The art of forgeries
In a recent report, The Wall Street Journal highlights a significant shift in attitudes toward art collecting. Until a few years ago, it stated, collecting was a hobby or a passion, but as art prices skyrocketed, the situation changed, and today art buyers are primarily looking for profit.
Observing the signs of aging in the paint layer, the crystallization of the pigments, their purity and size, the nature of the cracks and craquelure that form over time, and signs of previous restorations are the primary factors to consider when evaluating a work of art. Furthermore, Wood's lamp and other monochromatic lights emitted by mercury lamps allow for assessing the degree to which the painting has been retouched, as well as identifying various fluorescent substances. To verify the validity of the estimated historical period, infrared spectroscopic analysis allows for the examination of the materials used—pigments, binders, glues, and varnishes—even with minimal sample quantities.
Although we cannot speak of forgery in this case, we can demonstrate how the technique can be useful to art historians. Often deceiving even experts, forgeries usually originate from authentic works painted by unknown artists and subsequently altered. In this case, the forger modifies an old painting to sell it as a masterpiece by a prestigious artist. Unmasking this method, compared to modern replicas, requires much more careful study since the materials used are authentic and the works are originals where the forced imitation is not readily apparent. The undeniable effectiveness and widespread use of this method in the current art market stems from a fairly common characteristic: when a collector acquires a piece, they want to own the complete work. In many cases, people buy an item based on the fame of its creator without any knowledge of their background or consulting an art expert. This ignorance greatly facilitates the work of forgers.
Frustration at not being accepted in the art world is one of the main reasons that can lead an artist to forge. This was also the case with the English painter and restorer Tom Keating, who stated: “ Corrupt dealers line their own pockets at the expense of naive collectors and impoverish artists .”
A final, fairly common case is when an artist forges their own work. The Hungarian painter Sándor Bortnyik—like Marc Chagall, Giorgio de Chirico, and Hans Arp—recreated several of his works after a long artistic career. When the art market shifted toward Central Europe in the 1960s and 70s, Bortnyik's early works became highly sought after. So the old master reinvented the paintings that had been lost or disappeared when he had to emigrate from Hungary, thanks to the drawings, prints, and photographs he still possessed. This is how his works have appeared with false dates, both in books and in major international exhibitions. Experts from the Kieselbach Gallery in Budapest have confirmed that a work by the Hungarian artist titled "The 20th Century" is held in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid. with a false date, 1927. The original work remains missing and apparently the Museum is unaware that the painting hanging inside is a replica, judging by what is stated on its website: “The 20th Century is the painter's homage to his time. The subject represented in this canvas is industrial progress and technology, a central theme for the avant-garde of that time.”
As London-based consultant Constanze Kubern explains, the distinguishing factor of works of art is their ability to withstand financial crises, unlike other assets. This has been evident since 2008, when demand for high-quality artworks, especially postwar art, has multiplied exponentially. The mercantilist world of art objects began to expand widely in the early 19th century, when intellectuals started buying works to fill new museum buildings. Reflecting this growing public interest in art, the phenomenon of forgery, which had existed on a small scale since the Baroque era, spread and became more complex, transforming into a shadowy and widespread business, an illegal activity largely associated with a certain myth and romanticism thanks to the media and film. Forgers, generally driven by greed or a desire for revenge, tend to have a keen eye for current art trends and the works and artists that are in demand. It is also not uncommon for them to precede current fashion trends, induced by auctions or exhibitions.
Verification
It is recommended that before investing in a work of art, you consult an art historian. If they are impartial and objective, professional eyes, sensitive to the peculiar characteristics of the style and the artist, are rarely deceived. The first point of a painting that an expert usually examines is its back to look for any false references, misleading stamps, names, illegible or overwritten labels indicating renowned collections or museums. Then, in addition to a general visual examination, which is essential but not always sufficient since forgers are increasingly ingenious, it is advisable to consult existing registration documentation that can verify a work's provenance. In general, this documentation provides a chain of connections that traces the history of the work, its previous owner, and sometimes even allows us to reach the artist himself. Because genuine objects, unlike copies, always have a story.
If doubts still linger, science can be a last resort. Before the advent of modern painting techniques, critical analysis of style and examination of the surface with a magnifying glass were sufficient to determine a painting's authenticity. Today, such checks are carried out through tests on the material itself, by studying the techniques used and the signs of wear. The most commonly used physicochemical investigations are dating the wooden frame with spectroscopy and stereomicroscopic analysis, used to examine the surface.
