The most famous painting forgers in history. The most famous photo fakes

I returned from Vienna, where a museum of forgeries opened in 2005, I really liked the idea - after all, you have to have a gift to create a brilliant copy of a masterpiece. And today the fakes of great forgers cost fabulous money! http://www.museum-of-art-fakes .com/index.htm

The most famous falsifiers of paintings of all times and peoples.

Escaped punishment

This man was born in Budapest in 1906 into an aristocratic family, but this cannot be said for sure. He called himself too many names in life: Elmyr de Hory, Elmyr von Hory, Elmyr Herzog, Louis Cassou, Dory-Boutin - you can see in them the unfaithful shine of a fake diamond... The great forger was in his seventies when he was exposed and... imprisoned. But de Hory was able to convince the court that he was just an interpreter of the great artists of the 20th century, a modest admirer of the modernists, whose passion was taken advantage of by bad people. And he won. He was released after two months!

Victim of fascists and communists

Elmira de Hory's youth was spent in the cheerful city of Paris, where he studied painting with Fernand Léger, but did not show much hope. Only once, in 1926, did he manage to exhibit a couple of his works in galleries. However, no one bought them. However, the aspiring artist was not too upset. In 1932, for family reasons, he returned to his homeland, Hungary, and... was imprisoned by the local fascist regime, and then sent by the Nazis to a concentration camp. All property of the de Hory family was confiscated first by the Germans, and after the war by the communists. However, fate was on Elmir's side, and he managed to escape back to Paris. From this moment the most exciting chapter of his life begins.

Lucky case

In Paris, de Hory eked out a miserable existence as a loser: there was no money - no one bought his work. For the poor artist, the future seemed frightening and uncertain. And then fate threw an incident that determined his entire future life. One day, a wealthy Englishwoman wandered into Elmira’s studio and bought one of his drawings, mistaking it for Picasso’s work. And she paid a whopping $40 for it! And then de Hory accidentally found out that his Picasso had been resold to a dealer for three times the price! This is where it dawned on the half-educated artist. He stocked up on a substantial pack of pre-war drawing paper and set off on a trip to European capitals. De Hory stayed in the most expensive hotels, led an aristocratic life, and in the mornings over a cup of coffee he created fakes, which he used to pay for his stay in the apartment. The proceeds were enough to buy a ticket to America.

Elmir went to the States to “see the world,” but stayed for 11 years. All his attempts to sell his own works ended in failure, and de Hory decided not to tempt fate anymore. He focused entirely on the production of fakes, mainly interpreting the graphics of the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists. Inexplicably, the clever artist (the European aristocrat Baron de Hory, as he presented himself) managed to make acquaintances with the cream of high society: oil magnates, industrialists, bankers and movie stars. He sold his “masterpieces” to them.

Fooled Picasso

De Hory's impudence knew no bounds. He even managed to sell several fake works by the great Spaniard to Picasso's official representative in New York and make great money from it. Picasso himself was working in Paris at that time and did not even know about his “double”.

Then the hoaxer came up with the idea of ​​offering his works to the largest museums and galleries in America. He simply filled them with drawings, gouaches, watercolors and small oil paintings by Matisse, Picasso, Braque, Chagall, Derain, Bonnard, Degas, Dufy, Vlaminck, Modigliani, Renoir. And he got away with it too! In two years, American museums and private collections were enriched with 70 “masterpieces” of French painting and a myriad of drawings and watercolors.

At the end of the 50s, de Hory returned to his beloved Paris as a very rich man. But I wanted to become even richer. Realizing that in France it would be more difficult for him to sell “falsies,” he entered into a conspiracy with two dealers who agreed not only to certify the “authenticity” of de Hory’s works, but were even able to sign several of his drawings from the real authors whom he forged!

Exposure

It all came to light in 1968 due to the sheer greed of a sprawling crime syndicate. Incomparably more high prices for painting rather than for graphics, they seduced scammers into creating large canvases by Chagall and Matisse. But unlike gouaches and watercolors, which dry quickly, painting takes years to do this, and here it is much easier to detect deception.

The scandal was huge! The venerable art lover turned out to be a swindler on a global scale. How many fake Chagalls and Modiglianis he made is still unknown. And if it were not for the greed of de Hory’s companion, a certain Fernand Legros, if Marc Chagall had not accidentally appeared at a vernissage at a New York gallery, the world would never have known about the great forger Elmyr de Hory.

All participants in the scam went to jail, and after his release, de Hory woke up famous. Hollywood made a sensational film about de Hory, “How to Steal a Million.”

Meanwhile, he continued to paint Matisse and Modigliani, but now signed his name!

Posthumous fame

De Hory died in 1979, and in 1990 a special auction of his works took place, at which the price of imitations reached 7 thousand pounds. Having something from a Hungarian baron in a private collection has become a kind of chic among art connoisseurs.

Elmir de Hory left behind about a thousand sheets of graphics and paintings, the sales of which in the USA, Europe and Japan amount to more than a hundred million dollars! And many undisclosed “masterpieces from de Hory” probably adorn the walls of many European and American museums to this day.

OLD AS THE WORLD.

Talented fakes have considerable artistic and historical value
Hans van Meegeren, an artist of the early 20th century and owner of apartment buildings in Amsterdam, is considered the most brilliant forger of all times. He created his imitations of the Dutch masters from scratch, using old paints, canvases and subtly copying techniques.

Meegeren became a forger involuntarily: the mental trauma after the failure of his personal exhibition took its toll. Then the art critic Abraham Bredius, a passionate admirer of the 17th century Dutch artist Jan Vermeer, especially mocked the young artist. Bredius was sure that unknown masterpieces of the master would soon be found. Knowing this, Meegeren decided to take revenge in a sophisticated way. Looking for masterpieces? They will!

Meegren earned £20 million from forgeries
The very first painting of the forger “like Vermeer” delighted Bredius. The world-famous expert was flattered that his predictions came true. The painting depicting Christ was bought by the Rotterdam Boyman Museum for 50 thousand pounds sterling. In total, Meegeren painted seven paintings of the “early Vermeer,” that is, that period that is always the least known in the artist’s work and the most difficult to verify. In total, the fakes brought him 2 million pounds sterling - that's about 20 million in modern prices.

Meegeren's exposure occurred simultaneously with the fall of the Third Reich. Vermeer's painting "The Seduction of a Married Woman" was discovered in the personal museum of Luftwaffe chief Hermann Goering. The police established that this painting was sold to Goering for 160 thousand pounds sterling by none other than Meegeren. The artist was immediately arrested and they began to “soap the rope” - in Holland they were punished for collaborating with the Nazis the death penalty by hanging. Pinned into a corner, Meegeren split. He announced that he was honestly undermining Germany's economic power by feeding the Nazis counterfeits. To convincingly expose himself and avoid death, Meegeren, under police protection, painted a painting like Vermeer - “Young Christ Preaching in the Temple.” Europe experienced something of an art shock. As a result, the great forger was given a year in prison for fraud.
During the Third Reich, in the personal museum of Hermann Goering in Berchtesgaden, among other masterpieces, hung the painting “The Seduction of a Married Woman” by Jan Vermeer. When, after the war, they began to sort out the cultural heritage of the Luftwaffe chief, the Dutch police established that Vermeer’s masterpiece was bought by Goering’s agents for 160 thousand pounds sterling from the millionaire Hans Van Meegeren, the owner of tenement houses, hotels and nightclubs in Amsterdam. Meegeren was arrested. Because in the Netherlands in those years there was only one punishment for collaborating with the Nazis “on an especially large scale” - death by hanging. However, Meegeren did not want to hang in the noose.

“I cannot be executed! - the frightened millionaire shouted to death. - Why hang me? After all, it was I myself, with these hands, who painted the picture for Jan Vermeer. I should not be executed, but should be rewarded for the fact that I handed a fake to the damned murderer Goering." And then he told the police about how he became the highest paid forger in the history of art.

The start of the artistic career of Hans van Meegeren, an architecture student at the Delft Institute of Technology, was promising. In 1916, for one of his watercolors he received a gold medal, which was awarded every five years for the best student work. However, his first solo exhibition in The Hague in 1922 ended in failure. The venerable art critic Abraham Bredius especially mocked the works of the young artist. Doctor of art history Bredius was a fan of the then little-known and just coming into fashion Dutch artist of the 17th century, Jan Vermeer. Bredius was confident that sooner or later unknown masterpieces would be found that would make Vermeer the greatest representative of the Dutch school of painting.

Offended by Bredius and the whole world, the young artist Meegeren decided: since the world needs the masterpieces of some half-forgotten canvas slayer from the 17th century, let the world receive these “masterpieces.” Meegeren's first painting of Vermeer evoked an enthusiastic reaction from Dr. Bredius, who was flattered that his predictions had come true and humanity had acquired a true masterpiece. The painting depicting Christ was bought by the Rotterdam Boyman Museum for 50 thousand pounds sterling.

In total, Meegeren painted seven paintings - five under Vermeer and two on behalf of another master of the old Dutch school, de Hooch. In total, these forgeries brought Meegeren 2 million pounds sterling (20 million in modern prices). Meegeren created his last masterpiece specifically for police officers and completely free of charge.

Why? Because the police did not believe his story about the forgery for Goering, and in order to save his life, the defendant Meegeren, under guard, painted “Young Christ Preaching in the Temple” in his Amsterdam studio. The impression from the brush of the “17th century master” was such that All charges of collaborating with the Nazis were dropped. However, Meegeren received a year in prison for fraud. And a month and a half later he died in his cell - his heart could not stand it.

