I have watched a few documentaries about forgers and I'm in awe of their talent and agree with them that they are doing something for which there's huge demand. The dishonest ones are the art galleries, the art dealers and the easily fooled wealthy eager to pay through the nose for a piece of historic art, inflating prices and creating this never ending circle of greed.
Obviously many Forgers are incredible artists. As wrong as it is it just goes to show that the name notoriety of famous artists is not a gauge of talent in any art.
Just how much does it cost for Rolex to make a watch they charge thousands for? Politicians, lawyers rip us off everyday, with his paintings only the ego rich feel hurt.
?? Lawyers?? No, they're not cheap, but they have a crapton of knowledge, are usually very smart; not to mention, they likely have some hefty, hefty student loans to repay lol. Now, an art forger who is passing his or her works as *real or by the actual artist - including their present market price - *that is "overpaying." Part of the reason a work is the price it is has not so much to do with the skill or talent required for said artwork, but everything to do with the story and the, as they say, "provenance" of the piece and the artist herself. The history is half the magic. To touch the actual thing that artist touched--not some random dude. That's what makes it special. In my opinion, to say "oh, well if you can't tell it doesn't matter" is, at its base, bullspit.
It's called capitalism. You get as much as you can. I do it. You do it in your job too. Don't you get as much pay as you possibly can? Or do you tell your boss, like, whoa dude that's too much. I don't want it. Think of all the starving Tibetan children. The only hot food they get is a bowl of steam. Give it to them......yeah I bet you do!
Ken Perenyi had a level of sensitivity and for what it's worth, 'ethics' in his forgeries. For one, he'd choose artists that have been dead for over a hundred years and did not have an estate or family record; and two, he never capitalized on 'rising' or 'newly interested' artists for the sake of money alone. He wanted to pay respects to these long forgotten artists that he admired....and above all, selling the art was just a clever and enjoyable game to him. I love this guy!!!
"Someone ends up with fool's gold on their walls." Yeah, someone with enough money to buy a half million dollar painting to just hang on their fucking wall. And that's if you give them the benefit of the doubt that they aren't just laundering money. It basically is a victimless crime.
I read his book....not a bad tale....the truth is most auction houses know FA about Art......and they cover themselves in the small print of the contracts.....nothing is guaranteed.....
What an artist! I’d love to have a painting by him. Brilliant man. If any Art house wanted to stamp out fraud they would hire him ... but they don’t. Why? Could the answer possibly be they would loose money if the art houses cleaned up their act? Could it be that some art is vastly overpriced and when experts are unable to tell the difference between a piece just painted and an old master, the art houses would not want this widely known. I’d love to have a painting of his, alas I wouldn’t be able to afford it. Best wishes to him and stay safe everyone. ☘️🌝🌲
Well said folkman200, I couldnt agree more. If the art world is not supporting all the genuinely talented artists out there today, then tough for them if an amazing artist finds a way have them do so.
I think art forgers appreciates paintings an art more than those who buy only because it's a famous painting and they're rich. I don't really care if it's a forgery because original artists are usually dead and they can't loose their money. Forgers spent their time to really paint, to create and it's an art itself.
A guy who snatches someone's purse goes to jail for a year or more. A guy who steals millions through forgery gets away free, without remorse, and other people make a hero out of him. Unfathomable.
he chose 19th century american paintings and he painted them amazingly well, art collectors expect probably auction houses to sell originals but they also sell fakes, and his books title is correct caveat emptor, buyer beware. If you buy a famous work, it should have provenance and also be chemically tested or dont buy it.
Every true artist has his/her own style. The reason artists copy famous works in museums is to learn from them. Not to learn how to copy them not to try to sell them as originals. Truly talented beautiful work is obvious when one looks at it - it doesn't copy anyone else. Most forgers try to copy an artist's style and pass their paintings off as a newly discovered work.
There are only two kinds of people in this world - those who do and those who profit from the efforts of others. Like most artists I have no sympathy with art dealers and greedy ignorant collectors only interested in money. A good painting is a good painting no matter who made it. And if the so called experts cannot tell the difference between a two or three hundred year old work and a recent one they are stupid. Picasso was in the habit of signing paintings of his friends who needed money - and why not? Life is different at the business side of the easel.
