An article in Barron’s this week notes the number of fake artworks in the marketplace today, and precautions collectors may take to prevent acquiring such works, including a set time frame for independent evaluation of a work before money changes hands.  “It’s an effective way to assess the good faith of the gallery or dealer,” says James Martin, a trusted researcher who worked for years researching and evaluating claims of faked art. “And if they won’t agree to that, you have to scratch your head and ask why.” (more…)

A major ring of forgers focused on Old Masters works has been uncovered in Spain, with over 27 pieces priced to sell for over €1.2 million confiscated in the city of Castellón.  The works varied widely in quality, including a number of Goya etchings which were, in fact, photocopies of the artist’s work.   (more…)

John Myatt, the famous forger who spent years behind bars for his fraudulent versions of works by Monet and other artists, is interviewed this week in The Independent, and comments on the state of fraud investigations in the current art landscape.  “The art industry has been nodding through paintings with extremely dubious histories,” he says. “It’s been colluding with galleries and auction houses for 50 to 60 years and I know the Police Art & Antiques Unit even went to one museum with evidence of fraud and they weren’t interested – they said they were happy that the contagion [of fakes] had now been removed from their archives.” (more…)

Newly released documents in a civil court case against Ann Freedman have shown that one of the forged Jackson Pollock paintings purchased by the former Knoedler Gallery director herself had misspelled that name of the artist as “Pollok.”  “Freedman, Knoedler and their so-called ‘experts’ claim not to have seen forgeries even when it was literally (mis)spelled out for them,” lawyer John Cahill quipped in an email to the New York Times. (more…)

As art theft market experts gather at a three day symposium at New York University from June 4-6 to discuss the 3rd largest crime enterprise in the world, Bloomberg Television notes the current $6 billion value of the art theft market, in relation to the $200 billion global art market. Cases of art thefts costing hundreds of millions of dollars date back to 1990, with daring attempts dotting the history books. “I’ve heard stories of a helicopter coming and zooming down and taking statues out of a garden,” Steel reports.

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A new lawsuit in the ongoing Knoedler Gallery investigation has drawn Swiss art historian and curator Oliver Wick of the Kunsthaus Zurich into the fray, holding him allegedly responsible for the sale of a $7.2 million forged Rothko to casino owner Frank J. Fertitta III.  Wick was paid a $300,000 consulting fee by the Gallery for his opinion that the work was original, and also showed the piece at the Beyeler Foundation in Basel, Switzerland, where he was working at the time. (more…)

The Guardian takes a look at the faked and forged paintings often accepted as real works by master artists, and the conditions that produce these falsely attributed works.  “There’s lots going on, from academic incompetence to really dirty stuff,” says Oxford professor Martin Kemp. “Documentation, scientific analysis and judgment by eye are used – and ignored – opportunistically in ways that suit each advocate, who too frequently has undeclared interests.” (more…)

A new historical study is providing evidence that Michelangelo’s abilities as an artist may have been paralleled by equally exceptional skills as an art forger.  Historian Thierry Lenain of the Institut Français in London has just published a book tracing the history of forgeries in art, and notes the Italian master’s reputation as a skilled forger, often exposing paintings to smoke or dirt to make them look considerably aged.  “He admired these originals for the excellence of their art and sought to surpass them,”  Lenain says. (more…)

The proceedings over the alleged forgery of Jasper Johns‘ 1960 work Flag has ended with a guilty plea by Brian Ramnarine, the Queens foundry owner who admitted to copying the artist’s work and attempting to sell it for $11 million.  Ramnarine’s admission of guilt means he will not challenge any sentence of 10 years or less in prison, but could spend an additional 20 years for admitting to additional sculpture frauds after his arrest. (more…)

The criminal proceedings against a Long Island City foundry owner over the purported sale of a fake Jasper Johns sculpture will see the artist taking the stand to testify.  Johns will testify that he did not give foundry owner Brian Ramnarine a version of his sculpture Flag in 1990, but that he used a mold that the artist contracted him to create in order to create an unauthorized copy, which he then attempted to sell for $11 million.  Ramnarine is also accused of selling copies of works by Robert Indiana and Saint Clair Cemin, the latter of whom has also testified in the case.  Cemin, in fact, claims that he found an illegally duplicated version of one of his works, and confronted Ramnarine at his studio.  “I smashed [the sculpture] to the floor, breaking it, and I left,” Cemin testified. (more…)

With counterfeit dealer Glafira Rosales cooperating with federal authorities, the investigation into the sale of a number of counterfeit artworks has shifted towards Rosales’s partner Jose Carlos Bergantiños Diaz, the Spanish dealer who may have served as a key figure in the creation of the counterfeit art ring around the Knoedler Gallery.  Diaz, who has not been reached in several months, has yet to be charged. (more…)

The New York Times reports on the state of the auction market in mainland China, where rampant forgeries and a rapidly expanding marketplace have made the bidding experience a fraught procedure.  With a market that has grown to annual revenues of $8.9 billion over the past years, regulators are struggling to keep up.  “The market is in a very dubious stage,” said Alexander Zacke, an expert in Asian art who and head of online house Auctionata. “No one will take results in mainland China very seriously.” (more…)

The recent surge of art forgeries and lawsuits over the attribution of works has had a chilling effect on the willingness of experts to offer their opinions on the authenticity of disputed works.  Cases like the recent Knoedler Gallery forgery sales and the following lawsuit by gallerist Ann Freedman have kept experts from vocally speaking out on the authenticity of work, even if their opinion may prevent a forged sale.  “If people were able to exchange opinions freely, cases like this would come to light much more quickly and you wouldn’t have a magnitude like this. Word would get out.”  Says Jack Flam, the president of Robert Motherwell’s Dedalus Foundation. (more…)