The Supper” by Johannes Vermeer of Delft is the main creation of Hans von Meegeren
1945 Tormented, wounded Europe meets its first peaceful spring. It was a spring of joy and hope, many of which, however, were never destined to come true. Clear sky was won at too high a price, and the place under it should have belonged to those who fought for it and did not stain their honor with the shame of collaboration with the enemy. The time has come to ask those who sold the interests of the Motherland to the occupiers for next to nothing.
On May 29, 1945, a car stopped at the mansion at Keizersgracht 321 in Amsterdam. It was made into American intelligence officers and the Dutch military police.
- Mr. Han Antonius van Meergen?
A deathly pallor spread across the face of a representative, elegant man with a short-cropped mustache.
- The arrest warrant.
Some time later, the artist van Meergen was sitting in the office of state inspector Voing. The first interrogation began. A solitary cell in an Amsterdam prison, five steps long, three steps wide. A small window with bars. The guard's footsteps in the corridor. For a month and a half, the artist locked himself in, wiggled, got out. But the facts were inexorable. With documents in hand, the investigator closed all loopholes for salvation.
- Do you plead guilty to collaboration and aiding the German occupiers? Do you admit that in 1943, through the mediation of the German-controlled antique company Gudstikker and Goering's agent banker Niedl, you sold a painting by the artist John Vermeer of Delft, Christ and the Sinner, to the collection of Reichsmarshal Heinrich Goering?

For this painting Goering paid 1,650,000 guilders, of which you received a million guilders, minus commissions. Is everything correct?
In the corner, the secretary was typing out the interrogation report on a typewriter. The accused hardly squeezed out:
- Yes.
Solitary confinement again. Again nightmares at the mere thought of the verdict. Van Meergen understood perfectly well what was facing him: not only did he, bypassing Dutch laws, sell abroad a painting by one of the greatest masters of the past, he sold it to Goering, the man on whose orders thousands of bombs were thrown at the Netherlands. Shame, prison, in general, come what may, just to stay alive...
- No, the national heritage of Holland was not damaged. Goering gave his money not for a masterpiece, but for a fake. “Christ and the Sinner” was not written by Vermeer, but by me, van Meegeren.
The prisoner could not hold back his triumphant smile and raised his head, as if expecting honors worthy of a national hero. The inspector just grinned skeptically. Cheap reception! Taking a little blame on yourself and thereby trying to deflect serious accusations... The move is not quite new. And this number is unlikely to work here.
- Take the arrested man away.
The most amazing thing is that this time Han van Meegeren told the absolute truth.
He was very vain and painfully ambitious. All my life I dreamed of the glory of a great artist, imagined how his works hung next to the canvases of Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Johannes Vermeer and others. Pride ate him up in his native Deventer, where he spent his youth, and in Delft, where he served as an assistant in drawing and art history. Even poverty did not oppress the young artist as much as the bitterness of non-recognition. On 75 guilders a month it was still possible to somehow survive, but to be an inconspicuous painter...
Van Meergen could not come to terms with this fate. In 1913, the Delft Institute of Arts awarded him a gold medal for a watercolor in the style of the 17th century that he executed at a competition. The very next day he had to pawn it in a pawnshop, and soon no one remembered his first success.
Van Meergen moved to Prague. He worked a lot, persistently, with the persistence of a man possessed. He painted portraits and paintings on allegorical and biblical subjects. He spent long hours and days in museums, trying to uncover the secrets of the old masters of Dutch painting. In 1922 he organized a personal exhibition. Gradually he became known as a gifted portrait painter. Orders, fees, travel to Belgium, France, Italy, England came... The aristocracy was impressed by his careful, pedantic manner of the Dutch painter, his smooth writing and ability to give the portraits of his contemporaries the shine and aroma of bygone eras. Customers appeared from the other side of the ocean, the kings of oil and pork stew also wanted to be like real kings...
The time of need has sunk into oblivion. But the dream of youth was never forgotten. Years later, van Meegeren was as far from realizing it as before. He was praised, willingly received in high society, valued as an amiable painter, willing and able to please the customer. But they still didn’t recognize him seriously. At exhibitions, his paintings went unnoticed, and reviewers devoted only a few lines to them in their reviews. Serious criticism either passed him by in silence, or reproached him for lack of independence and imitation of artists of the past. Museums have also so far refrained from acquiring paintings; the favorite place near Rembrandt and Frans Hals (Remember the film “The Return of St. Luke” with Basiashvili, Sanaev and Dvorzhetsky?) was occupied by others. Meegeren deeply experienced failures, but did not lose hope. He believed that one day he would be able to seize capricious fortune and become recognized deep down, he was convinced of his genius: he explained the opinions of critics and art connoisseurs as myopia or envy.
- Yes, I deceived Goering and his experts. The painting, which everyone recognized as a work by Vermeer of Delf, was painted by me, me!!
Stubbornly, with despair, van Meergen repeated the same thing during all interrogations.
- And not only “Christ and the Sinner”. I wrote five more "Vermeers" -

"Washing of feet" in the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum,

"Head of Christ"

And the Last Supper in the Van Beuningen collection,

"The Blessing of Jacob" in the van der Vorm collection.

And even the famous “Christ at Emmaus”, which is in the Boijmans Museum in Rotterdam. I sold two paintings by Pieter de Hooch to the same Beuningen Worm, they were also made by me. The prisoner's voice broke, as if choking on such an unusual confession. Van Meegeren knew that the question of his fate was being decided; he had nothing to lose...
- Stop locking yourself out. We have heard this more than once. Here is the latest conclusion of the restorers Leutwiler and van Bahemen. They assure that “Christ at Emmaus” is the work of an artist of the 17th, not the 20th century.
- No, I painted the picture. In Roquebrune near Nice, where I lived before the war, in the basement of my villa, studies, sketches and the very dishes that I depicted in the picture should still be preserved.
- Okay, let's check.
- I will prove that I wrote these “Vermeers” and “de Hoochs.” Give me an old canvas, badger hair brushes, the colors that I specify, give me the opportunity to work, and I will paint “Vermeer” before your eyes, and not a single expert will distinguish it from the genuine ones.
The artist understood what he would face if he failed and yet was not afraid of such a risky experiment. Now, in the investigator's office, all past life seemed to him like careful preparation for this decisive exam.
And indeed, he prepared for a long time, without rushing. Somewhere back in his 20s, a plan of action matured in him, and he carried it out with rare determination. For many months I carefully and in depth studied the biographies and works of the great Dutch artists of the 17th century, their style of painting, and the peculiarities of their technique. In the silence of the library halls, I tirelessly leafed through ancient
manuscripts, copied intricate recipes for primers, paints, and varnishes. In casual conversations with his friend, restorer Theo van Wijngarden, he learned the secrets of painting techniques of the 17th century. I persistently searched for the same brushes made of real badger hair that the old masters used to paint, and spent days rubbing paint in a faience mortar. For a huge amount of money - 12,000 guilders - I bought a small bag of precious blue, an amazingly pure paint that still sparkles in the paintings of past masters. In antiques I bought a painting by an unknown artist of the 17th century “The Raising of Lazarus”, the painting could be washed off and the old canvas and frame could be used.
This was the hidden life of an artist, “in the world” Han van Meegeren was known as a cheerful, successful portrait painter, who earned good money and did not shy away from joy. In 1923, he moved from Holland to the French Riviera and settled in a secluded villa in Roquebrune. Previous fees ensured several years of quiet and comfortable existence. The entrance to his studio was closed to everyone, not excluding the artist’s wife. There, behind closed walls, Van Meegeren performed his priestly duties. The first experiments, however, did not bring the desired success. First, the artist painted "Portrait of a Man" in the spirit of the 17th century Dutch artist Gerard Terborch. Then “Drinking Woman” in the style of Khals - and again failure. These works were too imitative and independent; the closeness to their models was too striking. Nevertheless, Antonius did not retreat. He was especially attracted to the paintings of the painter Jan van der Meer from Delft, or, as he is usually called, Vermeer of Delft. Along with Rembrandt and Hals, he belongs to the greatest artists of Holland. Like most of his contemporaries, Vermeer was a painter of everyday life - he depicted genre scenes or allegories in a genre guise. Amazing landscapes by his brush have also been preserved. But in many ways, Jan van der Meer stood apart among his fellow artists both as a person and as an artist. He differed from most Dutch masters in the range of problems that interested him. Vermeer was interested in conveying atmosphere, natural light, and pure color relationships. He avoided the tonal (subordinate to a certain tone) gamma, as well as the local one (when each object is painted in a certain color, regardless of the influence of the light-air environment). Anticipating the painters of subsequent centuries, he strove to convey the finest color nuances caused by the refraction of color in a light-air environment. In search of this kind of effect, Vermeer came to a unique painting technique, subtle and scrupulous. His paintings are filled with special poetry and spirituality; they are saturated with amazing shimmers of clear daylight and transparent shadows, pure, ringing colors and musical harmony of silvery undertones. Is it surprising that the artist created only a few dozen paintings in his life? About forty reached us. Is this comparable to the hundreds painted by any other Dutch master forced to work for the market?
Contemporaries did not understand, and could not understand, Vermeer. Moreover, few of his works were drowned in the mass of works by Terborch, Metsu and his other compatriots. Vermeer was “discovered” by critics of the middle of the last century, and he was elevated by artists and theorists of impressionism. Then the feverish search for his works began. But there are almost none left. Each Vermeer was literally worth its weight in gold, that’s where the masters of forgeries could make money, but Vermeer is a “tough nut to crack”, he was too tough for them. And it was this painter, whose paintings are difficult even to copy, let alone forge, that van Meergen chose as a model. No obstacles could stop the daring and self-confident artist.

"Lady Playing Music" (work by Vermeer),

"The Reading Lady" by Meegeren.

