Herman Brood (1946-2001)

Beside his career in music, Brood turned to painting and became a well-known character in Amsterdam art circles. His art is best described as pop-art, often very colourful and graffiti-inspired screen prints, and he achieved some commercial success and notoriety by, for instance, creating murals in various public spaces in and around Amsterdam. On 5 November 2006 the Groninger Museum opened an exposition devoted to Herman Brood's life and work, comprising paintings, lyrics, and poetry, portraits by photographer Anton Corbijn, a collection of private pictures (from the family album), and concert photos and videos. The exhibition was on show until 28 January. It was set around Hermans atelier (studio) where he created most of his paintings.

Herman Brood is a legend in the Netherlands but quite unknown in the international art world. This is a pity because his approach as a mix of pop-art & action painting is unique and very recognizable. He used several themes like fast cars, air planes, sports, animals, torsos, musicians, loneliness, city life, etc. in always different approaches, but his style is always distinctive.

It is estimated that he has made approximately 5.000 paintings which is of course a huge production. Over the years his top paintings have been rising in value unless the economical crisis in Western Europe. Many Dutch VIPs, under which world-famous soccer players have a BROOD in their art collection. Also important for investors and collectors: there is always a fluent market and deal flow for these pieces of art.

Related to his success and especially after his death in 2001 many counterfeits (illegal copies, fake paintings, etc.) have been put on the market. Through the internet and by regular galleries as well. Even with faked copies of certificates of origin. His paintings have been copied also when Herman Brood was alive. He never reported the matter to the police because he saw it as an honour that his work was copied because it proved that his work was of great value !

Nowadays, it is assumed that hundreds of paintings and prints are counterfeits. It is considered proven that even criminal organizations in the Netherlands have been active in this field. In the current art market "experts" not always agree about the authenticity or origin of the work. It is a complex matter. One element is that Herman Brood painted a lot of his work (in his atelier, on the street, at events, etc.) and sold it directly to customers in stead of through his management or art broker. Nobody exactly knows the full scope of his work.

In order to be sure about the authenticity of a work a couple of things have to be clear:


In our vision the authenticity of a work can only be determined by experts that are:

If there should be any doubt about the authenticity or origin of a piece of art, we offer the possibility of additional independent research at our costs.