"Museum of Art Fakes The Museum of Art Fakes () is a museum of faked and forged artworks that opened in Vienna, Austria in 2005. This small, privately run museum in the Landstraße district is the only one of its kind in the German-speaking world. The exhibits include works by the renowned Vermeer-forger Han van Meegeren and the British art restorer Tom Keating, who claimed to have faked over 2,000 works by more than 100 different artists and deliberately inserted ""time bombs"" and anachronisms into his paintings. Also on display are items produced by Konrad Kujau, creator of the fake"
"a character, I climb into the minds and lives of each artist. I adopt their techniques and search for the inspiration behind each great artist’s view of the world. Then, and only then, do I start to paint a ‘Legitimate Fake’. John Myatt John Myatt, (born 1945), is a British artist and was convicted of Art forgery who, with John Drewe, perpetrated what has been described as ""the biggest art fraud of the 20th century"". The son of a farmer, Myatt attended art school and discovered a talent for mimicking other artists' styles but at first only painted for amusement"
"Tom Keating Thomas Patrick Keating born in Forest Hill (1 March 1917 – 12 February 1984) was an English art restorer and famous art forger who claimed to have faked more than 2,000 paintings by over 100 different artists. The total estimated of the profits of his forgeries amount to more than 10 million dollars in today's value. Keating was born in Lewisham, London, into a poor family. His father worked as a house painter, and barely made enough to feed the household. At the age of fourteen, Keating was turned away from St. Dunstan’s College in London. Because his"
"Shaun Greenhalgh Shaun Greenhalgh (born 1960) was a British art forger. Over a seventeen-year period, between 1989 and 2006, he produced a large number of forgeries. Teaming up with his brother and elderly parents, who fronted the sales side of the operation, he successfully sold his fakes internationally to museums, auction houses, and private buyers, accruing nearly £1 million.<ref name=""http://theguardian.com""> ""The Guardian"" ""How garden shed fakers fooled the art world"", 16 November 2007.</ref> The family have been described by Scotland Yard as ""possibly the most diverse forgery team in the world, ever"". However, when they attempted to sell three Assyrian"
"Elmyr de Hory Elmyr de Hory (born Elemér Albert Hoffmann; Budapest, April 14, 1906 – Ibiza, December 11, 1976) was a Hungarian-born painter and art forger, who is said to have sold over a thousand forgeries to reputable art galleries all over the world. His forgeries garnered celebrity from a Clifford Irving book, ""Fake"" (1969); a documentary essay film by Orson Welles, ""F for Fake"" (1974); and a biography by Mark Forgy, ""The Forger's Apprentice: Life with the World's Most Notorious Artist"" (2012). Most of the information regarding de Hory's early life comes from what he told American writer Clifford"
"of an old tea-tray and fashioned on his own body. In London in 1859, Jack was accused of forgery by Professor Tennant. The professor, fascinated by the hard-to-detect forgeries, persuaded Jack to describe his manufacturing methods to members of the Geological and Archaeological Societies. Edward's reputation following his incarceration in 1867, as recorded in the Whitby Gazette: ""After moving to London, Flint Jack sold artefacts to museums and other serious collections across the country, including numerous pieces to the British Museum itself."" ""Flint Jack - A notorious Yorkshireman - one of the greatest impostors of our times -was last week"
"Court, Drewe was convicted of defrauding a 71-year-old retired music teacher of her life savings of £700,000 and leaving her penniless. He was jailed for eight years by a judge who told him “In my view you are about the most dishonest and devious person I have ever dealt with"". John Drewe John Drewe (born 1948) is a British purveyor of art forgeries who commissioned artist John Myatt to paint them. Drewe earned about £1.8 million executing these art crimes. Drewe was born John Cockett in 1948 in Sussex, England. At the age of 17 he dropped out of school"
"Spanish Forger The Spanish Forger () is the name given to an unidentified individual who, in the late 19th to early 20th century, created a large number of forgeries of medieval miniatures. The Spanish Forger's works were painted on vellum or parchment leaves of genuine medieval books, using either blank margins or scraping off the original writing. He also “completed” unfinished miniatures or added missing miniatures in medieval choir books. His works fooled many experts and collectors at the time and appear today in the collections of many museums and libraries. Over 200 forgeries have been identified. As recently as"
