The investigation, led by the Carabinieri Cultural Heritage Protection Command (Italy's art and culture police), in collaboration with the Rome prosecutor's office, began when authorities searched for fraudulent works for sale online, according to a police press release. Police found a total of 71 paintings, adding that the suspect had sold "hundreds of works of questionable authenticity" on websites such as eBay and Catawiki. The paintings are believed to be forgeries of Pablo Picasso and Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn.
Italian art and culture police have uncovered a workshop in Rome that produced hundreds of fake works.
There are also alleged forgeries of paintings by Mario Puccini, Giacomo Balla and Afro Basaldella, as well as several other famous artists.
Police found the workshop in a house in one of Rome’s northern neighborhoods where the paintings were made. Authorities discovered a room specifically set up to produce fake paintings. Among the materials seized by police were hundreds of tubes of paint, brushes, easels, along with fake gallery stamps and artist signatures.
The suspect, described by authorities as a “forger-restorer,” even possessed a typewriter and computer equipment used to create the paintings and forge certificates of authenticity for the fraudulent works.
Police found unfinished works on the forger's desk, suggesting they may have been made recently.
One tactic the suspect used was to splice auction catalogs, replacing the artist's original work with images of the fake artwork he created, police said.
Police also found several works in progress on the forger's desk signed by various artists, leading many to believe the suspect had created them recently.
No arrests have been made and authorities have not yet named a suspect.
Picasso's Les Femmes d'Alger is worth up to 179.4 million USD
This is not the first time Italian authorities have uncovered fake art. Established in 1969, the Carabinieri art police are tasked with combating crimes related to art and culture. In 2023, they recovered thousands of stolen artifacts from tombs and archaeological digs.
Spanish artist Picasso (1881-1973) and famous Dutch artist Rembrandt (1606-1669) left behind many works of art worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Picasso's Les Femmes d'Alger cost up to 179.4 million dollars, Rembrandt 's Portrait of a Man, Half-Length, With His Arms Akimbo sold at auction for 36.4 million dollars.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/canh-sat-dot-kich-xuong-lam-gia-tranh-picasso-va-rembrandt-185250221080640037.htm
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