Art Forgery: An Organized Crime?

Caroline Scarola

Criminal acts against works of art occur more often than one may think—works looted during wars and forgotten, dug up for profit, laundered in the art market, and forged with malintent. The art market will attract criminals because there will always be a market for art (Shortland 157–

58). In 2004, the Federal Bureau of Investigation created the first American task force to focus on art crime; yet, European countries have had task forces since the late 1960s.1

Art crime as a category consists of looting and trafficking, theft, forgeries and fakes, vandalism or iconoclasm, and smuggling (Durney and Proulx 116–17). Forgery is seen as “a less objectionable crime, because it affects only the direct victim and perhaps the reputations of those fooled,” while theft and looting are often avenues for terrorist groups to fund their organizations

(Charney, The Art of Forgery 149). Because forgery is “almost always perpetrated by one or two people,” it cannot qualify “as organized crime, and its profits do not fuel other types of crime in which criminal groups might be involved” (Charney 149). However, art forgery is more serious than people realize. It is a universal issue that affects cultural property and society. By comparing art forgery to nine key characteristics of organized crime, this paper seeks to reclassify art crime as a more serious issue.2

1 To learn more about the task forces that investigate art crimes, see “Specialized Police Forces.” 2 To learn more about these nine characteristics, see “Organized Crime.” Scarola 2

I. The Overall Goal: Money and Profit

The overall goal of organized crime groups is profit (“Organized Crime”). A recent study concluded that criminals, on average, earn more than $900 a week (Fortuna). There are several incentives for forgery: revenge, pride, fame, power, and money. Most art forgers feel rejected from the art world and consider it “a private club” for the elite. As a result, forgers seek revenge and derive pride from being able to “trick” the elite by passing-off their work as someone else’s, landing them in the “exclusive club” (Charney, “The Provenance Trap”). Once a forger realizes the excessive profit to be gained from forging, he longs for more. Philosopher Thomas Hobbes believes that a “man’s existence is defined by greed” (Brassey 1). Their desire to feel included in the art world morphs into profit-driven incentivization, money becoming the “the main rationale for a forger to continue forging” (Charney, The Art of Forgery, 190).

Fig. 1. Geert Jan Jansen [Van Gogh Studio].

Forgers know that copying a work or imitating the style of a well-known artist leads to great profits due to the high demand of the works of a “master.” On average, a well-known artist’s work can sell for a few million dollars (Del Valle). Geert Jan Jansen (fig. 1) is one of many who

Scarola 3 was driven by money. The skilled Dutch forger began his career copying paintings as a means to improve his own technique. However, failing to keep his gallery afloat, he turned to passing his works as originals in order to make a profit. When arrested, he was found in a “spectacular, white-walled castle in the Dutch countryside decorated with scores of authentic masterpieces”

(Charney, The Art of Forgery, 190). He lived the life of a luxurious aristocrat, thus continuing to forge to support his lifestyle.3 The same goes for French forger Guy Ribes4 (fig. 2), who grew up in a poor neighborhood and was raised by prostitutes after his parents were sentenced to prison.

He worked in the style of “geniuses” such as Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and others, which he sold for upwards of a million dollars. His hubris led to him to eventually become involved in a million-dollar scam. Art forgers are “not out there to prove a point, but to make a profit”

(Charney 190). Therefore, art forgery possesses the profit-making motive which parallels those in organized crime who seek to maintain a lavish life.

Fig. 2. Hubert Fanthomme, Guy Ribes in his studio, 24 February 2015. [“Former Art Forger Guy Ribes”]

3 For more information about Geert Jan Jansen, see Van Gogh Studio. 4 For more information about Guy Ribes watch Jean-Luc Léon’s film A Genuine Forger.

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II. Threat to National Security

Since art forgery poses an indirect threat to national security, I will take a different approach and consider who is affected by art forgery. Forgers “cause considerable damage to society and culture, as well as to the individual and the entire economic life of the community”

(Wurtenberger 83). Thomas Hoving, the ex-director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, claimed that around forty percent of the works he examined were fake, and overall, it is estimated that twenty percent of works in all museums are forged (Avrich).

Fig. 3. A drawing by Victor Juhasz of the defense team for the Knoedler Gallery forgery trial, with ex- Knoedler president Ann Freedman on the right. (Photo: Illustratedcourtroom.blogspot.com.).

