LONDON Pseudo Picassos, counterfeit Chagalls and other fakes are on display in London this week, part of an effort by Scotland Yard to warn dealers about forged art that it says fuels crime gangs around the world.
While the exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum looks like any other art gallery, the chatter among dealers centered on crime rather than composition, and the program was not open to the public.
“It made you fascinated by the terrifying skills of some of these people,” said Fiona Ford of LAPADA, The Association of Arts Antiques Dealers. “If every dealer saw this exhibition, it would further impress on them how careful they have to be.”
For the art world, the danger is that forgeries can devalue the real thing. Documentation _ allegedly authenticating a piece of art _ can also be forged, according to Detective Sgt. Vernon Rapley, so even art accompanied by a detailed provenance can be suspect.
Art historian Thomas Hoving, former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, has estimated that up to 40 percent of the market is comprised of some type of forgery.
Police say the work of one talented replica watches duo could keep devaluing art in the future.
John Drewe worked in Britain 20 years ago. While his partner in crime, John Myatt, would copy the works of Marc Chagall, Georges Braque and Ben swiss replica watches Nicholson. Drewe would create the documentation to pass them off as genuine. A few hours’ work could net the pair thousands, Rapley said.
Myatt assisted police in the investigation of Drewe, and served one year in prison. Drewe was sentenced to six years in prison and ordered to pay $238,000 in restitution. Officers said Drewe may have made as much as $1.9 million from the scheme.
Up to 100 Myatt fake paintings could still be on the market, Rapley said.
After completing his jail term, Myatt is now taking orders for what he calls “genuine fakes” in the style of famous artists, which can also cost thousands of dollars.
Drewe’s work included planting faked catalogues, which experts rely on to authenticate a work, in the libraries of legitimate art dealers. That scam was ultimately more damaging to the art world, Rapley said, because it could cause a real painting with little documentation to be valued at less than a fake with Drewe’s documents.
“That would obviously be a very sad day for the history of art,” Rapley said.
Brothers Robert and Brian Thwaites were also renowned forgers, noted for their attention to detail.
The pair was careful to use materials from the era of the artists they copied, even sticking scraps of Victorian newspapers to the backs of canvasses to make them look more authentic. That made it difficult to detect their forgeries.
The brothers duped two dealers out of more than $229,000 but came under suspicion when they tried to sell a third painting. When police raided their studio, they found a fake Edgar Hunt painting still wet on the easel, according to Detective Constable Michelle Roycroft.
In addition to Hunt, the brothers also forged Victorian painter John Anster Fitzgerald _ famous for his paintings of fairies.
The Thwaites were convicted in September of deception. Robert Thwaites was sentenced to two years in prison while Brian received a suspended one-year sentence.
When the art unit executes a search warrant, they often find drugs and evidence of other crimes, such as fake Rolex watches, Detective Constable Ian Lawson said.
Another thriving area of forgery is the faking of archaeological finds.
“We know for a fact that there is a terrorism link,” Lawson said. “Archaeological stuff is being exported by the ton load from Middle Eastern countries. If the money goes back into criminality, some will inevitably end up in the hands of terrorists.”