"Woman Playing the Mandolin" (by Vermeer),

"Woman Playing the Mandolin" by Meegeren.

From one painting to another, van Meegeren's skill improved, and yet not a single one satisfied the demanding forger. These were not yet “new Vermeers”, but only more or less skillful compilations from the famous paintings of the great painter: a model was taken from one, a compositional scheme from another, a costume or setting from a third. Van Meegeren, of course, added something of his own, but at that time he could not overcome the artificiality and far-fetchedness of the forgery. Instead of spontaneity and reverent life - a constrained pose, instead of internal unity and unique originality - a mosaic is good famous images and details. It was a dead end, and the artist understood it. The completed but unsigned paintings were put in a corner of the studio, where the dusty “Terborch” and “False” already stood. It was necessary to look for another, fundamentally different path to success. And the solution Van Meegeren found does him credit, if we can even talk about the honor of a forger.
The life and work of Vermeer of Delft remains largely unknown to this day. Entire periods of his biography fall out of sight. Who was his teacher, was the artist in Italy (something speaks in favor of this hypothesis)? Why was he, a resident of Protestant Delft, a Catholic? Didn't he become one in Italy? It was in this lacuna of biographical ambiguities that van Meegeren decided to catch luck by the tail.
Indeed, why didn’t the Catholic Vermeer leave us religious compositions? It was this “gap” that the forger decided to fill, creating a completely “new” area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe work of the great Dutchman. Fortunately, these religious compositions have nothing to compare with, except perhaps each other, one fake with another!
In search of a plot, van Meegeren settled on the famous evangelical story of the appearance of the risen Christ to his disciples at Emmaus. As a sample, he chose the composition of the painting

"Christ at Emmaus" by the Italian artist Caravaggio, which he painted on the same theme. The most important thing remained - to paint the picture, and it had to be painted in such a way that no one would doubt that it belonged to the brush of a great painter.
Khan Antonius carefully foresaw and thought through everything, and did not forget about every little detail. The old painting was washed away from “The Raising of Lazarus”, the canvas was ready, it was even nailed to the stretcher with small nails from the 17th century. Soft brushes made from real badger fur, ancient recipes, precious glazes, hand-rubbed paints used in the time of Vermeer and his contemporaries, still life tableware from that era. Van Meegeren was confident that the painting would pass any test.
He worked long, patiently and carefully. The most difficult thing is the test of “style”, that subtle aroma of time that always enchants in authentic paintings, some kind of special spirituality inherent in only a few masters of Dutch painting of the 17th century. Van Meegeren did not recognize any concessions to them here. He copied the head of Christ alone four times, and he practiced the movement with which Jesus breaks bread for ten days. The local baker probably thought that the villa only ate bread, since orders for it increased sharply at that time...
The painting required seven months of daily and intense work. And here, finally, are the last strokes. The artist takes a careful look at his creation again and again. The painting was a success; Vermeer himself would not have been ashamed to put his signature on it! But this signature, of course, must be without a hitch; even the slightest delay in drawing letters, imperceptible to the naked eye, can alert suspicious experts and graphologists...

(Above are 16 signatures of Vermeer of Delft, below close-up 6 signatures of van Meegeren).And finally the painting is finished and signed. Van Meegeren then coated it entirely with brown varnish, giving it the patina of age. The pure, shining colors faded, the masterfully made signature disappeared, but the canvas acquired a special, “museum” flavor, now inherent in the works of old masters. There was another important stage of work ahead - the painting had to be “aged” by three hundred years. Yours best work the falsifier, without flinching, subjected him to the most severe tests. He dries the karitna at a temperature of 100-120 degrees, rolls the canvas onto a cylinder, but the craquelures turned out simply excellent - just like the real thing. To cover all traces, the artist carefully touched up the cracks with ink. Now even if all the critics come, none of them will recognize the fakes.
There is one more thing left... How to make it public, how to present the newly created Vermeer to the public? Apparently, our van Meegeren did not suffer from poverty of imagination, so he told one of his friends, the Dutch lawyer K. A. Boon, a romantic and rather convincing story about how he, van Meegeren, found “Christ at Emmaus” in Italy , like smuggling, bypassing customs laws, he transported the painting on some sailing ship, almost at the risk of his life, to Monte Carlo. Boon, as van Meegeren had hoped, did not make a big deal out of this story. big secret, and after some time the news of van Meegeren’s discovery became public.
In those years, on the French Riviera lived one of the greatest experts in Dutch painting, the author of major works that have not lost their significance to this day, Dr. Abraham Bredius.

Having carefully examined the painting and opened the signature, he came to the conclusion that “Christ at Emmaus” is a genuine and, moreover, first-class work of the early Vermeer of Delft. In the autumn of the same 1927, a publication by Bredius about the sensational discovery of Vermeer's masterpiece appeared in the reputable English magazine "Burlington Magazine".
The car was set in motion and it rolled away. Art historians, critics, and antiquarians started talking about “Christ in Emmaus.” Van Meegern now only had to regulate the course of events and choose the most advantageous from the offers. Art dealer D. A. Hoogendijk rushed to Roquebrune for negotiations. The Rembrandt Society of Dutch Art Lovers, which acquired works of art for museums in the Netherlands, also became interested in “Christ at Emmaus.” In the end, for 550 thousand guilders, the painting was bought on behalf of the society by collector D.G. van Beuningen. "Christ at Emmaus" was given to the Boijmans Museum in Rotterdam; van Meegeren received 340 thousand, and Hoogendijk, as an intermediary, the rest.
In the museum, the painting fell into the hands of an experienced restorer; for three months he observed its condition, carefully cleared away the darkened varnish and layers of “time,” and placed a new canvas under it. In September 1938, the painting was first shown to the general public at an exhibition among 450 masterpieces of Dutch painting. The success was amazing. An enthusiastic audience constantly crowded in front of Karina. The vast majority of experts and critics have declared Christ at Emmaus to be one of Vermeer's best and most accomplished creations. “The miracle of appearance became the miracle of painting,” wrote art critic de Vries. The German researcher Kurt Rlitzsch included reproductions of the painting in his comprehensive monograph on the work of Vermeer of Delft. Few people did not succumb to the charm of this picture; few were not convinced by its content, the unique spirituality of the characters, and the remarkable beauty of color. At first, these advantages diverted the attention of researchers from the artist’s minor mistakes and in-depth artistic, stylistic and technological analysis of the painting. Everyone seemed to be struck by a sudden shock, the joy of a great discovery. Actually, the forger also counted on this, and this calculation was brilliantly justified.
True, there was a fly in the ointment. In 1939, the “discoverer” Abraham Bredius, doubting the identity of “Christ at Emmaus” by Vermeer, abandoned his hasty attribution. But his statement was then perceived as a quirk of an old scientist and they did not pay any attention to it. The warnings of the few experts who called for caution were simply not heard in the friendly chorus of dipherambos...
Yes, it was a triumph, a long-awaited triumph, for which ten years of life were given. The goal was achieved, van Meegeren could celebrate complete victory. The artist fell silent, tired of the long story. Inspector Wooning listened without interrupting.
- Okay, let’s say everything was exactly like that. Your painting was recognized as a work by Vermeer of Delft, acquired by a major museum, and now you had every opportunity to reveal your trick and have plenty of fun with critics and experts. Is not it? But you didn't do that?
- Yes. I continued to work on fakes. I wanted my paintings to hang in the best national museums. I viewed my activities as a protest against the humiliations that I had to endure from a clique of critics. And besides, I really love the paintings of the old masters...
- And the fortune of five and a half million guilders also comes from this passionate love?
During the interrogation, Van Meegeren could not find what to answer, but now, left alone in a prison cell, he could not forget the ironic grin of the inspector. He lied. Lied during interrogation. Lied to myself everything last years. But you can’t run away from yourself... No “sublime” motives could hide his true motives... His painting was able to withstand the test, but the artist himself could not resist the test of wealth. Money, money and more money!
In 1938-1939, van Meegeren painted two paintings in the spirit of genre paintings by the outstanding 17th-century Dutch artist Pieter de Hooch. Compared to the same “Christ in Emmaus”, this was a step back: compilation, use of already known techniques, details of images. But buyers were found immediately. One of the paintings

The “feasting company” was acquired by van Beuningen, already known to us, and another

"The Company Playing Cards" - Rotterdam collector W. van der Vorm. The forger pocketed approximately 350 thousand guilders.
With the outbreak of World War II, van Meegeren returned to Holland and bought a cozy manor in Laren. The tragedy of his homeland, occupied by the enemy, did not touch the artist too much, the hardships of the war did not affect him, rich people can settle down under any government... Moreover, the atmosphere of military confusion, when the German “kulturtraegers” shamelessly plundered the conquered countries, when the most valuable works of art were lost, and The demand for paintings by old masters continued to grow - this situation was most favorable for the planned scams. After all, there was no longer enough time for deep, detailed examinations, and a lot could have passed “under the guise” that in peaceful years would have aroused suspicion, especially since the new forgeries were significantly lower in execution than “Christ at Emmaus.” Van Meegeren, as they say, was seizing the moment; the gold-bearing vein he had discovered was still far from drying up. In three years - five new "Vermeers", all on religious themes. True, around this time rumors arose that something was fishy here, why suddenly there were so many Vermeers in the same hands? And Meegeren’s own paintings were suspiciously similar in style, although few people paid attention to all these conversations at the time; they were remembered later.
"Head of Christ" was bought by van Beuningen. The Last Supper was sold to him through the mediation of the antique dealers Hoogendijk and Streibis. W. va der Worm, not wanting to be left behind by his rival, acquired the “Blessing of Jacob”. In 1943, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the largest museum in Holland, purchased “Washing of the Feet.” And finally, “Christ and the Sinner” ends up in Goering’s own collection.
The investigation was not yet completed, but van Meegern was released on bail pending trial. An old canvas and the necessary brushes and paints were delivered to his workshop on Keizersgracht.