The reputation of the individual who purchases fake art—especially in the case of a connoisseur—is damaged. Once a renowned art dealer, Anne Freedman’s career was destroyed when she was blamed for an $80-million art scandal (fig. 3). Some experts declared her as

“downright stupid” for falling for the trick in the first place (Avrich). The Getty Museum in

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California also has a tarnished reputation for its Getty Kouros scandal (fig. 4). They bought what they believed to be an authentic sixth-century BCE Greek statue; however, the origins of the

Kouros are controversial, and no consensus has been reached. Such confusion not only damages experts’ reputations but results in patrons’ distrust in institutions and “a considerable loss of prestige” (Wurtenberger 88). If experts cannot tell real work from a fake, how can we be certain that what we see in museums is real?

Fig. 4. Kouros, Greek, c. 530 BCE, or modern forgery. Marble. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum. [J. Paul Getty Museum]

Although some forgers possess impeccable skills, copying works precisely, artists unconsciously have their own style, which is often how connoisseurs can identify a forged piece.

Not only is the work of art “the expression of its creator’s individuality, but it also exemplifies

Scarola 6 the requirements of art of his time” (Wurtenberger 86). Thus, a forged work attempts to simulate the style of its original period, but fails to capture “an essential part of its aesthetic value” and its original sense of time and place (Wurtenberger 86). One can therefore say that the artwork itself suffers from the practice of forgery.

Forgery also damages the study of art and can cause an “often unnoticed damage of ideal as well as of material kind to aesthetics” (Wurtenberger 87). When a forger, unable to access the original materials, ends up using different ones, scholars can be misled in their analysis. The forger misguides their own “generation by pretending to show the work of art of a great artist of the past since they want to ascribe it to past periods of art, while it actually does not belong to the creations of that time” (Wurtenberger 86). This confuses our understanding of historic styles and techniques.

Additionally, the original artist’s reputation is tarnished as a fraudulent copy “invariably clouds the integrity of the original and poses a threat to the entire production of the true artist”

(Wurtenberger 86). A forger cannot fully comprehend the true intent behind an individual’s work and so for artists forgery is “an offense to their ‘good nature’ and their honor” (Wurtenberger

87). Forgeries are dishonest appropriations of authorship, which inflict damage to the values of art, culture, society, and national identity. Although organized crime can be more dangerous and threaten national security, the consequences of art forgery to the world of art and to art history should be taken seriously.

III. Compromising Economies

There is an alarming amount of money circulating in the illicit economy of transnational organized crime. A 2017 study estimated that there is $1.6 to $2.2 trillion annually made through

Scarola 7 these illegal businesses, and has likely risen in more recent years (Clough). The global art market is a $67 billion-a-year enterprise (Thornton). Where there is money, there is art and crime.

Fig. 5. Title of the New York Times article by Peltier and Codrea-Rado.

Many museums have been involved in art forgery scandals. In 2018, a French museum dedicated to artist Étienne Terrus (fig. 5) concluded that more than half of the works in their collection were forged works—82 out of the 140 paintings (Fox). The museum invested $170,000 over twenty years on these fake drawings and paintings, yet the perpetrator was never found, leaving this case unsolved (Peltier and Codrea-Rado). The Getty Kouros (fig. 4) was acquired in the mid-

1980s for between $9 and $12 million. There has been much debate over its authenticity

(Kaplan), although many experts have declared the Getty Kouros a fake; the Getty still labels the sculpture as potentially authentic (fig. 6), listing it as either from about 530 BCE or a modern forgery. The amount of money institutions spend to acquire these works only further proves how much they are affected when the work’s integrity is questioned.

Fig. 6. Object details for the Getty Kouros, museum website [J. Paul Getty].

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Fig. 7. Glafira Rosales (center). [Bowley]

The New York City art gallery, Knoedler & Company, was forced to close after a major scandal.

