ART FORGERY
ART FORGERY
Art forgery is the counterfeit creation of works of art that are usually copied from
other famous artists. It began thousands of years ago and is still around today.
With technology expanding each year, art forgery has, fortunately, become
easier to detect. There are different methods to
detect forgery: examination, authentication and
verification.
To detect forgery by examination involves in
depth examination of an object to determine if it is
valid. An examiner would look for indications that
Forgery by examination
a specific part of the art was not created in a specific time period. Machine-made
nails could also be used on an antique piece which would be classified as forgery.
To detect forgery by authentication includes the
use of tests to conclude if an item is real or not. For
example, Carbon dating, X-ray diffraction analysis and
ultraviolet analysis are all the methods of detecting art
forgery. Backup tests are done even when a different test
proves a true/false authentication.
X-ray Diffraction
To detect forgery through verification involves obtaining confirmation and
locating evidence to conclusively determine if forgery has occurred. For example,
detection of forged e-mails for job scams; the receiver of the e-mail can look up
the information of a company or call a representative of the company to confirm
whether an e-mail is real. A real or false check can also be determined from a
witness at a bank, etc. As technology expands, new methods such as ultraviolet
analysis are used to detect art forgeries.
ART FORGERY
TIMELINE
- Forensic examination first used by Benjamin Peirce in the Howland will forgery Trial
-X-ray Diffraction developed by Von Laue and his partner in 1912. Used first to detect
Goya's art piece.
-Carbon Dating developed by Willard Libby and his colleagues at the University of
Chicago in 1949. Used first to detect the age of a specific art piece.
-Whitfield Diffie described the notion of digital signature in 1976. First used in 1988 by
Shafi Goldwasswer.
ART FORGERY
CASES AND FORGERS
A famous art forger known as Tom Keating
claimed to have forged over 2,000 paintings by
more than 100 artists. He believed the art system
was rotten and cheated many people out of
money so he decided to fool experts by creating
art forgeries. An interesting fact is that he would
leave clues in his paintings. For example, he would
write with white ink before painting. This act would
Tom Keating paints a
reproduction Van
Gogh Sunflower
painting
guard accusations of fraud. In 1977, he was
arrested and confessed to his act of art
forgery.
Another recent art forger in the
early 2000's was Lothar Wilfred Senke. His act
of forgery was said to have been "the largest
scam to ever shake the German art market."
Claude Monet was a favorite
subject of Keating's
attentions as an art forger.
was accused of the worst counterfeiting works of the famous artist, Giacometti.
Lothar Senke had forged more than 1000 bronzes and
plasters. He was arrested on June the 30th 2011 in Stuttgart
Germany for 38 of the 50 crimes and was given a jail sentence
of 9 years.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
fake Giacometti sculpture.
ART FORGERY
1. Freemanart. "Famous Fakes, Art Forgers, Famous Art Forgeries, Fake Paintings, Greatest Fakes
- Greatest Fakers in the World | Counterfeit Art Fraud | Freemanart Authentication Experts." Art
Authentication Experts Freemanart Consultants International Art Fraud & Forgery Investigators
Home Page | Expert Forensic Investigators - Art Analysis - Art & Artist Research - Investigation of
Attribution, Provenance, Identification of Fakes | Art Appraisers & Valuers - Specialists; Picasso,
Dali, Old Masters Paintings, Drawings, Prints. Expert Appraisals & Valuations, Europe, UK, USA,
England, Canada, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Australia. Web. 16 Jan. 2012.
<http://www.freemanart.ca/greatest_art_forgers_fakers.htm>.
2. RSC. "Analytical Techniques Help Uncover Huge Art Forgery Ring." Royal Society of Chemistry
| Advancing the Chemical Sciences. 7 Sept. 2011. Web. 16 Jan. 2012.
<http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2011/September/07091101.asp>.
3. "East Anglian Film Archive: Tom Keating Fakes Painting Artist, 1976." East Anglian Film Archive.
Anglia Television. Web. 16 Jan. 2012. <http://www.eafa.org.uk/catalogue/123850>.
4. Piccirillo, Ron. "Goya Discovery." Goyadiscovery.org. SUBASTAS. Web. 16 Jan. 2012.
<http://www.goyadiscovery.org/9moregoyasoutthere.html>.
5. "HST CHECKMARKER: LEGAL CHECK MARKING FOR HEAT SOAKED TOUGHENED
GLASS." Boraident.de. Web. 16 Jan. 2012.
<http://www.boraident.de/Produkte/Glassensoren/Prod%20HST%20checkmarker.htm>.
6. Bazley, Tom. "Crimes of the Art World - Tom Bazley." Google Books. Greenwood. Web. 16 Jan.
2012. <http://books.google.com/books?id=9ebK6eWBrvsC>.
7. Briefel, Aviva. "The Deceivers: Art Forgery and Identity in the Nineteenth Century - Aviva
Briefel." Google Books. Cornell University Press. Web. 16 Jan. 2012.
<http://books.google.com/books?id=XCoeu-G9vaoC>.