Art Forgery
Art forgery refers to creating
and selling works of art that are falsely attributed to
be work of another, usually more famous, artist. With modern
analysis techniques the identification of forged artwork
is much simpler.
When art become a commercial articles
the value of the artwork came to depend on the identity
of the artist. As the demand for certain artwork began to
exceed the access of artworks fraudulent manufactured artworks
began to appear on the open market.
The 20th century
art market has favored artists such as Salvador Dalí, Pablo
Picasso, Klee and Matisse. These forgeries are typically
sold to art galleries and auction houses who cater to the
tastes of art and antiquities collectors.
Copies,
replicas, reproductions and pastiches are often legitimate
works and the distinction between a legitimate reproduction
and deliberate forgery is not always clear.
Forensic authentication
Investigators may attempt
to authenticate the object using some of the forensic methods
below:
Carbon dating is used to measure the
age of an object up to 10,000 years old.
X-ray
can be used to detect earlier work present under the surface
of a painting.
X-rays can also be used to view inside
an object to determine if it is altered or repaired.
Ultraviolet fluorescence and infrared analysis
are used to detect repairs or earlier painting present on
canvasses.
Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry
and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry
are used to detect anomalies in paintings and materials.
Dendrochronology can be used to date a wooden
object by counting the number of tree rings present in the
object.
Stable isotope analysis can be used
to determine where the stone or marble used in a sculpture
was quarried.
The Craquelure in a paintings
surface is analyzed to detect forgery.
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What is:
Copy = to produce something so that
it is the same as an original piece of work.
Counterfeit
= to copy something exactly in order to make someone believe
that the copy is the original.
Falsify = to change
something in order to deceive.
Fake = an object
which is made to look real or valuable in order to deceive
people.
Forge = to make an illegal copy of something
in order to deceive.
Fraud = a thing that is not
what is claimed
Replica = an exact copy of an
object
Pastiche = a piece of art which intentionally
copies someone else's work.
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Han van Meegeren, 1889-1947, a Dutch painter
considered to be one of the most ingenious art forgers of
the 20th century.
He decided to prove his talent to the
critics by forging paintings of some of the world's most
famous artists, Frans Hals and Vermeer.
He replicated
the styles and colours of the artists he copied so well,
that the best art critics and experts of the time regarded
his paintings as genuine and exquisite. |
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His most successful forgery was The Disciples
at Emmaus. This painting was considered by some of world’s
foremost art experts as the finest Vermeer they had ever
seen.
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Han van Meegeren
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van Meegeren, Wikipedia
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The Getty Kouros
Neither art historians nor
scientists have been able to completely resolve the issue
of the Getty Museum kouros's authenticity.
When several
of the other pieces offered with the Kouros was proved to
be forgeries, The Getty Kouros authenticity was questioned.
Greek, about 530 B.C., or modern forgery, Marble
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The Getty Kouros, ancient World
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UNESCO
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UNESCO, Stop the art thieves |
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