You wonder if a famous artist ever forged something earlier in their life before becoming famous... like a fake da vinchi painted by Monet out there somewhere 😂
If I where a collector, I would collect paintings from current artists. That is how you stop forgers like this guy from becoming forgers in the first place. The art world has to stop living with past masters, and start making new ones.
'Fools gold' ? I would take some any day. Art is art and people with too much money deserve what they get. Auction houses are notorious for their dark dealings, just read the catalogue disclamers. 'Experts' that cannot detect a 'forgery' are not experts. Ken 'imitated' the style of these painters he didn't directly copy them for the most part. I'm with Ken on this.
Silvana Kelsey I totally agree with you. He's a genius. That woman who hates him has mis directed rage. She used the term, Fools Gold. Now you can prove the purity of gold chemically but real experts can tell just by looking at it. Can we say the same about so called art experts? They were fooled.
+Sergio Lobato Right, that's a serious crime. It's like trading someone a bunch of money that could magically lose all it's value at any time. It's disgusting, what a sad and wasted life.
Do you think seriously that one piece of Van-Gogh or any other starving or,nowadays, rogue painter being worth $ 100 million?I think the really serious and deadly crime is what Christie's and their experts are doing together with the snob billionaires against the Art.Recently they was working hard for years,to justify a suspicious (maybe fake) Leonardo's originality...For very-very much money.Then the poor painting has been hidden from the humankind for ever.... @@Archetype77
its actually pretty cool to think about fakes being out in the wild in a way. Art's value is half about story and history. What's greater than beautiful art that's tricked its way into collections and exhibits, hiding in plain sight for potentially hundreds of years? It's like seeing a pack of animals and then someone telling you, some of them aren't actually the animal you think it is. Very cool, and I think that's worth something in its own right, both in value and to the art world.
I'm sorry, but the original Buttersworth is obviously superior, in my lay opinion - it just looks a lot smoother (and still alot better than I could do lol)
I agree wholeheartedly. “art collectors/experts” are not really interested in the art work itself, but rather the signature; it’s the forged name of the artist that makes the “big-wigs” of the art world so disgruntled by the forger. Oh well.
the real art here is the fact he makes fools of "experts" ..but why should he not? these people sell garbage doodles they call "abstract" for millions.. while real talented painters go broke
Love the comments one and all. Most of the masters like turner are just appalling artist with no idea of perspective but people with money are easy to convince they're better than others and are just more refined in there taste. That's why it's great when they get ripped off and the auction house's support it.
So is perspective your main criteria for being a master artist? I think it’s lower down the list of criteria I’m looking for in a master. Not to say I don’t admire it or that I’m not a little thrown off by wonky perspective, but it’s not the be all end all for me.
The only reason these old paintings are worth anything at all is because rich people have made a game out of impressing each other with their holdings. Frankly, I wouldnt give fifty bucks for any one of them.
I love the so-called art expert in this video. She, like all the others who say they detest art forgers such as the genius she mocks down her nose here, are merely annoyed that they are exposed THEMSELVES as the fakes THEY are. "Fools gold" she called his paintings that were sold... when the truth is the real fools are the one's who place such value on ANY piece of canvas. All this man did was confront fools with the truth of their foolishness. No wonder they dislike him.
This guy may be guilty of forgery, but auction houses may be guilty of stupidity. >>>>>>>>>>checkout "Mystery of a Masterpiece" it's a good example of how the big auction houses like to present themselves as experts, when all they're interested in is moving money. Watch it
The more coveted the item, the more valuable the item is the more likely the item will become a victim of forgery. It is speculated that upwards of 65 % of all hogh end /Blue Chip Art in the Art marketplace is Fake, Forged, Misrepresented Etc... but this is much like many other commodities Etc... in the marketplace. Chances are most people at one point or another will be fooled by such. Anywhere from Food, Clothing, Art, Real Estate, Shoes, Jewelry, Money Electronics, People Etc... and as technology increases so will the deceptions.