Following the absolution of former Knoedler & Co president Ann Freedman in the ongoing criminal investigation over the sale of over 60 forged artworks, the former Knoedler head is suing dealer Marco Grassi for defamation.  Freedman, in her lawsuit, cites over 20 sources claiming she performed due diligence on the origins of the work, and that Grassi overstepped his grounds in recent comments to the New Yorker.  “A gallery person has an absolute responsibility to do due diligence, and I don’t think she did it. The story of the paintings is so totally kooky. I mean, really. It was a great story and she just said, ‘this is great.'”  Grassi said in the aforementioned interview.  (more…)

The accusations and investigations surrounding the Knoedler Gallery, and the arrest of dealer Glafira Rosales have taken a new turn, with the identification of the forger of at least 63 works attributed to Modernist masters like Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko.  Artist Pei-Shen Qian, is a Chinese painter living in Queens, who fled his country in the wake of the cultural revolution, and who has eked out a living selling forged works to Rosales for over 15 years.  His payment for these works rarely exceeded several thousand dollars, even though some of the works sold for millions.  “I didn’t know he had this kind of a good technique,” said Qian’s friend and fellow artist Zhang Hongtu. “He had some talent, but I don’t believe he can paint in the same style as a Jackson Pollock; it’s not easy to copy this kind of style.” (more…)

The Jibaozhai museum in the northern Chinese region of Hebei has been shut down after authorities determined that nearly all of the works in its collection were fake.  Counterfeiting has been a major issue for China in the past, and government agencies are working to crack down on these violations.  “Jibaozhai has no qualification to be a museum as its collections are fake and it hasn’t reported to my department for approval,” says an official from the Hebei cultural heritage bureau. (more…)

Brian Ramnarine, currently out on bail on the charges of forging a work by Jasper Johns, was arraigned on Friday for allegedly attempting a similar fraud with works by Robert Indiana and Saint Clair Cemin.  “He knows it’s illegal and he keeps on doing it,” Prosecutor  Zachary Feingold said. “He knows what he did was wrong. He knew he couldn’t do it and he did it anyway.” (more…)

A German investigation into a multi-million dollar art forgery ring has led to the arrest of two suspects, and the seizure of over 1,000 objects.  The illegal operation specialized in avant-garde Russian works of the 20th century, including forged pieces by Wassily Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich and Natalia Goncharova.  “It’s well known that avant-garde works are particularly subject to forgery purely on stylistic grounds,” says auctioneer William MacDougal. “It’s not that difficult to paint a convincing black square. It’s much more difficult to forge a Rembrandt, for instance.” (more…)

In the wake of the multiple lawsuits brought against the Knoedler Gallery for sales of counterfeit art since the space closed in 2011, Forbes Magazine has published an article detailing the lack of oversight and due diligence that often plagues collectors when art and antiques are being bought or sold. “Sophisticated businesspeople would never do a business deal without asking questions, but somehow when they are buying art or collectibles, their common sense flies out of their head,” says Patty Gerstenblith, a professor of Art and Cultural Law at DePaul University. (more…)

Noted Max Ernst scholar Werner Spies has been ordered to pay half of the â‚¬652,883 owed to collector Louis Reijtenbagh for the purchase of a falsely attributed work.  This is not the first time Spies has had issues over his authentication; he was fooled by noted forger Wolfgang Beltracchi in 2011 over several works he authenticated as Ernsts. (more…)

Long Island Art Dealer Glafira Rosales has been charged with tax fraud and the sale of several millions of dollars in forged art.  Rosales reportedly failed to disclose over $12.5 Million she had learned form the sale of the works, made through the already embattled Knoedler Gallery in New York.  Authorities assert that in many cases, Rosales had acted as a mediator for sales of work, although in some cases she reportedly fabricated the selling client, and kept the sales profits for herself.  “As alleged, Glafira Rosales gave new meaning to the phrase ‘artful dodger’ by avoiding taxes on millions of dollars in income from dealing in fake artworks for fake clients,” Manhattan United States Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. (more…)

The Knoedler Gallery, which shut its doors almost two years ago, is being sued again over the sale of a false artwork.  This time, the gallery is in court over the sale of a forged Clyfford Still work, sold for $4.3 Million to collector Nicholas F. Taubman.  The Gallery has responded, claiming it has never knowingly sold a false work.  “The Taubman complaint relies on the same unproven and baseless claims contained in the prior lawsuits.” Said Knoedler lawyer Charles D. Schmerler. (more…)

The New York Times has published a profile on art forger Guy Ribes, whose remarkably accurate forgeries of works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir are being used in the biographical film exploring the life of the late artist (Watch Trailer).  Ribes, who served several years in prison for forging works by renowned artists and selling them to a criminal art ring, was brought in to recreate works by Renoir, as well as works the artist may have painted.  “It’s funny, isn’t it,” Says writer Jean-Baptiste Péretié, “that the same thing that led to his conviction is what he’s being paid legally to do?” (more…)

In a new twist, New York’s now defunct Knoedler Gallery, which has faced several lawsuits in the past few years for selling forged works attributed to Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and others, is now being sued by its investor David Mirvish for failing to sell two authentic works.  The gallery shut down after allegations of selling a fake Pollock for $17 million came to light, effectively breaching an agreement between Mirvish and the gallery to sell two Pollock masterpieces.  “David Mirvish, one of the world’s foremost art collectors, fervently believes in the authenticity of the works and is determined to receive that to which he is entitled,” said Mirvish’s lawyer, Nicholas Gravante Jr. (more…)