BUT WAIT A MINUTE…LET’S BACK UP AND HAVE ANOTHER LOOK AT ONE OF THOSE INBOX DRAWINGS…(REWIND EFFECT)
…SOMETHING DIDN’T LOOK QUITE RIGHT…THAT ONE! OLIVIA’S PICTURE. DID OLIVIA REALLY DRAW THAT OR COULD IT BE…A FORGERY?! THAT’S RIGHT, WE DECIDED TO PLAY A LITTLE TRICK ON YOU! (HOLDS UP DRAWINGS) THIS IS OLIVIA’S REAL PICTURE, AND HERE’S OUR VERY SIMILAR FORGERY.
A FORGERY IS A COPY OR IMITATION OF A DOCUMENT, SIGNATURE, BANKNOTE, OR WORK OR ART FOR THE PURPOSE OF DECEPTION – AND IT’S A BIG PROBLEM IN THE ART WORD.
UP NEXT, ONE MUSEUM ASKED VISITORS TO TRY TO SPOT THE FORGED ART.
OLD MASTERS.. AND ICONIC ART FROM ITALY..
PICTURES LIKE THESE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN COVETED BY COLLECTORS
BUT IN TODAY'S 63 BILLION DOLLAR ART MARKET, THEY'VE ALSO BECOME A LUCRATIVE TARGET FOR FORGERS..
TO HIGHLIGHT THE INCREASING INCIDENCE OF FAKERY, CURATORS AT THIS LONDON GALLERY ONCE REPLACED ONE OF THEIR WORKS WITH A $100 COPY MADE IN CHINA Ian Dejardin, Dulwich Picture Gallery: The idea was we commissioned a copy, by simple means. You can order them over the internet. And anyway we took the replica, put it in this frame... WHEN THEY CHALLENGED VISITORS TO SPOT IT.. TICKET SALES DOUBLED YET ONLY 11% OF VIEWERS GOT IT RIGHT.. Ian Dejardin, Dulwich Picture Gallery: The art world has always, always, been plagued by forgers. Its not new. Its always there and that's because of the art market - obviously where there is big money involved criminals, which is what it is, criminals will follow. WITH THE VALUE OF FINE ART DOUBLING OVER THE PAST DECADE, THE THREAT OF FORGERY HAS ALSO RISEN ... NETTING SOME THE BIGGEST NAMES IN THE ART WORLD... LIKE SOTHERBY'S WHICH HAD TO REIMBURSE A CLIENT 10 MLN DOLLARS AFTER IT SOLD A FRANS HALS WHICH WASN'T WHAT IT FIRST SEEMED. SO... WHILE BUYERS USED TO RELY ON THE EYE OF THE EXPERT... THE EYE OF THE X-RAY NOW OFFERS THE ULTIMATE GUARANTEE.... MEANING BIG BUSINESS THIS AUTHENTIFICATION LAB IN SOUTH LONDON.
Francis Eastaugh, General Manager, Art Analysis & Research Ltd: what we do here using science and forensics to uncover these fakes and forgeries is not common in the art market but
it is becoming more so and that just means inevitably a little more is coming out and you're finding these cases of forgeries, but that's just the nature of investigating this stuff and having a new tool at your disposal. We're really looking at the material that makes up the paintings so the paint the stretcher, the canvas all of the different constituent parts. We're looking to try and find information about who created the painting, when it was created, where it was created.
Instructional Links
Website Article: Artsy, A Brief History of Art Forgery—From Michelangelo to Knoedler & Company
Interactive Website: Nova, Catching a Copy | Video & transcript shows how scientist spot fakes.
Website Article: The Why Files, Art Attack, Just Zap It | Using science to test art forgeries
Website Article: Kids Health, What is Plagiarism
Lesson Plan: ReadThinkWrite, Exploring Plagiarism, Copyright, and Paraphrasing