For the most part art forgery is the creating and or selling of works of art that are falsely attributed to an artist that did not create the piece of art. This can involve replicating an existing or know piece of art and passing it off as the original or creating a new work of art in the style of another artist and claiming it as a new discovery of a piece discovered from that artist. Art forgery dates back thousands of years, in fact the Romans were know to copy Greek sculptures and sell them as authentic Greek art work over 2,000 years ago.
The driving force of art forgery is the fact that art work created by certain artists is worth more than art work created by others. If a work of art can be replicated perfectly by an art forger it is only worth less monetarily than the original because of who painted it not because the painting looks any differently than the original. The same theory applies to forgers who create new art pieces in the style of a master, if the forgery is believed to be genuine it will be deemed priceless but if it is found to be a fake it is deemed worthless, regardless of what the piece of art looks like.
Forensic investigators, along with art historians and appraisers, are often responsible for determining if a piece of art is a forgery or not. Historians often use stylistic analysis to determine if a work of art is genuine or not, possessing large amount of knowledge about the styles, tool, brushstrokes, techniques used by certain artists. There are a variety of methods used for forensic authentication of art work. Some of the technical methods for revealing fakes include X-rays, UV lights, and IR light, which can be used to see under layers of paint to see covered up works, determine time period or the actual artist of the painting if an original signature has been covered up. Continue reading from The Crime Museum
Art Forgery: 8 Things to Know About the Classiest Crime (The Collector)
The Art of Forgery – Art Forgers Who Duped The World (Artland Magazine)
The Illicit Allure of Art Forgery (Hyperallergic)
How Art Forgery Actually Works, According to a Former Forger (Business Insider)
A Brief History of Art Forgery—From Michelangelo to Knoedler & Company (Artsy)
‘Made You Look: A True Story of Fake Art’ Review: The Most Spectacular Art Forgery Ever? (Variety)
How to Spot a Perfect Fake: The World’s Top Art Forgery Detective (The Guardian)