Bravo Ken. The notion of original art is so pretentious. If authentic art needs to be assessed by experts with huge subjective art-appreciation experience as well as forensic art experts and highly-technical laboratory analysis - would not a very good approximation or forgery be as good as the original? (If not better in some cases?). Because human art understanding and appreciation is not dependent on whether the article is original or not. Understanding and appreciation of works of visual art are functions of the neurology of the vision being interpreted and thus independent of the ‘authenticity’ of the work. To ascribe importance to the provenance of a work is to liken it to a religious relic. We do not appraise Mahler’s music by possessing the original manuscript - we listen to the music. We need more iconoclasts like Ken.
You can find RU-vid videos like Ken Perenyi and many others such as Max Brandrett, Eric Hebborn, Mark Landis, David Stine, Mauro Morani, Tony Tetro, Shaun Greenhalgh, Elmyer de Hory, Han Van Meegeren, John Myatt, John Drewe, Tom Keating, Wolfgang Beltracchi, Yves Chaudron, Giovanni Bastianini, Ken Perenyi, Shaun Greenhalgh, Shawn Greenhouse, David Henty, Billy "The Brush" Mumford. All Fascinatingly disgusting art forgers and appalling I can't stop watching their brilliant's of deception and craft.
What I don't get is how they (the experts, auction houses etc.) can imagine that the same bumbling guy happens to keep turning up with another hitherto undiscovered painting by a famous historical artist. You'd think that would be a bit of a give away. I suppose they must be in on it, to a certain extent, after being fooled the first time. They can't admit that the first painting they authenticated was a forgery without embarrassing themselves, so they have to authenticate all the others.
Because they are greedy bastards who want to fine a (new) old painting they can make money off of. Same thing in every industry - dishonesty, greed, hide anything that doesn't agree with their opinions and efforts to make $.
So, he was passionate about painting. He failed with his paintings: nobody appreciated its canvases. Therefore he started copying the appreciated painters: addictive, as he says; and also a feeling of revenge on the market makers. 'if they say my art is not worth much, then let them pay for my ability making fakes'. This must have crossed his mind.
I'm sorry, but talent is talent. How is this guy's art "dark"? Forgers make us think about the value of things and why they are considered great or not.
Bankrobbery? Greedy people taking over the work of artists who where treatet like cheapest labour. Like beggars! Artists who were giving their lifes for art, enlightenment and ethics! They where left to starve. Bankers bought them out - cheap. And make millions on them. WHO ROBB'S WHOM ?! Arrogant lady ! She has it coming 😂 - yaay - sell it to her! In the name of us artists : Thank you ! I salute you.
There is so much pride in this man as he talks about his crime. It's a sad indicment to the state of the art scene and how money and pretentious behaviour have infiltrated it. Art for arts sake...I appreciate Mattisse
As much as the art world is full of disingenuous , pretentious and self-absorbed people ( I know a few personally ), I really don't care for people that pass their own stuff off as someone else's originals. It said at the start of the video he wanted to be a painter himself. So why didn't he? He clearly has the mechanical skills to handle paint the way he wants. Did he fail miserably at it? I don't have an issue with him fooling the larger galleries & auction houses, there's a ridiculous amount of money floating around in those places as it is. A few hundred thousand here & there probably won't hurt them. It does come down to right & wrong though. Just because you can get away with something, doesn't mean it's OK.
"In March 2012 at Norwich Crown Court, Drewe was convicted of defrauding a 71-year-old retired music teacher of her life savings of £700,000 and leaving her penniless. He was jailed for eight years by a judge who told him “In my view you are about the most dishonest and devious person I have ever dealt with". That's John Drewe, a fellow art forger, but hey these guys are just stealing from pompous assholes right? Yea, we all know if anyone wants to buy someone that's super expensive they deserve to have their money stolen! Rich people are evil! Right guys?
Great art fashioned by the hand of man to replicate a greater art, that of the creator’s hand, will always be wonderful, albeit it is an inferior representation. God the great artist who represents beauty so beautifully in nature, from flower to a beautifully swimming goldfish with its translucent tails, is an artist like no other. If great works by artists is worthy of admiration then how much more admirable is the art by God Himself. Admiration of God’s work is called worship.