Critical analysis of the different brushstrokes
Observing the signs of aging in the paint layer, the crystallization of the pigments, their purity and size, the nature of the cracks and craquelure that form over time, and signs of previous restorations are the primary factors to consider when evaluating a work of art. Furthermore, Wood's lamp and other monochromatic lights emitted by mercury lamps allow for assessing the degree to which the painting has been retouched, as well as identifying various fluorescent substances. To verify the validity of the estimated historical period, infrared spectroscopic analysis allows for the examination of the materials used—pigments, binders, glues, and varnishes—even with minimal sample quantities.
The possibility of forging a work depends largely on whether the artist took precautions to avoid being copied. Picasso, for example, created so many unregistered works that even historians don't know for sure how many are scattered around the world. Or Salvador Dalí, who at the height of his fame signed blank pages. If artists keep a rigorous record or catalog of all their works, documented with photographs—although the falsification of documents or receipts must also be considered—they can prevent their legacy from being lost. As early as the 15th century, some Dutch painters signed their works, with Jan van Eyck being the first to add the Latin term fecit , "he made it," to a painting. Four centuries later, Van Gogh left a well-documented testament to his career in notes and private correspondence, in letters addressed to his brother.
Counterfeits
It's relatively common and easy to recognize when an original work has been altered. These alterations are generally carried out by restorers at the request of the owner or art dealers for a potential client. With a small correction—either by removing distracting elements or, conversely, by adding new decorative motifs—the value of an average work can reach a high level.
Several artists reused their old paintings, such as Van Gogh, mentioned earlier. In the early years of his career, the Dutchman often painted new compositions on old canvases due to financial difficulties. The discovery, in 2008, of a hidden composition titled “Wild Vegetation” thanks to an X-ray photograph, confirmed that, due to a lack of fresh canvases, in 1889 the Dutchman painted this one over another called “The Ravine.”
Several artists reused their old paintings, such as Van Gogh, mentioned earlier. In the early years of his career, the Dutchman often painted new compositions on old canvases due to financial difficulties. The discovery, in 2008, of a hidden composition titled “Wild Vegetation” thanks to an X-ray photograph, confirmed that, due to a lack of fresh canvases, in 1889 the Dutchman painted this one over another called “The Ravine.”
Van Gogh forgery by John Myatt
Although we cannot speak of forgery in this case, we can demonstrate how the technique can be useful to art historians. Often deceiving even experts, forgeries usually originate from authentic works painted by unknown artists and subsequently altered. In this case, the forger modifies an old painting to sell it as a masterpiece by a prestigious artist. Unmasking this method, compared to modern replicas, requires much more careful study since the materials used are authentic and the works are originals where the forced imitation is not readily apparent. The undeniable effectiveness and widespread use of this method in the current art market stems from a fairly common characteristic: when a collector acquires a piece, they want to own the complete work. In many cases, people buy an item based on the fame of its creator without any knowledge of their background or consulting an art expert. This ignorance greatly facilitates the work of forgers.
Another dangerous type of forgery, and generally difficult to identify, is the antique replica. This involves the transformation of copies made—often by renowned artists—during the artists' apprenticeship. The production of these replicas is strictly regulated, stipulating, for example, that they must bear a mark naming both the original artist and the student. Even the exact size of the original image cannot be altered. It is also not uncommon to find forged signatures on authentic works in the art market. The methods used in most of these manipulations leave telltale traces: the internal composition of the painting is distorted, or the surface of the paint layer is damaged. A forged signature can also be identified by the style of its lettering or through the use of ultraviolet light. However, this method is not foolproof either, as the components can be manipulated using chemical products—thermal agents such as hair dye, UV-blocking spray, or even by baking the paint in an oven.
Revenge
Han van Meegeren, a Dutch portrait painter who initially failed to garner critical acclaim, became one of the most ingenious forgers of the 20th century by using ancient techniques to almost perfectly imitate the style of Johannes Vermeer. As John Godley explained in his book, Master Art Forger , the forger invested heavily in acquiring authentic 17th-century canvases, badger-hair brushes—similar to those used by Vermeer—and other valuable materials, such as lapis lazuli, lead white, indigo, and cinnabar. Upon completing a painting, he baked it to harden it and rolled the canvas to accentuate cracks, thus achieving a more aged appearance. This caused insecurity in the art market, as even experts were unable to distinguish the copies from the originals. Van Meegeren amassed a fortune with his forgeries and defrauded, among others, Hitler's third-in-command, Hermann Göring. In 1945 he was arrested and accused of treason for selling a Vermeer to the Nazis. To avoid the death penalty, Van Meegeren confessed everything.