Art dealer Glafira Rosales sold more than 60 forged art works to New York galleries for $80 million (fig. 7).5 These works were fakes created by “Painter,” a pseudonym for a trained New

York art school artist. Not only were the works fake, but so was their provenance. Pleading guilty, “Rosales acknowledged her role in a sprawling fraud that involved the commission of phony artworks she represented as real, and her efforts to hide the proceeds of this massive scam in foreign bank accounts” (United States Department of Justice).6

These art fraud scams have occurred for centuries. Han van Meegeren was best known for his fake Vermeers. The works of Johannes Vermeer, one of the most renowned artists, are

5 For art as an investment, see Mandel. 6 For more information about the Knoedler Gallery, see Miller.

Scarola 9 scarce and sell for millions of dollars. Taking advantage of this, Meegeren tricked multiple individuals into buying his work, including the Dutch government. Overall, he successfully sold around $60 million worth of fake Vermeers in his career (Davis).7

Fig. 8. Title Artsy article. [Ludel]

A recent example of the money flow in and out of the art market is from an FBI raid on a barn in Michigan (fig. 8). The owner of the barn was connected to a ring of art forgers. Also involved was Hirschl & Adler Galleries in New York City, who paid $709,000 for two supposed

George Ault paintings. It also appears that Crawford’s Smith Siol paid $395,000 for a work, and another was sold for $93,750 in an auction (Cascone). This proves the high prices that works are sold for and the extent of people and institutions being affected by forgeries.

IV. Compromising Governments: Corruption

The fourth key characteristic of organized crime is the corruption that involves governments, in particular officials. To take one example: in Mexico, one in five citizens believe their government is corrupt and the country’s former defense minister was alleged to be helping cartels send illegal drugs to the U.S. This is just one of many examples (Romera).

Although organized crime has strong links to corrupt government officials, there is no known link between compromising governments and art forgery.

7 See also “Han van Meegeren Fake Vermeers.”

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V. Transnational Nature

When there is coordination between individuals working across different borders planning illegal activities, organized crime becomes transnational. Much of the time, these groups are involved in drug, human, and arms trafficking. Art forgery too can occur transnationally. Oftentimes, a work will appear in Europe and then years later resurface in the United States.

Fig. 9. Title from The Guardian [Osborne].

One 2013 case (fig. 9) is tied to a group of six forgers who produced 400 fake Russian avant-garde works. This ring of art forgers was found to be transnational, with a “home base” in

Germany. A series of raids were conducted in Germany, Israel, and Switzerland to arrest the members; however, only two men were found. This group is considered to have sold multiple million-pounds worth of paintings, acting as an international art forgery ring (fig. 10). Paintings have been sold to buyers in Spain, Germany, and Russia for around two million Euros (Osborne).

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Fig. 10. Confiscated paintings sit in a room in the basement of the Federal Criminal Police Office in Wiesbaden, Germany, 13 June 2013. [Röbel and Wassermann]

Although working by himself, Elmyr de Hory, a Hungarian painter, created thousands of forgeries which he sold worldwide. He conned an auction house in New Zealand, a Chicago art dealer, and several individuals in Europe. He forged some of the most famous artists: Henri

Matisse, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani, and Paul Cézanne. Each work sold for around what is today $750 million (Horberry). This shows the extent of damage art forgery can do internationally, plaguing the art world.

VI. Use of Violence and Threats

Unlike organized crime groups, no evidence links art forgery to violence or threats. Yes, art forgery damages reputations, however, no violence is inflicted upon the individual or institution.

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VII. Hierarchical Structure

Organized crime groups operate with a clear structure and ranks. The best example is the Italian

Mafia (“Ranks”; fig. 11). The boss, much like a CEO, has power over the group, and from there, the group works much like a company. The boss has more power, usually profits, and is seen as untouchable.

Fig. 11. Mafia organizational structure. [“Ranks”]

Art forgery generally involves a dealer and an artist. In alignment with the Mafia, the dealer would be seen as the boss and the artist a hitman. Like a hitman, the artist does the “dirty work,” while the dealer keeps most of the profit. Artist Elmyr de Hory worked with art dealer

Fernand Legros, a millionaire who lived a lavish lifestyle and who continued to profit from de

Hory’s work even after a short imprisonment, while de Hory received a growing number of charges (“Fernand Legros”). Fearing to be sentenced to prison for life, de Hory committed suicide.8

8 The hierarchical nature of the relationship between de Hory and Legros can be seen in Orson Welles’s film F for Fake.

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John Myatt, an English artist, has the same hierarchical relationship with art dealer and friend, John Drewe. Drewe commissioned Myatt to copy famous artists such as Picasso and

Monet. While Myatt created the paintings, Drewe developed fake provenances. Together they made a fortune conning auction houses, dealers, and museums; however, after Drewe’s ex- girlfriend informed the authorities and their activities were investigated, both were sentenced to jail. In court, Myatt confessed that he “was very much [Drewe’s] creature” (Landesman). Myatt simply needed the money, but Drewe took advantage of the starving artist and capitalized on

Myatt’s talent.

