It's 1974 and the Cleveland Art Museum has just bought a painting attributed to one of the most important German painters of the Renaissance: Matthias Grünewald, for a good one million dollars. A work that has passed from hand to hand from several private collections and has also undergone a restoration. A work that remains admired by visitors to the museum for years until it triggers something in an art critic who questions its authenticity. It becomes one of the most famous cases of forgery in the history of the twentieth century and the beginning of the reconsideration of the theme among critics, curators and museum professionals.
Let's start immediately from an elementary concept of the market. As in any other business, art scamming is based on the law of supply and demand. The growing demand from collectors and museums for paintings by well-known masters can lead to a "shortage of works" on the market. Interesting paintings become relatively rare over time, and the high prices make it tempting for a scammer to enter the market to meet the demand.
It goes without saying that fraud in the art world is not a modern phenomenon. It is evident, however, that the problem has grown in the last hundred years. In fact, from year to year a large number of works have been put up for sale under misleading attributions. The risk of buying non-original works is obviously a problem for those who buy, since they risk paying dearly for worthless works. But counterfeits are also problematic for art dealers who risk substantial compensation claims from angry customers. So to prevent the problem, serious art gallery owners do everything to avoid buying and selling dubious artworks and help each other through research and authentication.
But let's pretend I'm an academy artist and I want to practice recreating Leonardo's Mona Lisa. Can I be called a forger? Obviously not, so let's try to understand together where the difference is. Counterfeiting can be defined as manufacturing with a fraudulent intent for the purpose of selling a work of art in the style of a well-known artist. It is essential therefore that the intent is dishonest. Indeed it is legal to make copies for private use or to paint in the style of a well-known painter. While the painting is only turned into a fake when it is deliberately presented - and put up for sale - as original. That's illegal.
There are in fact at least 3 different categories of forgery in art:
The first is a copy of an original. If the original can be identified, the fake will be relatively easy to detect. Then there are those which in artistic or literary technical language are called pastiches. In these cases elements of two or more works are brought together in a new work. This kind of fake is obviously more difficult to detect because the originals can be more difficult to recognize.
One of the most famous forgers of the twentieth century in this category is Han van Meegeren, a brilliant Dutch artist from the point of view of counterfeiting. The characteristic of his fakes has always been to conceive completely new works, he has never made a copy of originals but has always created in Vermeer's style by putting together different elements of his works, in his style and even with the materials both color pigments that cloths of his time. This obviously made him one of the most famous but also the most dangerous counterfeiters ever.
The third category is that of independent compositions performed in the style of the Masters, but without direct borrowings. The strongest problem with this category is that often these are works that have been created by pupils of the great masters or by their schools.
I close today's story with the last two types of forgery: the one in which you finish a work that an artist originally left unfinished either due to lack of interest or time. Finally, some restorations lead to the total alteration of the work which could therefore border on forgery.
Art and the Cities is my personal art and travel blog and RU-vid channel. I'm not only talking about art history but also about travel, museums, galleries, the art market, love stories, books, exhibitions and much more.
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Soon,
Clelia
8 окт 2021