The artist went deep into his work. This was his last trump card in the game, in a game in which not another million was at stake, but his life. Van Meegeren painted his seventh and last "Vermeer"

Painting "Christ among the teachers." The police were constantly on duty in the workshop, there were a crowd of curious people behind the artist, in general, the conditions were still the same, of course, this affected the quality of the work, but the main thing was achieved: the leading experts admitted that Han van Meegeren could be the author of the fake Vermeers.
But was he? This question was to be answered by an authoritative commission of experts, headed by the director of the Brussels Institute of Artistic Heritage, Professor Paul Coremans. Prominent art historians, restorers, and experts in the technique of old masters have thoroughly studied six “Vermeers” and two “de Hoochs.” The researchers' arsenal included all kinds of technical means - x-rays, microchemical analysis, etc. Analysis of the threads showed that the canvas was old. X-rays, passing through the upper layers of the painting, revealed the remains of the old one, on top of which van Meegeren painted his fakes. X-ray revealed another circumstance: the craquelures of the lower and upper layers did not match. In other words, they arose in two clearly separated periods, and the material of painting in both cases was different. Even a superficial chemical analysis showed that the forger used ink, rubbing it into artificial craquelure, to give it a more “ancient” look. So, the painting material of the upper and lower layers was not the same, microchemical analysis explained what the difference was. The primary painting was painted, as befits the Dutch of the 17th century - in oil. Van Meegeren was afraid to use this technique. He knew that at the first test with alcohol, the fresh oil painting would dissolve and thereby reveal itself as a fake. And van Meegeren, who in all other respects adhered to the old technique, here retreated from it and used a modern binder - synthetic resin. It is not susceptible to the effects of alcohol, but it also does not dissolve in acids, and oil painting, even centuries ago, cannot withstand them, and if acids do not take the paint, then it is of modern origin. Thus, the forger was in any case trapped. To top it all off, chemical analysis of the dyes and resins found in van Meegeren's house and the analysis of the paint layer of the examined paintings indicated the identity of these materials. The creator of the fakes was identified, I note that this was a very complicated case, where a great professional, a subtle artist, an excellent connoisseur of old painting and a specialist in the field of art history took up the matter. And even in this case, the scientists did not have to use their entire arsenal of means... Finally, the commission announced its conclusion: all the paintings were executed by the artist of the mid-20th century - Han van Meegeren.
A few months later, on October 28, 1947, the trial of the forger began in the fourth chamber of the Amsterdam court.

The charge of collaboration was dropped against him; All that remained was the counterfeiting of works of art for the purpose of profit. The defendant pleaded guilty. On November 12, the verdict was announced: one year in prison. In his last word, van Meegeren asked the court to allow him to paint portraits in prison: now he has become more famous than ever, having commissioned more than enough. The convict did not look dejected, having escaped with such a very lenient punishment; he made big plans for the future. But these plans were never destined to come true. On December 30, 1947, Amsterdam prison inmate Han Antonius van Meegeren died suddenly of a broken heart...
Three years later, an auction was held at which the works of the “great forger,” as van Meegeren was called in the newspapers, were sold. "Christ among the teachers" went for three thousand guilders; the rest are fakes - up to three hundred guilders each...
Well, it seems like we can put an end to it, but the matter does not end there. The victims of the forger suffered enormous moral and material damage. The “masterpieces” in their collections lost value, and the reputation of art connoisseurs was greatly tarnished. Not everyone could come to terms with such consequences. Immediately after the death of van Meegeren, the collector van Beuningen initiates proceedings in a Belgian court against the main expert, Professor Paul Koremans, no arguments can convince van Beuningen, he wants to prove that at least two paintings - “Christ at Emmaus” and “The Last Supper” - belong to the brushes not of van Meegeren, but of John Vermeer of Delft. Actually, the scientific truth has already been established, and it is difficult to dispute it. However, all the time there are people trying to refute the conclusions of experts and the confession of van Weegeren himself, to whom delusions of grandeur are posthumously attributed. In 1949, P. Koremans published a book in Amsterdam: “Fake Vermeers and de Hooch van Meegeren.” In response to it, another book was published in Rotterdam: “Vermeer – van Meegeren. Return to the Truth.” But this “return to the truth,” an attempt to prove the authenticity of fake paintings turned out to be an attempt with unsuitable means. A. Lavacherie, author of the book “Vermeer - van Weegeren. Fake and Genuine” published in 1954, fully supported the point of view of Koremans and his colleagues.
In general, demand creates supply, and as long as art is treated as a means of making money, the products of such van Meegerens will always be in demand. In principle, if it were not for the recognition of the forger and his connection with the top officials of Nazi Germany, we might never have known about these forgeries. It’s curious, how many unsolved fakes are left, where the case did not have such a loud resonance?

Modern experts note that everything in van Meegeren’s works is thought out: the technology of painting, from the base to the topcoat, the style. In terms of fakes, these are truly masterpieces. Moreover, now the forger’s paintings themselves have considerable artistic and historical value.

In April 1996, a personal exhibition of works by Hans van Meegeren was held in Holland, where fake Vermeers were also exhibited.

GENIUS OF FAKE.

Natalia Golitsyna, London
“Every tenth painting of the 20th century is a fake”

The great forger John Myatt (pictured) shares the secrets of creating fake masterpieces

London's The Air Gallery hosted an exhibition of perhaps the most famous art forger, John Myatt. Experts accepted many of his forgeries as originals. The English artist sold his works through the London art dealer John Drew, who, in turn, forged certificates of authenticity. The international art market has been flooded with fake paintings by Monet, Matisse, Chagall, Picasso and other famous contemporary artists. Director of the New York Museum contemporary art Glen Lowry called Myatt's activities "one of the most massive cases of falsification in the history of painting." In the end, in 1999, John Myatt went to prison, but, having been released a year later, he continued to create skillful fakes, although now without deception. Having become famous, Myatt now receives a huge number of orders. An Ogonyok correspondent talks to a brilliant forger.

Mr. Myatt, how did it happen that you began to counterfeit paintings by famous artists?

My wife and I had two children. However, she left me with the children when one of them was three years old and the other one and a half. I had to look after and raise them myself. I tried to find some source of income while staying at home. I advertised in a magazine in which I wrote that I was offering “genuine fakes” of 19th and 20th century paintings for about £200. This seemed like a pretty easy way to make money, because usually most people are not averse to buying copies of works by Monet, Picasso and other artists. One fine day I received a call from a customer who introduced himself as Professor Dru. He started ordering me a lot of paintings. Moreover, their number was constantly growing. After I painted 14 or 15 paintings for him (and I must say that he understood little about art), he asked me what I would like to paint. I replied that I would like to paint several paintings in the style of little-known cubists. Having written them, I thought that this would be the end of our cooperation. However, two or three weeks later he came to see me and said that he had shown these Cubists to experts at Christie's or Sotheby's and he was told that they could sell them for 25 thousand pounds. Drew asked if I would be willing to receive £12,500 - half their value - if they were sold. I agreed. At that time it seemed like a good idea to me - a way out of poverty. That's how it all started for us, that's how I became a criminal. I painted painting after painting, and he sold them.

How did Professor Drew manage to obtain false certificates of authenticity for your forgeries?

The problem he encountered when he sold the first three or four paintings was that buyers wanted to know the history of these paintings, their past. And he began to create this story by working in archives and fabricating false certificates of authenticity. To do this, he found already closed galleries in London and inserted reproductions of my paintings into their supposed websites on his computer. So he demonstrated non-existent previous sales of paintings that I painted for him.

How many fakes have you managed to sell during all this time?

I would say about 250 - 300.

Why did you prefer to fake only modern paintings?

From the very beginning it was obvious that the more modern a painting is, the easier it is to invent its story. To do this, there was no need to go back into the depths of centuries. Now I paint pictures in the style of the masters of the 17th - 19th centuries, but at that time I did not do this. Simply because it was very difficult for John Drew to create a history of a two-hundred-year-old painting.

Both experienced experts and famous art critics could not distinguish your fakes from the original works of the artist you imitated? How do you explain this?

It is difficult for me to understand this, if only because I have never used authentic materials in my work and have never even painted in oil, but used quick-drying emulsion paints - the kind that are used to paint kitchens and bedrooms. I just can’t believe that when John Drew showed my paintings at auction houses, experts accepted them as originals. This is too surreal a situation for me.

So, are modern experts simply incompetent?

In some cases, they did notice the fake. But most of my paintings were passed as originals. The experts didn't like some of them, so John Dru suggested others. At that time - in the late 80s - the first half of the 90s - a boom in the art market was in full swing. Prices have skyrocketed. Many art dealers sought to acquire and sell popular paintings. To be honest, it's hard for me to explain all of this. It must be said that some experts were quite professional. I didn't offer them copies. At that time, as well as now, I studied the technique of a certain artist and painted a completely new picture in his style - be it Giacometti, Ben Nicholson or someone else. Of course, we tried to somehow age the painting, to give it a not very new look, by making craquelure, patina or using an old canvas. So at first or second glance the picture could deceive you.

Did you also forge the artist's signature?

Does this mean that contemporary painting is generally difficult to attribute?

Perhaps yes, it’s a bit difficult. Many contemporary artists are associated with galleries that publish catalogs of their work over a lifetime. These catalogs record all their work down to the last sketches. However, there are always paintings that seem to have “fell through a crack in the floor.”

