Art is easier than ever to fake, and the art world still faces challenges of authentication. Part 2 of a three-part series on infamous art forgers continues.
Part 2 of a three-part series on art forgers and fakes. Read part 1.
While many art forgers have served time, and/or met with unfortunate ends, other forgers have left a life of crime behind them and turned their many talents, shall we say, into legal, profitable businesses.
1 : John Myatt: British artist – convicted forger supplementing his income
John Myatt’s talent for visual mimicry took him from a life of crime to a respected artist. In 1986 to supplement his teaching job while raising two kids as a single father, Myatt got caught up in a web of deceit and went on to paint 200 fakes mimicking a long line of masters including Juan Gris, Jean Dubuffet, Marc Chagall, Le Corbusier and Alberto Giacometti.
Myatt would go to a museum and examine a painting – taking it apart technically. For the forgery, he explains, “I would create a new painting, not copy the one I had looked at, but using the same methods, the same techniques, based very much on the way my target artist did it.”
But Scotland Yard caught up with Myatt in 1995. After serving a reduced sentence, he chose to never paint again. By a strange twist of fate, the arresting officer commissioned him to paint a family portrait and Myatt found a new income stream. Along with painting legitimate fakes, he developed his own artistic style, and within six months, was making a good living from his art.
Myatt describes his early forgeries as “really bad quality, absolutely awful.” Then continues, “The art world just didn’t want to see that they were fakes.”
By 2005, Myatt’s first exhibition of originals debuted in London and was a complete sell out. With a documentary about his life behind him and a feature film based on his extraordinary life ahead, his “genuine fakes” continue to be in great demand.
2 : Mark Landis: American artist – forger providing philanthropic relief
Mark Landis has been called one of the most prolific art forgers in US history. Since copying art catalogs as a child living in Europe, Landis’ impressive and diverse body of “interpretative” work spans thirty years covering Picasso and even Walt Disney.
Landis was diagnosed with schizophrenia, later determined to be bipolar. While in recovery in art therapy, Landis’ talent for copying was uncovered.
Unlike other forgers, Landis wasn’t in it for money. He has given away hundreds of works to US institutions. Given away, being the key point. Since no sale was executed – no crime was committed.
But after duping Matthew Leininger, former registrar of the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Landis’s philanthropic con was exposed. With much encouragement to cease and desist, the University of Cincinnati soon exhibited a show of Landis’ works called Faux Real in 2012.
The 2014 documentary, Art and Craft, tells Mark Landis’ story. Listen to the conversation between Kurt Anderson of Studio 360, Landis and documentarian Sam Cullman.
As of 2020, Landis celebrated his 65th birthday in Laurel, MS where he creates original work and accepts commissions.
3 : Wolfgang Beltracchi: German artist – convicted forger seeking luxury
Wolfgang Beltracchi’s claims to forgery fame are hundreds of paintings by more than 50 artists including Max Ernst, Fernand Léger, Raoul Dufy and Kees van Dongen. For nearly 40 years, his paintings made their way onto the international scene: In museums, in galleries, and in private collections.
The son of an art restorer, he was expelled from school at 17. Beltracchi became somewhat of a drifter, but found his way into art school. He married Helene in 1993. He, along with his co-conspirator wife and sister-in-law, would go on to con the art world for decades and make millions.
But all good things must end. And it was the wrong tube of white paint that brought down the house of Beltracchi. In 2010, a top forensic art analyst determined that the titanium white paint
used in Dutch artist’s Heinrich Campendonk work wouldn’t have been available when the artist painted it. Galleries and auction houses that vouched for Beltracchi’s forgeries have been sued by the collectors who bought them.
Ralph Jentsch, an art market expert who helped uncover Beltracchi’s forgeries, says the forger’s work was “rubbish” and “crude fakes,” and blames the sloppiness and laziness of market experts who legitimized it. Belltracchi vainly counters, “[The art experts’] only problem was that I was too good for them”
Beltracchi was released from prison early, in 2015, serving only three years of a six-year sentence. He has published books and was the subject of a documentary. This time around, the artist is featured in many exhibitions where he signs his works “Beltracchi.” Apparently Beltracchi found the legitimate luxury he sought – in 2018, his paintings were selling for upwards of $315,000.
4 : Ken Perenyi: American artist – forger turned do gooder
Ken Perenyi is a master forger whose meticulous oils include a wide variety of artists and styles ranging from Martin Johnson Heade and James E. Buttersworth to Picasso and Modigliani. For nearly three decades Perenyi enjoyed the fruits of his con. But in 1998, the FBI caught on and Perenyi’s works moved into the crosshairs.
In the midst of Perenyi dodging the FBI, he saw a story on 60 Minutes detailing the trokosi system of some West African countries where young girls serve as slaves to high priests. With his forgery earnings, he knew he could help at least one girl. As the adoption process proceeded, Perenyi’s FBI profile became more prominent and he decided that it was time to change his business model. Despite abundant evidence, he was never charged as a forger. The investigation mysteriously ended – case closed. Perenyl’s FBI file was marked “exempt from public disclosure.”
Now openly selling fakes to dealers and high-end clients, Perenyi enjoys a good, but less global lifestyle in Florida. His clients sign a purchase agreement with full knowledge that they are buying fakes. His memoir, “Caveat Emptor: The Secret Life of an American Art Forger” was published in 2012, safely, since the statute of limitations on his crimes had expired. From Perenyi’s extensive experience with art dealers, he observed, "I would say there most certainly are individuals out there in the trade that will turn a blind eye."
Perenyl continues to paint, and says he leads a quiet, “mundane” life, with his grown daughter, Brigitte. Listen to his 2020 interview, “This is My Alien Life.”
John Myatt recently said pulling off a con is “just as easy today.” Recent scandals including Prince Charles charity and alleged forger Donald Henkel seem to confirm his opinion.
The common thread in many forgers’ stories is that they couldn’t have forged for so long if many in the art world ignored the obvious flaws and altered provenances. They believe the art dealers and buyers are complicit. The pressure for “the get” sometimes overtakes common sense. Chris Marinello of the Art Loss Register states: “Buyers refuse to perform even the most basic due diligence before spending a fortune on fine art…” Caveat emptor?
There are many great films about those artists whose intent it is to deceive.
Genuine Fakes (I saw a great documentary about John Myatt, but it seems to have mysteriously disappeared. Genuine Fakes is the title of an upcoming feature film based on Myatt’s life.)
Are the fakes real art? If buyers understand that they are buying fakes, is that an offense to the art world? Would the buyers then try to pass off the paintings as authentic from the original artist – to dilute or upset the art market? Is creating and selling fake paintings ethical? More questions to ponder. Musée Jacquemart-André in Paris is letting the viewers decide.
Animation/design: © 2020 Janet Giampietro