"A Rake's Progress A Rake's Progress is a series of eight paintings by 18th-century English artist William Hogarth. The canvases were produced in 1732–34, then engraved in 1734 and published in print form in 1735. The series shows the decline and fall of Tom Rakewell, the spendthrift son and heir of a rich merchant, who comes to London, wastes all his money on luxurious living, prostitution and gambling, and as a consequence is imprisoned in the Fleet Prison and ultimately Bethlem Hospital (Bedlam). The original paintings are in the collection of Sir John Soane's Museum in London, where they are"
"it wise to commission forgeries in an attempt to market its services”. Associate Professor Robyn Sloggett, director of the Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation at the University of Melbourne and an art authentication expert, withdrew from a panel to promote the competition, which included Tetro, art dealer John Buckley and writer Linda Jaivin, when she learnt about the commissioned fakes. Tony Tetro Anthony Gene Tetro (born 1950), known as Tony Tetro, is an art forger known for his perfectionism in copies of artwork produced in the 1970s and 1980s. Tetro never had formal art lessons, but learned from books, by"
"being valued at around $4,000. Spanish Forger The Spanish Forger () is the name given to an unidentified individual who, in the late 19th to early 20th century, created a large number of forgeries of medieval miniatures. The Spanish Forger's works were painted on vellum or parchment leaves of genuine medieval books, using either blank margins or scraping off the original writing. He also “completed” unfinished miniatures or added missing miniatures in medieval choir books. His works fooled many experts and collectors at the time and appear today in the collections of many museums and libraries. Over 200 forgeries have"
"A Harlot's Progress A Harlot's Progress (also known as The Harlot's Progress) is a series of six paintings (1731, now destroyed) and engravings (1732) by the English artist William Hogarth. The series shows the story of a young woman, M. (Moll or Mary) Hackabout, who arrives in London from the country and becomes a prostitute. The series was developed from the third image: having painted a prostitute in her boudoir in a garret on Drury Lane, Hogarth struck upon the idea of creating scenes from her earlier and later life. The title and rich allegory are reminiscent of John Bunyan's"
"Big Big Train vocalist David Longdon, the song walks through Keating's artistic life from his time as a restorer to his death and posthumous fame. Tom Keating Thomas Patrick Keating born in Forest Hill (1 March 1917 – 12 February 1984) was an English art restorer and famous art forger who claimed to have faked more than 2,000 paintings by over 100 different artists. The total estimated of the profits of his forgeries amount to more than 10 million dollars in today's value. Keating was born in Lewisham, London, into a poor family. His father worked as a house painter,"
"Fernand Legros Fernand Legros (; 26 January 1931 – 7 April 1983) was an art dealer who for over a decade, from the middle 1950s until the late 1960s, sold the forged artworks of Elmyr de Hory, an artist and ""the Greatest Art Forger of Our Time"" (taken from the title of Clifford Irving's biography of de Hory, ""Fake!"", published in 1969). Legros was born in Ismaïlia in the Kingdom of Egypt. He first wished to be a ballet dancer. After World War II he moved from Cairo to Paris. He married an American woman, possibly as a way of"
"special exhibitions to mark the 250th anniversary of his death. William Hogarth William Hogarth FRSA (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic, and editorial cartoonist. His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called ""modern moral subjects"", perhaps best known being his moral series ""A Harlot's Progress"", ""A Rake's Progress"" and ""Marriage A-la-Mode"". Knowledge of his work is so pervasive that satirical political illustrations in this style are often referred to as ""Hogarthian"". Hogarth was born in London to a lower middle-class family. In his youth"
"William Hogarth William Hogarth FRSA (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic, and editorial cartoonist. His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called ""modern moral subjects"", perhaps best known being his moral series ""A Harlot's Progress"", ""A Rake's Progress"" and ""Marriage A-la-Mode"". Knowledge of his work is so pervasive that satirical political illustrations in this style are often referred to as ""Hogarthian"". Hogarth was born in London to a lower middle-class family. In his youth he took up an apprenticeship where he specialised in engraving."