Based on your experience, what do you think about the collections of modern paintings in large museums: what is the percentage of fakes there?

Of course, this is just a guess... I would say that between 10 and 20 percent of 20th century painting is not what it is claimed to be. I think that every tenth painting of the 20th century is a fake.

It is known that in prison they called you Picasso... Why? Were you able to paint while in prison?

In prison he was the only artist they had heard of. Picasso is one of the most famous artists, and that's why this nickname stuck to me. I didn't write in prison, but I drew a lot. Writing was forbidden, but I had pencils. A lot of time was spent on portraits and drawings; brushes were not allowed. I didn't even have a pencil sharpener. I had to go to the prison office to sharpen them. In England there are quite strict laws about what you can have in prison. It is possible that if I had served a long sentence, I would have been allowed to write.

Have you ever had to fake Russian painting?

I had to, but I can’t remember the names of the artists. I remember that John Drew was very interested in Russian artists. I remember that one of them was a Russian abstract painter.

Do you write now for yourself, just for fun?

Yes, I paint a lot of portraits. I love portraits. I don't write copies. Many people come and ask me to write a copy, but I refuse. This is a very boring activity that does not bring any pleasure. It is much more interesting to create another painting by Van Gogh, which he could have painted, but did not. Any artist can make a copy; I try not to do them.

How did your second creative period begin - after prison?

When I got out of prison, I decided that I would never paint again. But a few days later the policeman called, who at one time arrested me and sent me to prison. By the way, he sent me pencils in prison. He asked if I would agree to take an order for a portrait of him and his family, and offered me good money. He convinced me that I was a very good artist and that I should not give up painting just because I had made a mistake before. I painted a portrait of him with his wife and three children, and after that he introduced me to a lawyer who was interested in my case and was at the trial. He also commissioned a painting. Then two more lawyers involved in my trial ordered paintings. That's how it went. Television journalists visited me and interviewed me. After two or three months it became clear that there was a demand for my work. But thanks to this policeman I resumed painting. Without him, I wouldn't have started writing again.

Recently, an exhibition of your fakes was held in one of the London galleries...

I like to organize exhibitions every two or three years. Viewers come there who either buy or don’t buy my work. I think if you know that it's a fake, it's an amazing feeling. Many people often get lost when looking at a work of art; they need an expert to guide them. However, when you have a fake in front of you, you don't need an expert and have to rely on your own judgment. That's why I love what I do. Everyone knows that I create fakes.

I must say that some of my customers do not hide the fact that they have a fake hanging on their wall, but many do not want others to know that their Monet or Picasso was actually painted by me. They even ask me not to tell anyone about it. And this is also part of the pleasure I get.

Do you still find yourself passing off your fakes as original works by other artists?

I don't do this anymore. On back side The canvas of the paintings has my signature, and a special microchip is built into the canvas itself, which certifies that this is a fake. If you want to remove it, you will have to cut the canvas. At the same time he serves identification mark my works. In addition, all my works are registered. So, not only during my life, but also during the lives of my children, no one will be able to sell my paintings as originals by other artists. I tried to prevent this.

WHO WAS KILLED THE BIGGEST FORGER ERIC HIBBORN?

At the beginning of this year, at the age of 61, the most famous “expert” in forgery of paintings, Eric Hibborn, died in Rome under unclear circumstances. A world-famous painting forger was discovered last week with broken head in one of the Roman quarters, and died a few weeks later in the capital’s hospital.

Eric Hibborn left a legacy to his contemporaries of thousands of drawings, recognized by experts as “previously unknown” works by Bruegel, Piranesi, and Van Dyck. At the age of 24, Eric Hibborn was elected a full member of the Royal Society of Artists of Great Britain. This tall, large Englishman with a thick black beard spent the last 30 years of his life in Italy.

In his book “The Forger's Manual,” Eric Hibborn stated that he does not see anything reprehensible in this craft. “I am also an artist,” he said at the book launch, “and it’s not my fault if some art critics are unable to distinguish my works from the original.” At least 500 of his drawings, Hibborn said, are exhibited in private and public collections and galleries under the names of famous artists. He made them on paper taken from old books of that era, and made the primer and paints from the same materials that the real authors used.

SOVIET COPYISTS WERE NOT INCLUDED IN THE GUINNESS BOOK OF RECORDS

Probably no other country (except, perhaps, China) can boast so much “applied” painting, which in an incredible number of copies decorated the public places of the former Soviet empire. From monumental palaces of congresses and culture, from regional and district committees, to hospitals, schools, kindergartens, hotels and military registration and enlistment offices - everything was decorated with copies of paintings. In addition to the very official “factories” of decorative and applied arts, there was also a huge number of craft, sometimes semi-underground artels, which were engaged in the same copying (as well as the production of sculptures and interior design in the spirit of the time, but to the taste of the customer) in the Russian and All-Union outback.

The amount of copied painting in the 20s - 80s of our century in the USSR is incalculable. Probably, we need to talk about hundreds of thousands or millions of individual, “handmade” copies, which have always been valued higher and more expensive than any reproductions.

At one time, Pavel Tretyakov, by special order, prohibited the work of copyists within the walls of his gallery.

Fakes. Pitfalls of the antique market
“In an atmosphere filled with excitement, in an environment where art is only a screen covering other activities, only a mask hiding the real face, a phenomenon should arise that follows naturally and logically from here. Counterfeits are a long-standing evil of the art market, but never before have they turned into such a scourge of humanity as they have become in our time, for never has the temptation to counterfeit been so great as at today’s dizzying market prices.”

The history of forgeries is closely connected with the history of great collections

At first glance, it may seem that the statement that we took as an epigraph belongs to our contemporary: it sounds too relevant. However, these words were written in 1928 by academician of painting I.E. Grabar in his essay “The Counterfeit Epidemic”. Thus, 80 years ago the problems of falsification of paintings were as acute as they are now. True, then counterfeits were not the main reason for sensations and escalation of the situation in the antique market, as is the case now.

It is no coincidence that today numerous television and radio programs, newspaper and magazine publications are devoted to this topic. Moreover: two volumes of the “Catalog of Forgeries of Paintings” have been published, around which controversy among art critics and art dealers has not subsided for several months. So much is said and written about counterfeits that even to an inexperienced person it is clear: to the modern artistic and expert community this problem seems to be one of the most complex and acute.

Because of all this hype, a person taking his first steps into the antiques market may feel that collecting antique paintings is too risky. These fears are picked up by gallerists and art dealers, and inflated into a kind of “horror story”; and in order to insure against counterfeiting, these figures advise buying contemporary art (which is what they mainly sell). But if you look at the situation with a calm eye and try to understand the problem without excitement, you can understand that fakes are a completely natural phenomenon and an invariable companion of the art market. They are characteristic of him, just as the shadow is characteristic of every object. In order to understand the essence of the problem, it is necessary, as always, to turn to the history of art, an integral part of which is the history of forgeries works of art.

“The world wants to be deceived” - these words from Sebastian Brant’s book “Ship of Fools,” written at the end of the 15th century, could become an epigraph not only to the history of falsification, but also to the history of scams in any field of human activity. As we will see later, people prefer to turn a blind eye even to fully proven facts of fakes.

The first mention of forgeries dates back to the 15th century. Even during the life of Albrecht Durer, numerous copyists repeated the paintings of the great Nuremberg artist and put his monograms on them. And the Austrian Archduke Leopold Wilhelm acquired 68 Dürer fakes, considering them to be originals. But still, these were still only isolated cases. Great artists also dabbled in counterfeiting masterpieces of the past. In previous reviews, we have already written about Michelangelo, who made “ancient sculpture,” or about Raphael, who painted under Perugino. However, these were nothing more than jokes of geniuses. Counterfeiters showed their true scope only in the 17th century, when the trade in counterfeits acquired the size of a real industry.

Thus, the Dutch antiquarian Uhlenborch organized an entire workshop where young artists, in accordance with their taste and abilities, were engaged in writing works of “Dutch” and “Italian” painting. This clever businessman in 1671 sold 13 paintings by “Italian masters” to the Elector of Brandenburg. And what’s interesting: when the fake was discovered, a heated sport ensued between fifty (!) experts. Some declared the paintings fake, others claimed that they were originals. As the reader will be able to see later, this plot has been repeated many times in history; the same thing happens today.

Forgers responded quickly to all the trends and needs of the art market. For example, when Rembrandt regained popularity in the second half of the 18th century, “rediscovered works by Rembrandt” immediately appeared in abundance. In the 19th century, paintings by small Dutchmen were in particular demand. Then almost all German artists began to work in this manner. At the same time, they imitated it so accurately that even today, with a huge arsenal of technical means, it is possible to distinguish a fake only by the condition of the base, the canvas, the type of wood, and the chemical composition of the paints.

The history of forgeries is closely connected with the history of great collections. Suffice it to remember that our famous compatriot Pavel Tretyakov assembled his first collection from such “little Dutchmen”. When it turned out that all these were fakes, Tretyakov turned to collecting Russian paintings, and bought only paintings by his contemporaries, as they say, “from under the brush.” Modern art dealers often appeal to his example; but we note that it was much easier for the founder of the Tretyakov Gallery to navigate the world of art than for modern collectors. At that time, the criteria of artistic quality had not yet been violated or distorted, and powerful PR campaigns had not been carried out that could “fashion” a genius of contemporary art out of a person who did not have at least a small amount of talent and skill.

