A Miami pastor and art dealer has been arrested for attempting to sell several forged works attributed to British artist Damien Hirst.  Kevin Sutherland had approached Sotheby’s in December about selling one of Mr. Hirst’s “spin” paintings at auction, but when the auction house realized the work as forgery, it promptly contacted the New York Police Department.  Working undercover, officers arrested Sutherland after he attempted to sell them several more forged Hirsts in Gramercy Park Hotel last week. (more…)

New York’s now-closed Knoedler Gallery is being sued by a family trust for allegedly selling them a forged painting by Mark Rothko for $5.5 million.  The gallery has faced similar lawsuits in the past, and is accused of withholding information that may have discouraged the sale, including telling the buyers that the work came from the secret collection of a “Mr. X.”  “At all relevant times, defendants knew that the Mr. X story was untrue,” lawyers for the trust stated. “Indeed, defendants privately equated Mr. X to the fictional ‘goose that laid the golden egg.’”  (more…)

Manhattan art dealers accused of selling forged Motherwell painting – via NYPost [AO Newslink]

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