"Tony Tetro Anthony Gene Tetro (born 1950), known as Tony Tetro, is an art forger known for his perfectionism in copies of artwork produced in the 1970s and 1980s. Tetro never had formal art lessons, but learned from books, by painting and experimentation. Over three decades, Tetro forged works by Rembrandt, Joan Miró, Marc Chagall, Salvador Dalí and Norman Rockwell and others. Tetro's paintings and lithographs, known for their perfectionism, were sold by art dealers and auction houses as legitimate works and hang in museums, galleries around the world. He was caught after Hiro Yamagata found a forgery of his"
"Museum, for example. Two individual buyers, ""wealthy Americans"" have been noticed, but only after they donated their purchase to the British Museum. Another piece sold to an unnamed private buyer came to light when the Art Institute of Chicago announced that ""The Faun"", a ceramic sculpture on display since 1997 as the work of the 19th-century French master Paul Gauguin, was also a forgery by Shaun Greenhalgh. The museum purchased the sculpture from a private dealer in London, who had bought it at a Sotheby's auction in 1994. In addition, the bank records of the Greenhalghs only went back six"
"in London"" #330. A Harlot's Progress A Harlot's Progress (also known as The Harlot's Progress) is a series of six paintings (1731, now destroyed) and engravings (1732) by the English artist William Hogarth. The series shows the story of a young woman, M. (Moll or Mary) Hackabout, who arrives in London from the country and becomes a prostitute. The series was developed from the third image: having painted a prostitute in her boudoir in a garret on Drury Lane, Hogarth struck upon the idea of creating scenes from her earlier and later life. The title and rich allegory are reminiscent"
"John Drewe John Drewe (born 1948) is a British purveyor of art forgeries who commissioned artist John Myatt to paint them. Drewe earned about £1.8 million executing these art crimes. Drewe was born John Cockett in 1948 in Sussex, England. At the age of 17 he dropped out of school and changed his surname to Drewe. He worked briefly with the British Atomic Energy Authority, having initially convinced his superiors that he had a Ph.D. in physics. He resigned two years later, after this was found to be false. After that, there is a 15-year gap in official records about"
"with Dogs"", ""Darby and Joan"" and ""Crowd Scene"" - featured in the BBC One series ""Fake or Fortune?"". The programme enlisted the help of various experts to determine whether the paintings were genuine or forgeries. The works in question had been bought in the 1960s by a Cheshire businessman, Gerald Ames, but their provenance was poor, and it was noted that Lowry was ""probably the most faked British artist, his deceptively simple style of painting making him a soft target for forgers"". All three works were judged to be genuine by a panel of experts, and the total value of"
"age of 20, using vellum recycled from a 16th-century land deed. Greenhalgh said the woman's face is that of a supermarket check-out girl named Alison who worked in Bolton. Pictures of the family can be found attached with most articles cited. The best source of images of the forgeries themselves is the BBC article. Those available include: Also included in the BBC article: Shaun Greenhalgh Shaun Greenhalgh (born 1960) was a British art forger. Over a seventeen-year period, between 1989 and 2006, he produced a large number of forgeries. Teaming up with his brother and elderly parents, who fronted the"
"that some remain in private and museum collections in addition to being offered through art dealers and auction houses. Part of the reason why so many fake Ryders exist is that his style is easily copied. Forgers can go to great lengths to fabricate the age of a painting, including painting it on antique canvas and baking it to add cracks. Forgeries can be discovered through visual and chemical examination, and through a provable provenance—a collection of written documentation detailing a painting's ownership history. Albert Pinkham Ryder Albert Pinkham Ryder (March 19, 1847 – March 28, 1917) was an American"
"one of his forgeries. Wolfgang Beltracchi Wolfgang Beltracchi (born Wolfgang Fischer in 1951) is a German art forger and artist who has admitted to forging hundreds of paintings in an international art scam netting millions of euros. Beltracchi, together with his wife Helene, sold forgeries of original works by famous artists, including Max Ernst, Heinrich Campendonk, Fernand Léger and Kees van Dongen. Though he was found guilty for forging 14 works of art that sold for a combined $45m (£28.6m), he claims to have faked ""about 50"" artists. The total estimated profits Beltracchi made from his forgeries surpasses $100m. In"