However, let's continue our excursion. In 1909, the director of the Berlin Museum, Wilhelm Bode, purchased for the Emperor Friedrich's museum a wax sculpture "Flora", recognized as an original by Leonardo da Vinci. A huge sum for those times was paid for it - 150,000 marks. Some time after the purchase, a number of articles appeared in London newspapers, which proved that, under the guise of the original, Bode bought a statue made in the 19th century by the English sculptor Richard Lucas. Lucas's 80-year-old son made a statement to the newspaper, confirming that "Flora" was sculpted by his father. Moreover, Lucas Jr. indicated the painting from which his father sculpted this masterpiece. German museum workers responded that the old man was “out of his mind,” and that in England in the 19th century there could not have appeared an artist capable of even remotely approaching the great Leonardo. Then one of Richard Lucas's students spoke in print. He confirmed that Lucas sculpted “Flora” from a painting by one of da Vinci’s students, an artist named Luini. This painting was found; a comparison of the canvas and the statue showed that the similarity between them is undeniable. Copying the shape of the head, Lucas even sculpted two roses to the left of the parting in the goddess's hair. And then Lucas the son found a photograph of “Flora” taken during his father’s lifetime. It clearly showed both of the statue's completely untouched hands, as well as the clean, smooth surface of the wax. On the statue Bode bought, the hands were damaged, and the wax darkened and looked very old. But the main evidence was the presence of a piece of newspaper from 1846 inside one of the layers of the sculpture. However, even after this, most German museum experts refused to recognize the fake. But Lucas became a celebrity. A monograph with his works was published, which stated that in his sculptural work he often reworked the motifs of paintings by great masters - Rembrandt, Dürer and others.

The next wave of counterfeits occurred in the years after the First World War. At the end of the 1920s. European and American museums were seriously alarmed by the discovery of a number of fakes. Thus, the Metropolitan Museum acquired a “rare archaic Hellenic figurine” in Venice from antiquarians Fazolli and Palesi. When, to clarify the dating, museum experts tried to find out from the sellers the history of the discovery of this statue, the latter could not clearly explain where it came from. This aroused suspicion, and the museum's management commissioned the famous archaeologist Marshall (an American permanently living in Rome) to conduct an investigation. Marshall, however, was in no hurry. He decided: since the sculpture was sold for a very impressive amount, success would undoubtedly give inspiration to the authors of the scam. So he simply returned to Rome and waited, and his guess was soon confirmed. The museum was asked to purchase the tombstone of Italian Renaissance sculptor Mino da Fiesole for $300,000. A comparison of the “Hellenic figurine” and this tombstone strengthened Marshall’s doubts, since in both cases the artistic style and manner of working the marble were similar. The techniques of breaking and crushing stone were similar in order to give the works more ancient looking. In addition, Marshall also noticed one interesting feature, which is, in principle, characteristic of all masters of falsification of works of art. The author's pride prevented the sculptor from making breaks and losses of marble in places that were the most spectacular and successful in a purely artistic sense. However, Marshall did not have time to unwind the entire criminal chain, as he soon died. And by this time, the Detroit Museum of Fine Arts alone had acquired another “ancient Greek statue” of the same author for $110,000, and a “bas-relief of Donatello” for $200,000. Despite the fact that Marshall during his lifetime questioned the authenticity of 10 fake statues, experts were in no hurry to admit the fact of falsification. Some considered them originals, others, like Marshall, were convinced that they were fakes. And, as happens quite often, the artist himself, the author of the fakes, exposed the scam. It turned out to be the unknown Neapolitan sculptor Alceo Dossena. Need forced him to reveal the truth. The fact is that the clever antique dealers for whom Dossena made his sculptures paid him mere pennies, enough only to survive. And when the sculptor’s wife (he was already well over 50) died, he simply had nothing to bury her with. Having turned to his patrons Fasolli and Palesi, he was refused on the grounds that the money they owed him for his work had long been paid. Thus, with their greed they simply signed their own death sentence. The sculptor had nothing to lose, and he contacted a young art historian who was serving in the Italian embassy in Washington. Through him, Dossena made public the story of his collaboration with Fasolli and Palesi. This is how many dozens of “brilliant sculptures” were discovered, long years admired not only the ordinary public, but also recognized experts. There was even a personal exhibition of Dossena, where both his original works and his fakes were presented. The public was delighted, and the opinions of art critics were divided. Some recognized him as a brilliant sculptor, others condemned him for his lack of individuality, secondary nature and monotony of manner. But, as they say, hindsight makes all the difference.

This dramatic story clearly shows that the main criminals in the art market are not forger artists, but those who directly sell works of art - antique dealers, gallery owners, art dealers. It is they who own 80% of the ideas for creating fakes, and they are the ones who get the fattest “pieces of the pie”, from which artists get only pitiful crumbs.

One of the places where you can check a painting for authenticity is the “Scientific Research Expertise named after P. M. Tretyakov” (NINE). “We process more than a hundred paintings and other works of art per month. About 50-60% turn out to be not genuine,” said Alexander Popov, director of the company.

The easiest way to fake paintings is refacing. To do this, they take an old, but not very valuable painting, erase the signature of the real artist and sign it with the name of the famous master. This, for example, is a popular method of faking Aivazovsky’s paintings - which of his colleagues and contemporaries did not paint the sea?

Another type of fakes are those that are created from scratch. To prevent a fake from being determined by the age of the canvas, scammers remove paint from old paintings and paint on the canvas again.

The third type is works erroneously attributed to one or another author. “This is mainly connected with all sorts of family legends. There is a picture hanging on the wall from the time of my great-grandfather; someone once decided that it was Polenov or Aivazovsky. No one forged it on purpose, it was just a mistake,” Popov explained.

How to detect a fake

When a painting is submitted for examination, it is first examined by a specialist who studies the author’s work. Some paintings are eliminated already at this stage. If there is a chance that the painting turns out to be genuine, the research continues.

Thus, refacing can be identified by examining the artist’s signature under a microscope. Over time, cracks form in the painting - craquelure. If the signature has already been applied to an old painting, the fresh paint of the signature flows into the cracks and this can be seen under a microscope.

You can see the “understanding” of a painting without spoiling it using X-rays, as well as in infrared and ultraviolet light. This makes it possible to identify preparatory drawings or traces of restoration.

For example, it is known that Aivazovsky, while working on a painting, usually drew a horizon line with a pencil. If a painting is attributed to Aivazovsky and such a line is found under a layer of paint, this is one of the arguments in favor of the authenticity of the painting. You can see such lines using an infrared camera. It reacts to graphite, which allows you to see the preparatory drawing and all sorts of half-erased pencil inscriptions.

“An important part of the study is comparing x-rays of the work under study with x-rays of works by the same artist, which are definitely authentic,” Popov said.

If the painting is fake, examining the layers hidden under the top layer of paint can help reveal the fake. This, for example, happened with a painting attributed to the artist Marevna, which was examined by the NINE.

The artist emigrated from Russia shortly before the revolution, lived in Paris, then in England. They tried to pass off the painting as Marevna’s work from the 1930s. However, an X-ray study revealed a Soviet poster under the still life with fragments of the inscription “Peace. Work. May" and pigeons. It is unlikely that a European artist could have painted a picture on a Soviet poster.

What are paints made of?

A fake can also be identified by the composition of the paints. There are reference books that indicate when which paint was released. Thanks to this, you can at least roughly determine when the picture was painted.

“There is an interesting story that helped us date several paintings. In 1921, they stopped producing a paint called “Indian yellow”. It was obtained from the urine of cows that were fed mango leaves. They are poisonous to cows, and in the end its release was banned as too cruel,” said Alexander Popov.

You can determine what colors a painting is painted with using spectroscopy. For example, you can find out a list of all the chemical elements that make up a sample, but without indicating their quantity.

“Let our sample consist of titanium (Ti) and oxygen (O). But if you only know a list of elements, it is almost impossible to “make” a real substance out of them,” explained Irina Balakhnina, an employee of the Laboratory of Laser Diagnostics of Biomolecules and Photonics Methods in the Study of Cultural Heritage Objects of the Physics Faculty of Moscow State University.

You can use spectroscopy to find out how many elements are contained in a sample. “Let us have one Ti and two O. It turns out TiO 2. This substance is titanium dioxide IV. Or we could get Ti 2 O 5 - titanium oxide V. But even this is not enough (especially if there are a lot of elements). You need to know how these elements are related to each other. That is, to understand what connections there are and how they are located among themselves,” the scientist said.
Finally, information can be obtained about the structures of molecules and the bonds of atoms within them. The sample under study (TiO 2) may be in one of three crystal structures: rutile, anatase or brookite. Their composition is the same, but the Ti - O bond can be located differently in space. Therefore, their spectra will be very different from each other.

“Thanks to this, we can easily determine what kind of substance is in front of us. For example, it turned out to be rutile. What can this give us? Titanium oxide is titanium white, a commonly found white paint. It is known that until the 1940s, titanium white was produced in a crystalline modification - anatase. And then mostly in the form of rutile. We can identify a fake if we took a sample from a painting that “should be from the 18th century,” Balakhnina explained.

Vibrational spectroscopy is used to analyze works of art. “To obtain data on vibrations, there are two main methods based on different physical effects - Raman spectroscopy and infrared spectroscopy. We do both in the laboratory,” said the researcher.

Besides art examination, vibrational spectroscopy has a huge number of applications. Thus, the use of infrared spectroscopy data makes it possible to establish the speed of their movement, distance and chemical composition. On the orbital module of the ExoMars project, IR spectrometers are designed to study the chemical composition of the Martian atmosphere.

On Earth, vibrational spectroscopy is also often used in forensic science, as it can detect drugs, explosives, body fluids and other substances even in microscopic quantities.

