In an ‘antique’ store on Ontdekkers Road, West Rand, Johannesburg, the owner pops her head out of a tiny office, no larger than a closet, to offer help. Behind her desk a painting in an ornate gold frame commands attention — a burly self-portrait of Dutch 17th century painter, Frans Hals. Peering closely, it is impossible to discern as a fake, but the owner swears it is real, with a price tag of R36 000.
Ontdekkers Road two decades ago was infamous for special ‘finds’, and unscrupulous dealers would sweep original impoverished mining homes on the reefs of old Johannesburg for new discoveries. Calculating buyers back, when an unsuspecting owner bags a million quid for an ornament that’s sat in a cupboard for 50 years. Today, claims of ignorance seem unimaginable — it takes a second online to discover that the original Hals self-portrait hangs in New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