"from Art Institute where it had been on permanent display as part of its post-Impressionist collection. It remained on the website as part of the ""Studio of the South"" exhibition slideshow until mid-December. Because Greenhalgh's trial finished before the sculpture was revealed as a forgery, it was not impounded by police, but the Art Institute was reportedly in discussion about compensation with Sotheby's and the private dealer. The Faun The Faun is a sculpture by British forger Shaun Greenhalgh. He successfully passed it off as a work by Paul Gauguin, selling it at Sotheby's for £20,700 in 1994. Three years"
"of six prints to subscribers for a Guinea. Pirate copies of the engravings were soon in circulation, and Hogarth procured a 1735 Act of Parliament (8 Geo. II. cap. 13) to prohibit the practice. Soon after, Hogarth published his second series of satirical and moralistic images, ""A Rake's Progress"", followed ten years later by ""Marriage à-la-mode"". The original paintings were destroyed in a fire at Fonthill House in 1755, the country house of William Beckford (1709–1770), a politician and father of William Thomas Beckford (1 October 1760 – 2 May 1844) builder of Fonthill Abbey in Wiltshire. The original plates"
"John Bunyan Museum John Bunyan Museum is a museum primarily dedicated to the life, times and works of John Bunyan. The museum is located in Bedford, Bedfordshire, England. John Bunyan (1628 – 1688), a Christian writer and preacher, was born in Harrowden (one mile south-east of Bedford), in the Parish of Elstow, England. He wrote ""The Pilgrim's Progress"", arguably the most famous published Christian allegory. In the Church of England he is remembered with a Lesser Festival on 30 August. In 1672, the led by Bunyan purchased a barn which they used to conduct worship. Eventually, a church, which came"
"John Myatt John Myatt, (born 1945), is a British artist and was convicted of Art forgery who, with John Drewe, perpetrated what has been described as ""the biggest art fraud of the 20th century"". The son of a farmer, Myatt attended art school and discovered a talent for mimicking other artists' styles but at first only painted for amusement and for friends. He worked as a songwriter for a time and claims authorship of the song ""Silly Games"", a UK no. 2 hit for Janet Kay in 1979, although this is attributed by Kay to producer Dennis Bovell and credited"
"x-rays would later reveal the text. He deliberately added flaws or anachronisms, or used materials peculiar to the 20th century. Modern copyists of old masters use similar practices to guard against accusations of fraud. In Keating's book ""The Fake's Progress"", discussing the famous artists he forged, he stated that ""it seemed disgraceful to me how many of them died in poverty"". He reasoned that the poverty he had shared with these artists qualified him for the job. He added: ""I flooded the market with the 'work' of Palmer and many others, not for gain, but simply as a protest against"
"Philip Mould Philip Jonathan Clifford Mould OBE (born 1960) is an English art dealer, writer and broadcaster. He has made a number of major art discoveries, including some of Thomas Gainsborough's earliest known works, the only known portrait of Arthur, Prince of Wales and a number of lost works by Sir Anthony Van Dyck. Mould is the author of two books on art discovery and is widely consulted by the media on the subject. He is well known for his role co-presenting the BBC television programme ""Fake or Fortune?"", the most watched arts programme on television. Mould was educated at"
"himself forged, many of the forgeries associated with the works of John Constable. His association with one copy of ""A Sea Beach Brighton"" painting by Constable was featured on the BBC One's ""Fake or Fortune?"" in January 2014. His brother Hector Heatly Orrock (1831-1862) was a short-lived architect involved in railway station design with Sir Thomas Bouch. James Orrock James Orrock R.I., R.O.I. (1829 – 10 May 1913), was a prominent Scottish collector of art and oriental ceramics, illustrator and landscape watercolourist. The scale of his involvement with the art trade and with top collectors such as John Ruskin is"
"used in prison as well as his will and a third edition of ""The Pilgrim's Progress"". John Bunyan Museum John Bunyan Museum is a museum primarily dedicated to the life, times and works of John Bunyan. The museum is located in Bedford, Bedfordshire, England. John Bunyan (1628 – 1688), a Christian writer and preacher, was born in Harrowden (one mile south-east of Bedford), in the Parish of Elstow, England. He wrote ""The Pilgrim's Progress"", arguably the most famous published Christian allegory. In the Church of England he is remembered with a Lesser Festival on 30 August. In 1672, the led"
"guilty and charged with forgery and corruption related to 14 works of art that sold for a combined $45m (£28.6m). But Beltracchi has stated to the BBC that he faked 'about 50' artists. Demand was so high, said Wolfgang Beltracchi, that he could have found buyers for up to 2,000 bogus pieces, had he been inclined to paint them. Beltracchi: The Art of Forgery Beltracchi: The Art of Forgery is a 2014 film by Arne Birkenstock based on the life of German art forger Wolfgang Beltracchi and was released in 2014. ""The Art of Forgery"" is a Documentary film about"