The Greatest Fakers, Counterfeiters and Art Frauds in the World

Many of us share a secret admiration for those who possess the skill to counterfeit a famous work of art, or even create a painting in the style of a famous old master making most of us, and sometimes even experts, believe that it was created by the old master himself.
The fact that some of them managed to get away with it, at least for a while, ads to that admiration, even if their condemnable acts have caused losses.

Now the readers of The Art Inquirer can satisfy their curiosity upon this subject and learn the names of some of the world's greatest and most famous art fakers such as Piero del Pollaiuolo, Michelangelo Simoni, Paul Désiré Trouillebert, Émile Schuffenecker, Han van Meegeren, and Chang Dai-chien / Zhang Daqian.

Included are also forgers and counterfeiters like Reinhold Vasters, 'Baron' Charles Weisberg, Brigido Lara, Riccardo Riccardi and Alfredo Fioravanti: (The Ricardi family), The Mudlark Forgers, and 'Operation Dealer no Deal'.

A section mentioning frauds and scandals, namely Edouardo Marquis of Valfierno (Mona Lisa art theft), Otto Wacker (Vincent van Gogh art fraud), Ethem Ulge (Fake paintings on ebay), is also provided.

Master copyists such as Gustav Klimt, Peter Paul Reubens, Pieter Brueghel the Younger, and The Posin Brothers also have a dedicated section.

All this information that includes the history of the greatest fakers, counterfeiters and art frauds in the world, has been placed together under a unique resource brought to you by Art Fake.net with the support of Freemanart Consultancy.

Cairo Museum Gets Vandalized

Recently opened last year after, after an eight year restoration valued in $10 million dollars, The Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo (Cairo Museum) was vandalized by looters during the protests that are taking place in the Egypt.
Several cabinets, artifacts and two mummies were damaged. A casket was also opened.
It seems however that looters didn't manage to steal any of the artifacts.

Conscientious citizens have formed a human cord to protect the museum, while the authorities are taking the necessary procedures to avoid further assaults.

Artworks by Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein Stolen from Robert Romanoff's Apartment

Robert Romanoff, now president of the New Jersey-based Nebraska Meat Corp., one of the country’s major distributors of smoked meat, that for years owned property in the Meatpacking District, had several works of art stolen from his five-story apartment in Manhatan, New York.

The heist seems to have been perpetrated between 24-28 November, during Romanoff's absence. According to the authorities, the burgler or burglers, who managed to bypass several security measures to get into the five-story building that has only one key-operated elevator and no stairs access to the 3rd floor, drilled a hole through the wall of the hallway.

One of the facts that is preventing authorities from solving this case in a more swiftly manner is that who committed the crime was wise enough to walk out with the surveillance video footage.

The stolen artworks include the oil painting "Live Cat" by Carl Fudege, "Superman" and "The Truck" prints by Andy Warhol, a set of eight signed prints dated from 1986 called "Camouflage", also by Warhol, as well as "Moonscape" and “Thinking Nude", both by Roy Lichenstein.

Besides the works of art, Cartier and Rolex watches, as well as jewelry were stolen, totalizing near $750,000.

Bronze Statues Stolen in Nijmegen, Netherlands

The City Council of Nijmegen has decided to remove ten bronze statues from their pedestals, following the theft of three bronze statues and another one mistaken for bronze since April this year.
Between the removed ones by the Council is the one of Mariken van Nieumeghen, which normaly stands in the main market square.

The decision was made to preserve those statues that could easily be sawed through.
Substituting the bronze statues for copies made of less expensive materials or embedding GPS chips are being pondered.

With near sixty bronze artworks in public locations, Nijmegen is a city and municipality located in the Gelderland province on the Waal River, Easten Netherlands.
Considered the oldest Dutch city, it celebrated its 2000th anniversary in 2005.

Photo (C) Frans van den Muijsenberg