artist, who then used it as collateral for a loan. Ultimately, the painting was attributed to Carl Fabricius, worth £20,000. Berger concludes that the reality of art is frequently hard to grasp.
Key facts
- John Berger's essay 'A Moral' was published in his 1960 collection 'Permanent Red'
- The essay originated from articles written for New Statesman between 1954 and 1959
- Berger described the recurring theme as 'the disastrous relation between art and property' in a 1979 reissue
- The narrative follows a 17th-century Dutch portrait of a ship chandler's young wife
- The painting was originally sold for £50 to the ship chandler's family
- It was later sold to a furniture dealer for the price of a new dress
- An English gentleman purchased it along with an inlaid wood cabinet
- The painting spent nearly a century forgotten in an attic in Nottingham
- An antique dealer bought it at a charity sale for £3.10.0
- An advertising executive purchased it in York for £40, believing it was a Rembrandt
- The executive displayed it in his London flat and used it as security for financial risks
- Two art historians determined the painting was not a Rembrandt
- The executive gifted the painting to a young painter he met
- The painter later used the painting as security for a £100 loan when his wife was pregnant
- The painter eventually repaid the loan and kept the painting in his bedroom
- Berger reveals the painting was actually by Carl Fabricius, Rembrandt's student
- Fabricius died at age 32 in an explosion, making his works rare and valuable
- A newly discovered Fabricius portrait would be worth about £20,000
Entities
Artists
- John Berger
- Carl Fabricius
- Rembrandt
Institutions
- New Statesman
Locations
- Holland
- East Anglia
- Nottingham
- York
- London
- America
- Germany