Art scams are simply a problem that will never go away. Every year, it seems, there is a new, crazy forgery story that has the art detective on the case. One study suggests that as many as half the art work sold on the international market is faked. This guide will look at some of the most famous examples of big time forgeries.
One of the world's best known forgery cases is that of Han van Meegeren, a Dutch painter who in the 20s and 30s fooled dealers across Europe with brilliantly re-created copies of classic Vermeers. So good a copyist was he that, adjusted for inflation, his pieces netted him roughly 60 million pounds. By the time his country came under Nazi occupation Meegeren's personal life and work had deteriorated, in part due to his alcoholism and morphine addiction.
By the time World War 2 broke out a debauched lifestyle of drug and alcohol addiction had eroded his abilities significantly, yet he still managed to sell a forgery to Herman Goring. Goring proudly displayed what he thought was Vermeer's 'Christ With The Adultress' in his private collection throughout the conflict. When the occupying Nazis were defeated, however, this forgery would find its creator in trouble.
In order to escape possible execution van Meeregren came clean, confessing to his life as a forger. While the original charge was dropped he now had to deal with the other charge of scamming the art world for the past three decades. While awaiting this second trial his debauched life caught up with him and he died having suffered two heart attacks in quick succession.
The Hungarian Elmyr de Hory was a con artist who forged over 1000 paintings and made millions from their sale throughout the middle part of the last century. The extent of his scam didn't come to light until after his suicide in 1976. Today his fakes are considered valuable items in their own right. One of his Monet copies went for $20,000 at a recent San Franciscan 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.
One of the world's best known forgery cases is that of Han van Meegeren, a Dutch painter who in the 20s and 30s fooled dealers across Europe with brilliantly re-created copies of classic Vermeers. So good a copyist was he that, adjusted for inflation, his pieces netted him roughly 60 million pounds. By the time his country came under Nazi occupation Meegeren's personal life and work had deteriorated, in part due to his alcoholism and morphine addiction.
By the time World War 2 broke out a debauched lifestyle of drug and alcohol addiction had eroded his abilities significantly, yet he still managed to sell a forgery to Herman Goring. Goring proudly displayed what he thought was Vermeer's 'Christ With The Adultress' in his private collection throughout the conflict. When the occupying Nazis were defeated, however, this forgery would find its creator in trouble.
In order to escape possible execution van Meeregren came clean, confessing to his life as a forger. While the original charge was dropped he now had to deal with the other charge of scamming the art world for the past three decades. While awaiting this second trial his debauched life caught up with him and he died having suffered two heart attacks in quick succession.
The Hungarian Elmyr de Hory was a con artist who forged over 1000 paintings and made millions from their sale throughout the middle part of the last century. The extent of his scam didn't come to light until after his suicide in 1976. Today his fakes are considered valuable items in their own right. One of his Monet copies went for $20,000 at a recent San Franciscan 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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