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Fakes and forgeries


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Assay Office crackdown on illegal silver

05 February 2018

The London Assay Office (LAO) is to launch a crackdown on what it says is a rise in illegal antique silver being offered for sale.

Art dealer and curator investigated over Modigliani paintings deemed fakes

12 January 2018

An art dealer is among those under investigation over a collection of Amadeo Modigliani paintings which have been denounced as fakes.

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Fakes vex us more than Brexit say readers

02 January 2018

Buyer’s premium and a proliferation of fakes in the art and antiques world are the biggest concerns for the trade, ahead of Brexit issues or regulation, according to the latest ATG reader survey.

Heritage Auctions

Concerns over authenticity cause withdrawal of ‘world’s oldest Nobel Prize medal’ from New York auction

21 December 2017

Heritage Auctions has withdrawn from sale ‘the world’s oldest Nobel Prize medal ever offered at auction’ after doubts were expressed over its authenticity.

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Christie’s pulls Waldseemüller gores ‘pending further research’ over date

18 December 2017

A ‘rediscovered’ fifth copy of Martin Waldseemüller’s globe gores from c.1507 was withdrawn from sale last week after a group of academics and dealers in the US expressed doubts over its authenticity.

Martin Waldseemüller’s globe gores

Christie’s withdraws ‘first map’ of America after experts suggest it may be fake

12 December 2017

At the eleventh hour, Christie’s has taken the decision to withdraw the headline lot from the December 13 Books and Manuscripts sale in London after serious doubts were expressed over its authenticity.

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Duke’s reviews due diligence over Wallis fakes

06 November 2017

Dorchester auctioneer Duke’s said it has changed its due diligence procedures after advertising fake works it claimed were by Cornish artist Alfred Wallis (1855-1942).

Duke's

Auction house Duke’s fined for offering fake Alfred Wallis works

01 November 2017

Dorchester auction firm Duke’s has been ordered to pay £18,275 after advertising fake works it claimed were by Cornish artist Alfred Wallis (1855-1942).

Patera

West London antiques cheat pleads guilty to attempts to defraud auction houses

13 September 2017

A Poundland notebook helped convict a fraudster attempting to sell fake antiques through auction houses in London and Essex.

Newcastle Crown Court

Pitman painter faker who made £30,000 forging Norman Cornish ordered to pay back just £1

23 August 2017

A man from Sunderland who forged the work of local artist Norman Cornish (1919-2014) has been ordered to repay £1.

Knoedler art fraudster Glafira Rosales ordered to pay $81m to victims

13 July 2017

Glafira Rosales, the Long Island art dealer who in 2013 pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion in the Knoedler art forgery case, has been ordered to pay $81m to victims of the fraud.

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Three men charged in New York over fake Damien Hirst artworks sold to a “multitude of buyers” on eBay

26 June 2017

Three men have been charged in a New York court in connection with a $400,000 scam to sell fake artworks by Damien Hirst.

Then & now: the Ashley-Russell fakes saga

22 May 2017

News as reported from the ATG Archive...

Firm seeks investment for appliance of science

15 May 2017

Art Analysis and Research is looking for investment to meet what it says is a growing demand for science-based research from auction houses, dealers and collectors.

ATG Letter: Constant committee task to keep market clean

18 April 2017

MADAM – Having read your story about the reappearance on the market of boatswain whistles that had been pulled from sale in 2008 by the Antique Plate Committee (ATG No 2282), I would like to draw the attention of your readers to the work of this committee and the Hallmarking Act 1973.

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A lawyer writes: auctioneers need to mind the wording of their artist attributions or run risk of selling fakes

10 April 2017

Three articles recently published in ATG focused on the sale of a painting and in each case the key issue was authenticity. Here, lawyer Milton Silverman provides advice, including legal precedent, on how auctioneers can avoid disputes relating to authenticity as a result of misattribution.

Shaun Greenhalgh painting

Bolton saleroom offer convicted faker’s ‘Lowry’ imitations

10 February 2017

Three paintings by Shaun Greenhalgh, the faker who was sentenced to four years in prison in 2007, are being offered at Bolton Auction Rooms later this month.

Frans Hals portrait

Sotheby's and dealer Mark Weiss head to court in Old Master dispute over Frans Hals portrait

06 February 2017

Sotheby’s has begun legal action against dealer Mark Weiss over the sale of a Frans Hals painting that it now believes to be “undoubtedly a forgery”. However Weiss said he will "contest the claim vigorously".

Faker of Norman Cornish pictures sent to prison

04 February 2017

A man from Sunderland who forged the work of local artist Norman Cornish (1919-2014) was jailed for three years and seven months last week.

New York

Dealer involved in $80m New York art forgery scandal sentenced

02 February 2017

A judge has ruled that the New York art dealer involved in the $80m forgery scandal that brought down the Knoedler gallery will not serve further prison time.