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…)

Sentencing for the convicted Knoedler Gallery defrauder Glafira Rosales has been postponed until September, following the March 14th filing of a secret court document with Manhattan federal court.  Analysts speculate that Rosales, who has already agreed to forfeit $33.2 million, which includes her Sands Point home and $81m in restitution, is negotiating with federal officials in building a larger criminal case for her co-conspirators. (more…)

A New York Times article analyzes the work of artist Pei-Shen Qian, the painter behind the multi-million dollar counterfeiting ring that included the Knoedler Gallery.  Mr. Pei-Shen is well-regarded as a painter in China, but moved to New York in the early 1980’s.  Analyzing the artist’s early work in comparison with his more recent fakes, the article goes on to examine the interplay of supply and demand in the contemporary market as a potential cause of the artist’s shift to fraudulent works. (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…)

After months of investigation and court proceedings, Long Island dealer Glafira Rosales has plead guilty to the sale of over $30 million in fake artworks attributed to Rothko, Pollock, and others. Rosales also plead guilty to charges of fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion in a New York courtroom Monday.  “I agreed with others to sell works of art claimed to be created by various expressionist artists including Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock and Robert Motherwell, and to make false representations as to the authenticity and provenance of those works,” Rosales said. “These works of art were actually fakes created by an individual residing in Queens.” (more…)

New York Magazine has published an exclusive interview with Ann Freedman, the president of the now shuttered Knoedler and Company, who has been exonerated of any criminal involvement in the fraudulent sale of 63 forged artworks through the gallery.  “The story was credible,” she says, speaking on Glafira Rosales’s mysterious seller, “Mr. X,” a fabrication she used to justify the sudden appearance of the works. “Dealers often do not know the specifics of origin or background, or how the art left the artist’s studio. You cannot turn the pages of an auction catalogue or museum publication without seeing a majority of the works labeled ‘private collection.’ The chain of ownership is often out of order and incomplete.” (more…)

New arrests are expected in the ongoing investigation into the Knoedler Gallery, the New York Times reports.  The news comes after the indictment of dealer Glafira Rosales, in which the prosecuting attorney, Jason P. Hernandez, stated that he was contemplating further arrests.  The news comes after the announcement that Mr. Pei-Shen Qian, the artist who created these works, has left the country for China.  Both the prosecutor and defense attorney in the trial have also forecasted that the case will be resolved soon.  (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…)

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…)

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 now-defunct Knoedler & Co. gallery agreed to settle the lawsuit over an allegedly fake $17 million Jackson Pollock. The terms of the settlement are undisclosed. Pierre Lagrange, co-owner of London-based GLG Partners Inc., sued in 2011 over a the painting, Untitled 1950, because neither Sotheby’s or Christie’s would consign the work without its prior inclusion in the catalogue raisonné. The gallery, which had been in business since 1846, closed the day after the lawsuit was filed. (more…)