“There are thousands of databases of vibrational spectra of various substances. By comparing the spectrum of the sample with the spectra from the base, you can determine the composition of any paint. In addition to the pigment - powder - the paint includes a binder base. In watercolors it is water, in oil paints it is oil: from vegetable to synthetic. The paint spectrum consists of a pigment spectrum and an oil spectrum. Each oil also has its own spectrum,” said Balakhnina.

When drying, the molecular composition of the oil changes, so the spectrum also changes, but, unfortunately, it is impossible to determine from the spectrum how long the oil has been drying, and thus accurately dating the painting. Laboratory staff analyzed the IR spectra of zinc white in more than two hundred paintings painted in different time, the authenticity of which was not in doubt. However, it turned out that it was impossible to construct a curve of the spectrum depending on the age of the painting, because drying is affected not only by time, but also by the storage conditions of the paintings (temperature, humidity, etc.).

Where do fakes come from?

“Many fake paintings come from Western auctions. In addition to the well-known Sotheby’s and Christie’s, there are a huge number of local auctions in Europe and America,” explained Popov.

There is no examination at such auctions, and return rules are often specific. For example, if an item turns out to be counterfeit, it is accepted back only within a week, or even not accepted at all. Participation in such auctions is the lot of professionals. An amateur at such an event has every chance of buying a fake.

“The collection of museums such as the Tretyakov Gallery is often formed from old collections that were collected during the artists’ lifetime. Therefore, in principle, there cannot be fake things there,” Popov said.

Counterfeits or misattributed items most often end up in museums as gifts. Some collector decides to donate the paintings he has collected to the museum. They came to him from different sources, and some of them may be fake or erroneously attributed to famous artists. The museum cannot refuse part of the collection, saying: “Thank you for this, but we don’t need that,” for purely human reasons.

“Then museum workers conduct research and reject things that are not worth exhibiting. All this is stored somewhere in the funds, because everyone understands everything, but it is impossible to throw them away. Moreover, museums usually do not have room for a huge number of impeccably authentic paintings and often only 5% of the entire collection is exhibited,” Popov explained.

As a rule, very talented but unlucky artists, whose independent work for some reason is of no interest to anyone, decide to falsify paintings.

Another thing is the eternally living classics of fine art, whose famous names add value to even the most insignificant things. How can one miss such an opportunity and not make money by replicating their limitless talent?

The heroes of this article, who became famous as amazing art falsifiers of the 20th–21st centuries, reasoned in a similar way.

Han van Meegeren

At the beginning of the twentieth century, this Dutch painter made a fortune from skillfully imitating paintings by Pieter de Hooch and Jan Vermeer. In terms of current exchange rates, van Megeren earned about thirty million dollars from counterfeits. His most famous and profitable painting is “Christ at Emmaus,” created after a number of quite successful paintings in the style of Vermeer.

However, more interesting story from “Christ and the Judges” - another “Vermeer” painting, the buyer of which was Hermann Goering himself. However, this fact turned out to be a symbol of recognition and collapse for van Meegeren at the same time. The American military, who studied the property of the Reichsmarshal after his death, quickly established the identity of the seller of such a valuable canvas. The Dutch authorities accused the artist of collaboration and selling the cultural property of the nation.

However, van Megeren immediately admitted to making counterfeits, for which he received only one year in prison. Unfortunately, one of the most famous counterfeiters of the twentieth century died of a heart attack a month after the verdict was announced.

Elmir de Hory

This Hungarian artist is one of the most successful masters of art falsification in history. After the end of World War II and until the end of the 1960s, de Hory was able to sell thousands of fake paintings, passing them off as original works by Pablo Picasso, Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse, Amedeo Modigliani and Pierre Renoir. Sometimes de Hory forged not only paintings, but also catalogues, illustrating them with photographs of his forgeries.

However, twenty years after the start of his career, de Hory was forced to stop making counterfeits. The fraudulent essence of his activities was revealed with the participation of the American oil tycoon Algur Meadows, who filed a lawsuit against de Hory and his representative Fernand Legros. As a result, de Hory switched to creating his own paintings, which became very popular after his death in 1976.

Interestingly, some supposedly independent works by de Hory, sold at auctions for substantial money, also aroused suspicion among experts about their true origin.

Tom Keating

Self-taught English artist and restorer Thomas Patrick Keating spent years selling superb copies of Pieter Bruegel, Jean-Baptiste Chardin, Thomas Gainsborough, Peter Rubens and other famous masters of the brush to art dealers and wealthy collectors. During his work, Keating produced over two thousand fakes, which were distributed to many galleries and museums.

Keating was a supporter of socialism, and therefore considered the modern art system “rotten and vicious.” Protesting against American avant-garde fashion, greedy traders and corrupt critics, Keating deliberately allowed minor flaws and anachronisms, and also made sure to write “fake” before applying paint to the canvas.

In the late 1970s, Keating gave an interview to The Times magazine, revealing the truth about his craft. The impending prison sentence was avoided only due to health reasons and the artist’s sincere confession. Subsequently, Tom Keating wrote a book and even participated in the filming of television programs about art.

Wolfgang Beltracchi

One of the most original art falsifiers is German artist Wolfgang Beltracchi. The main source of inspiration for him were such avant-garde and expressionists as Max Ernst, Andre Lot, Kees van Dongen, Heinrich Campendonck and others. At the same time, Wolfgang wrote not only trivial copies, but also created new masterpieces in the style of the above-mentioned authors, which were later exhibited at leading auctions.

Beltracchi's most successful counterfeit is Max Ernst's The Forest. The quality of work made a huge impression not only on the former head National Center art and culture named after Georges Pompidou, where the work of Ernst is the main specialization, but also for the widow of the famous artist. As a result, the painting was sold for almost two and a half million dollars, and a little later it was rebought for seven million for the collection of the famous French publisher Daniel Filipacci.

During his career, Beltracchi forged, according to various estimates, from fifty to three hundred paintings, in the sale of which his wife Elena and her sister Jeannette helped him. In 2011, they all went to trial together: Beltracchi received six years in prison, his wife - four years, her sister - only a year and a half.

Pei-Shen Qian

Chinese artist Pei-Shen Qian began his career in his homeland with portraits of the sun-faced Mao Zedong. After immigrating to the United States in the early 1980s, Qian primarily sold his art on the streets of Manhattan. However, a few years later, Pei-Shen met enterprising art dealers, which changed his life forever. Fake Jackson Pollock by Pei-Shen Qian

Many years later, the deception was exposed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. According to competent sources, Qian and his accomplices, using the services of front companies, earned about eighty million dollars from copies of paintings.

How to distinguish a fake from a masterpiece?

The most interesting thing is that the main character of this scam still managed to escape punishment! While Diaz and Angel were preparing for prison terms, Qian, along with thirty million dollars, safely disappeared into the vastness of his native China, from where, as is known, their citizens are not handed over to the clutches of someone else’s justice.

At the moment, Pei-Shen Qian is well over 70, and he continues to do what he loves.
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In times of crisis Essential goods are becoming the most popular, and the number of counterfeits of everything from expensive bags to Swiss cheese is inevitably growing. We are already talking about how the first fakes came into being, how artisans and large corporations fought against them, and how fakes changed society’s attitude towards luxury. Now we have turned to the official “hit parade” of the most counterfeited brands in the world, which can be considered an unspoken rating of their popularity. A similar report is published annually by the World Customs Organization and, as is customary, talks about statistics for the previous year. Armed with it, we tell you why millions of people are so eager to own things from these brands, even if there is no money for the originals.

Text: Elina Chebbocha

Nike

While Nike's top spot on the list of most counterfeit brands may not be the most welcome compliment, it is worth noting that counterfeiters consider it the most important sports brand - far more important than adidas, which is fifth on the list of counterfeit brands. Despite the huge amount of counterfeits, original Nikes are hugely popular in North America and Europe, and the company announced total revenues rose to $8 billion, an increase of $1 billion over last year. Which Nike product is the most counterfeit is anyone's guess, but eBay is chock full of instructions on how to tell the real AirForce 1s from the fake ones. What can I say - producers who break the law really have good taste.

Apple

Based on the number of cases, Apple is the second most counterfeited brand for the second year in a row. If you analyze search queries on Google, it turns out that the peak search for fake brand products was in July 2011, a couple of months after the release of the iPad 2 and at the peak of the iPhone 4’s dominance in the smartphone market. The only product that overtook the fake iPhone in search engine popularity was Beats by Dre headphones, and they did this for almost two years. However, after Apple acquired Beats Electronics for $3 billion in May of this year, the search for fake headphones began to decline, which may be due to both the declining popularity of Beats by Dre and the release of the new iPhone.

Rolex

Fake Rolex watches seem to be even more popular than real ones, although the latter are still considered a necessary accessory to show off financial condition their owner. Although the company produces approximately a million watches each year, each with an individual certificate issued by a Swiss institute, Southeast Asian counterfeiters sell about 40 million fake Rolexes each year. This variation is explained by the price: real watches are sold in the price range from several thousand dollars to infinity, and fake ones - from 10 to 50 dollars apiece. As a result, Rolex suffers huge losses, approaching one billion dollars annually.

Samsung

Last year, Samsung surpassed Apple and Nokia (which, by the way, were in second place) in total smartphone sales, and, accordingly, secretly provoked an increase in the production of counterfeit smartphones from the South Korean company. This year, Samsung sold 11 million of its new Galaxy S5 smartphone and, despite strong sales of this phone, lost 10 percent of the market due to increasing competition from the Chinese company Huawei, Apple's aggressive policies and, of course, counterfeit manufacturers. Again, it’s purely a matter of price: the era of expensive smartphones is coming to an end, and most buyers are not ready to exchange one $700 smartphone for another from the same company every year. A counterfeit Samsung smartphone can be found on the market for $150–170.

adidas

The eternal rivalry between adidas and Nike was won dry by Nike this year - both in official sales (due to the World Cup, where 10 teams played in Nike uniforms), and in counterfeit sales, where adidas is behind Nike by four places. However, unlike Nike, adidas cannot boast of an increase in sales, since they lose a lot of money due to counterfeits and, accordingly, close rather than open retail outlets that are suspected of selling counterfeits. Due to the particular popularity of adidas Originals among celebrities, who serve as role models for many people, as well as weaker lawyers, adidas' sales are declining every year. Take, for example, an English store, whose owner, using eBay and his premises, sold counterfeit adidas worth 142 thousand pounds, which at the current exchange rate is 14.5 million rubles.