In the late 1960s, Hungarian Elmyr de Hory claimed to have sold over a thousand paintings to renowned galleries and dealers worldwide, forging works by masters such as Picasso, Modigliani, Chagall, Toulouse-Lautrec, Matisse, and Renoir. He managed to evade Interpol and the FBI for most of his criminal career and, moreover, sold his forgeries for the same price as the originals. Elmyr never achieved recognition as a painter during his lifetime, but, ironically, after his death the value of his paintings skyrocketed, leading to their being forged in turn, and even immortalized by Orson Welles in the film F for Fake .
Imitation of Picasso's style by Elmyr de Hory
Frustration at not being accepted in the art world is one of the main reasons that can lead an artist to forge. This was also the case with the English painter and restorer Tom Keating, who stated: “ Corrupt dealers line their own pockets at the expense of naive collectors and impoverish artists .”
Although Keating participated in several exhibitions, he never achieved success, so he began to learn techniques from Venetian masters. Having worked on the restoration of Impressionist paintings, Keating thoroughly assimilated Renoir's creative process and applied it to most of the masters, forging, over more than sixty years, some two thousand paintings by Rembrandt, Degas, Modigliani, and Munch, without ever identifying them. Like his compatriot Eric Hebborn, whose drawings and paintings were never appreciated by contemporary critics, he began to copy the styles of Castiglione, Mantegna, Van Dyck, Poussin, Ghisi, Tiepolo, Rubens, Bruegel, and Piranesi. Hebborn considered his forgeries to be empirical research, experiments: “If my works managed to be accepted, then I can know for certain that my theories about drawing are correct; that is, it is possible to escape the influence of the era, the place, and one's own personal gestures, and mentally enter the timeless world of art from which the best artists draw their inspiration.” His most famous copy was purchased by the National Gallery of Denmark, who believed it to be an original Piranesi, until Hebborn claimed it was his own on a BBC program in 1991. The Englishman even wrote a manual for forgers, *Art Forger's Handbook* , in which he explained how to deceive art history experts. In 1996, shortly after the publication of the Italian edition of the book, Hebborn was found dead in the streets of Rome with his skull fractured.
Another notorious case is that of John Myatt. Like most renowned forgers, instead of copying the works of famous artists, he painted original pictures inspired by their style, which is much harder to detect. Today, he sells his works with a "genuine forgeries" stamp on the back, immodestly presenting himself as The Artist . In 1995, he was sentenced to prison for selling more than 200 fake paintings. Christie's auction house valued his fake work by the Cubist Albert Gleizes at £25,000, and estimates that around 120 of his forgeries are still circulating on the market.
Original work “The 20th Century” by Bortnyik, and copy in the Thyssen Museum in Madrid
A final, fairly common case is when an artist forges their own work. The Hungarian painter Sándor Bortnyik—like Marc Chagall, Giorgio de Chirico, and Hans Arp—recreated several of his works after a long artistic career. When the art market shifted toward Central Europe in the 1960s and 70s, Bortnyik's early works became highly sought after. So the old master reinvented the paintings that had been lost or disappeared when he had to emigrate from Hungary, thanks to the drawings, prints, and photographs he still possessed. This is how his works have appeared with false dates, both in books and in major international exhibitions. Experts from the Kieselbach Gallery in Budapest have confirmed that a work by the Hungarian artist titled "The 20th Century" is held in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid. with a false date, 1927. The original work remains missing and apparently the Museum is unaware that the painting hanging inside is a replica, judging by what is stated on its website: “The 20th Century is the painter's homage to his time. The subject represented in this canvas is industrial progress and technology, a central theme for the avant-garde of that time.”
Beyond trends
The fascinating world of art involves many emotions and even more money. Potential buyers should find the style that resonates with them and abandon the absurd and superficial trend of buying art at exorbitant prices simply because the creator is famous, even if they lack the slightest sensitivity to understand it. While it's legitimate to acquire art purely as an investment, ultimately a work of art is much more than a luxury commodity. It's a passion that demands discernment, introspection, training, and a great deal of personal work. The market is overflowing with little-known artists of enormous talent, living or deceased, whose works are overlooked and deemed unworthy simply because they lack a famous signature. Perhaps in a few years, these artists will explode in popularity, and then everyone will buy them simply because they'll be the must-have item. Therefore, buyers should try looking at many works of art, stand before them, let themselves be carried away, identify their emotions, and acquire the one that resonates with them and brings them joy. They won't go wrong.
