Every year it seems a big forgery story hits the headlines that has the art detective on the case. The problem is bigger than one may imagine inside the artistic community. In fact some experts suggest that as much as 50% of all art-work that is sold on the international market is faked. To get a better idea of how these scams work, this guide will look closely at some famous examples.
Perhaps the most well-known forgery case of all time was that of Han van Meegeren. Van Meegeren was a gifted Dutch painter who, feeling he was not getting the recognition he deserved decided to turn his talents to criminal endeavour. He began forging paintings of the Dutch master Vermeer and selling them at exorbitant prices throughout the 1920s and 1930s. His work was good enough to make him about 60 million pounds (in today's money) from his illicit career.
Yet with all significant art work, including that of Vermeer, now put under lock and key for protection, there was nothing for his, now lesser quality, forgeries to be compared to and he continued to sell pieces. Most famously a forged copy of 'Christ With The Adulteress' ended up in the private collection of Herman Goring. This was to be van Meegeren's undoing.
Finding the 'national treasure' in Goring's collection lead Allied troops to trace its sale back to the forger who they then put on trial for selling the countries cultural artefacts. The artist eventually broke down and admitted to this and other acts of forgery. Before he could be put on trial for his decades of scamming he died of a heart attack.
Another historic art con that took decades to be found out was that pulled by Hungarian con man Elmyr de Hory. It was not until after his suicide in 1976 that the world discovered he had sold over 1000 separate forgeries during his 'illustrious' career. Some of his fakes have become masterpieces in their own right, with his forged Monet recently going for $20,000 at a Californian auction.
While van Meegeren and de Hory were great artists in their own right, you don't necessarily need talent to make money from forgery. This was proved by a German con man who was arrested in 2009 for selling faked Alberto Giacometti sculptures. He had sold well over 200 of the bronze items even though police reported they were badly sculpted, poor representations of the originals and in very poor condition when sold.
For some reason the centre of Europe seems a hotbed for forgery and artistic scamming. In Germany once again, this time in 2004, it was revealed that a painting purchased by actor Steve Martin under the impression that it was a Campendonk was in fact the work of forger. The forger has been revealed to be part of a ring of scammers operating in Europe who have robbed buyers of close to 50 million Euro.
The internet has really opened new doors for forgers as it allows them to advertise easily to people unable to verify what they are buying. A huge international scam that used eBay to sell over $5 million worth of faked masterpieces was discovered in 2008. After being investigated by an art detective the forgery ring was found to be pan-global with operatives in Italy, France and Russia.
Perhaps the most well-known forgery case of all time was that of Han van Meegeren. Van Meegeren was a gifted Dutch painter who, feeling he was not getting the recognition he deserved decided to turn his talents to criminal endeavour. He began forging paintings of the Dutch master Vermeer and selling them at exorbitant prices throughout the 1920s and 1930s. His work was good enough to make him about 60 million pounds (in today's money) from his illicit career.
Yet with all significant art work, including that of Vermeer, now put under lock and key for protection, there was nothing for his, now lesser quality, forgeries to be compared to and he continued to sell pieces. Most famously a forged copy of 'Christ With The Adulteress' ended up in the private collection of Herman Goring. This was to be van Meegeren's undoing.
Finding the 'national treasure' in Goring's collection lead Allied troops to trace its sale back to the forger who they then put on trial for selling the countries cultural artefacts. The artist eventually broke down and admitted to this and other acts of forgery. Before he could be put on trial for his decades of scamming he died of a heart attack.
Another historic art con that took decades to be found out was that pulled by Hungarian con man Elmyr de Hory. It was not until after his suicide in 1976 that the world discovered he had sold over 1000 separate forgeries during his 'illustrious' career. Some of his fakes have become masterpieces in their own right, with his forged Monet recently going for $20,000 at a Californian auction.
While van Meegeren and de Hory were great artists in their own right, you don't necessarily need talent to make money from forgery. This was proved by a German con man who was arrested in 2009 for selling faked Alberto Giacometti sculptures. He had sold well over 200 of the bronze items even though police reported they were badly sculpted, poor representations of the originals and in very poor condition when sold.
For some reason the centre of Europe seems a hotbed for forgery and artistic scamming. In Germany once again, this time in 2004, it was revealed that a painting purchased by actor Steve Martin under the impression that it was a Campendonk was in fact the work of forger. The forger has been revealed to be part of a ring of scammers operating in Europe who have robbed buyers of close to 50 million Euro.
The internet has really opened new doors for forgers as it allows them to advertise easily to people unable to verify what they are buying. A huge international scam that used eBay to sell over $5 million worth of faked masterpieces was discovered in 2008. After being investigated by an art detective the forgery ring was found to be pan-global with operatives in Italy, France and Russia.
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