Louis Vuitton

Things from the Louis Vuitton brand are also considered an indicator of the status of its owner, and this is especially true for women who strive to have at least one accessory from a famous brand in their wardrobe. Of the entire list of counterfeit goods seized annually, almost 20% are Louis Vuitton. Although the company has had to deal with lawyers, the status of the brand only increases the number of counterfeits produced, and due to the annual increase in the price of sold accessories, it does not allow real LV to compete with counterfeits. The top Louis Vuitton fakes are headed by the brand's bags, which they have learned to make as similar to the original as possible, as a result of which a myriad of guidelines have appeared on how to distinguish the real thing from the cheap one.

Chanel

The French Chanel, although not at the top of the list of the most counterfeited goods, definitely surpasses many brands in terms of the number of counterfeit hits. They include world-famous wallets and bags (their replicas can be sold for two thousand dollars), as well as, of course, Chanel No. 5 perfume. According to statistics, every third Chanel No. 5 sold in the world is a fake, and real perfumes are sold every thirty seconds, bringing the company $100 million a year. Unfortunately, counterfeit goods are often sold in large shopping centers, since not all buyers know that the price of original perfume starts at $74, and they buy a fake one at a price from 15 to 30 dollars, which is also a lot at the current exchange rate.

Cialis

Pharmaceutical products lead all other counterfeit products, ahead of electronics and cigarettes combined: in 2013 alone, the number of counterfeit drugs intercepted was half a billion. The worst thing is that the most counterfeited medicine in the world has become the anti-impotence drug Cialis, which in the USA is dispensed in pharmacies only by prescription, but in our country is freely available. The company itself, of course, is aware of the existing problem and even posted a warning on its website along with instructions on how to distinguish the original from the fake. Alas, despite the measures taken, the market for counterfeit drugs for the treatment of potency problems is rapidly gaining momentum in India, which produces most fake medicine. In addition, counterfeit Cialis can aggravate existing problems, as it contains pesticides, lead and mercury. You should purchase the famous Viagra with the same caution - the popularity of these miracle pills among counterfeiters is only slightly inferior to the volume of counterfeits of Cialis.

Gucci

Gucci bags, Gucci belts and sunglasses Gucci instantly gives away a person who has come to success. Therefore, it will not be difficult to hang yourself with counterfeit accessories, since the popularity and status of the brand provokes replica manufacturers from Asia to instantly make a stand. Moreover, the company fails to achieve justice from the point of view of the law: Gucci and Tiffany recently lost a case in an American court, trying to prohibit Chinese banks from holding money from established counterfeit manufacturers.

Forgery of works of art today is a developed industry in which billions of dollars are circulated annually. The potential profit is high, and many fakes remain undetected. But history also knows such counterfeiters who worked “on a grand scale” and became world-famous famous personalities. They will be discussed in our review.

1. Elmyr de Hory

Elmir de Hory is an artist of Hungarian origin who became famous as one of the most famous art forgers. His works are still exhibited in many museums, and curators believe that these paintings were created by great masters. In 1947, the artist moved from Hungary to New York, where he found a very good income. His own paintings were never successful, while his detailed copies of paintings by other artists sold almost immediately.

De Hory began passing off his copies as original paintings and this continued until 1967, when a huge scandal broke out in the art world. It took so long for the forgeries to be noticed because De Hory paid close attention to the smallest details. Over the course of his career, he sold thousands of counterfeits.

2. Eli Sakhai

Eli Sakhai's career as an art forger brought to light the worst aspect of the art world: many knew there was something wrong with the "original" paintings, but no one was willing to report the problem. Paintings by fairly well-known artists are often resold without checking their authenticity. This is exactly what the unscrupulous art dealer Sakhai took advantage of, who bought original paintings, after which he ordered copies of them (who made the fakes is unknown to this day) and sold them as originals. Moreover, he often sold the same painting (of course, different copies) to different clients.

3. Otto Wacker

Today, Vincent van Gogh's works regularly sell for millions of dollars at auction, and Van Gogh himself has been recognized as one of the world's greatest artists. In fact, his paintings were so valuable that a German named Otto Wacker was able to orchestrate a major scam involving Van Gogh's works in 1927.

When Wacker announced that he had 33 works by van Gogh, dealers lined up. Over the next five years, a number of experts, curators and dealers studied these paintings, and Wacker was convicted of forgery only in 1932. It took so long to analyze because Wacker used latest developments in the field of chemistry in creating counterfeits. 6 paintings were even recognized as originals.

4. Pei-Shen Qian

Pei-Shen Qian arrived in America in 1981. For the better part of a decade, he was a little-known artist who sold his paintings in Manhattan. His career began innocently enough: in his homeland, China, he painted portraits of Chairman Mao. That all changed in the late 1980s, when Spanish art dealers José Carlos Bergantiños Díaz and his brother Jesus Angel noticed the rare detail in Pei-Shen Qian's paintings. After that, they began to order copies of famous paintings from him, and Jose Carlos bought only old canvases and old paint at flea markets, and also artificially aged the paintings using tea bags. In the 1990s, the scheme was discovered, the Bergantiños Diaz brothers were convicted, and Pei-Shen Qian fled to China with millions of dollars.

5. John Myatt

Like many other forgers, John Myatt was a talented artist who could not sell his own paintings. In the 1980s, Myatt's wife left him, and he was left with two children. To support them, the artist decided to start painting fakes. Moreover, he did it in a very original way - Myatt advertised in the newspaper about the creation of “genuine fakes of paintings of the 19-20 centuries for £ 250.” These forgeries were so good that they attracted the attention of John Drewe, an art dealer who became Myatt's partner. As a result, Myatt sold more than 200 paintings over the next seven years, some for more than $150,000. Later, Drewe's ex-girlfriend accidentally let it slip and Myatt was convicted. After Myatt was released from prison, he began a new career at Scotland Yard, where he teaches counterfeit detection.

6. Wolfgang Beltracchi

Wolfgang Beltracchi lived in a $7 million villa in Freiburg, Germany, near the Black Forest. While the house was being built, he lived with his wife in the penthouse of a luxury hotel. Beltracchi could afford this lifestyle because he was, according to experts, the most successful art forger in history. For most of his life, Beltracchi was an ordinary hippie who traveled between Amsterdam and Morocco and smuggled drugs.

His ability to copy paintings by famous masters showed up quite early: he once shocked his mother by painting a copy of a Picasso painting in one day. Wolfgang was self-taught, which is especially remarkable given his ability to imitate a variety of styles. He skillfully copied old masters, surrealists, modernists, and artists of any school. The most prestigious auction houses in the world, such as Sotheby's and Christie's, sold his works for six-zero sums. One of his paintings, a Max Ernst fake, sold for $7 million in 2006. Only 14 of his paintings were mentioned in the indictment, for which Wolfgang earned a staggering $22 million.

In 2001, Kenneth Walton, Scott Beach, and Kenneth Fetterman created 40 fake eBay accounts and worked together to inflate the prices of the art they auctioned off. They did it with more than 1,100 lots and earned more than $450,000. It was their greed that killed them - the scammers sold the fake Diebenkorn painting for more than $100,000.

8. Spanish painting forger

Unlike other scammers on this list, the Spanish counterfeiter was never caught. Nothing is known about him - not his personality, not his motives, not even his ethnicity. No one knows how long he worked or how many fakes he made. In 1930, the work of a Spanish forger was first discovered when Count Umberto Gnoli offered to sell a painting entitled The Betrothal of Saint Ursula to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for £30,000. Believing that the painting was created in 1450 by maestro Jorge Inglés, Gnoli had it examined. Because Inglés was a Spanish artist, the person who painted the forgery was called the "Spanish forger." By 1978, William Vaucle, an associate curator at the Morgan Library, had collected 150 forgeries attributed to a Spanish forger. It is generally accepted that he did most of his work at the turn of the 20th century.

9. Fake Portrait of Mary Todd Lincoln

For many years, the iconic portrait of Mary Todd Lincoln hung in the Governor's House in Springfield, Illinois. It was allegedly painted in 1864 by Francis Carpenter as a gift from Mary Todd to her husband Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln's descendants discovered the painting in 1929, purchased it for several thousand dollars, and donated it to the governor's mansion in 1976. It hung there for 32 years until it was sent for cleaning. It was then that it was discovered that the painting was a fake. As a result, it was established that the portrait was painted by the swindler Lew Bloom.

The Medum Geese is one of the most iconic paintings in Egypt and has been dubbed the "Egyptian Mona Lisa". Discovered in the tomb of Pharaoh Nefermaat, the frieze painting was allegedly painted between 2610 and 2590 BC. "Medum geese" were considered one of greatest works art of that era due to its high quality and level of detail. Unfortunately, experts have recently suggested that this may be a hoax.

Researcher Francesco Tiradritti, who is also director of the Italian archaeological mission in Egypt, said after a detailed examination of the artifact that there is irrefutable evidence that the painting is a fake. He believes that "Geese" was painted in 1871 by Luigi Vassalli (who was the first to allegedly discover the frieze).