VIII. Illegal Activities and Enterprises

Much like organized crime, there are connections between illicit activities and enterprises and art forgery. One usually thinks of art forgery as eliciting “images of the pearl-clasping super-rich with jaws dropped at fake Picassos, but the crime is also often linked to money laundering, tax evasion, and drug trafficking” (Pilon). The driving force behind criminal acts is the amount of cash that is present in the art world.

Art is the perfect front to launder money. Art market transactions are often private and prices subjective and extremely high. Once purchased, works can disappear from view for years, even decades. Much of the art bought at auctions goes “to freeports–ultra-secure warehouses for the collections of millionaires and billionaires, ranging from Picassos and gold to vintage

Ferraris and fine wine. The freeports, which exist in Switzerland, Luxembourg and Singapore, offer a variety of tax advantages because the goods stored in them are technically in transit. The

Economist magazine reported that the freeport near the Geneva airport alone is thought to hold

$100 billions of art” (Hardy). Many scholars believe that money laundering in the art world will

Scarola 14 replace money laundering that takes place through the real estate market. Numerous art dealers who have sold forgeries have been tried and found guilty of money laundering, and this is the case for Glafira Rosales.9

Although art theft has been linked to criminal organizations, recent cases of art forgery have shown that “organized crime now appears to have extended its tentacles into the art world”

(“Organized Crime Infiltrates Art World”). One example of this is the Finnish motorcycle gang

MORE, standing for “Me Olemme Rikollisten Eliittiä” or in English “We Are the Criminal

Elite” (“Organized Crime Infiltrates Art World”). MORE attempted to sell forged works to an overseas buyer. Law enforcement was only able to catch two assailants and charge them with

“assisting in aggravated fraud, assisting in forgery, aggravated fraud, forgery and aggravated money laundering” (“Organized Crime Infiltrates Art World”). There is an increasing presence of players with criminal backgrounds in the art world, and more recently, art forgery, due to the

“big money” and “little risk of getting caught” (“Organized Crime Infiltrates Art World”). This only strengthens the argument that art forgery is becoming more compliant with criminal gangs to fund their activities; therefore, art forgery should be taken more seriously, and more resources should be allocated to solving these crimes that are often left unresolved.

IX. Use of Technology to Further Motives

The final characteristic of organized crime is the use of technology to further their motives. In the past decade, the rise of the internet and of new technologies has led to an increase of cybercrime and has enabled art forgers to use platforms to sell their work.

9 For more information, see above, “III. Compromising Economies.”

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Fig. 12. Screenshot from eBay.

Online auctions and platforms such as eBay (fig. 12) have contributed to a steady growth of the online art market and combined with “the ease of international distribution, the number of art forgeries is steeply on the rise” (Durrani). In 1999, a ring of forgers began auctioning on eBay prints supposed to be by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Pablo Picasso, some of them reaching as much as $50,000. Online, the authentication process is less rigorous and Anayat

Durrani cites the case of a ring that swindled more than 10,000 victims and made a profit of over

$20 million in 2010. This is just one of many scandals that manipulates the eBay platform to buy and sell forged works. Not only do forgers utilize technology to sell their art, but they also use it to authenticate forgeries.10 Therefore, like organized crime groups, art forgers use technology to advance their motives.

10 To learn more about authenticating artwork see website tab “Determining Authenticity & Detecting Forgeries.”

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Conclusion

Art forgery shares seven out of the nine recognized characteristics of organized crime. This should raise alarm to scholars, connoisseurs, law enforcement officials, collectors, and many more. Although in recent years art forgery has appeared more regularly on the radars of legal authorities, it deserves to be taken more seriously. Its deleterious effects impact everyone, not just the institution or the individual who was deceived into purchasing a fake. The extreme profitability and minimal jail time appeal to criminals, and this practice will continue until more attention is given to it, for instance, considering it within organized crime. Greater resources, time, and money should be dedicated to prosecuting these crimes.

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