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A state-owned French art museum has discovered that more than half of its collection consists of worthless fakes and experts fear that other public galleries may also be stuffed with forgeries.
An art historian raised the alarm after noticing that paintings attributed to Etienne Terrus showed buildings that were only constructed after the artist's death in 1922. Experts confirmed that 82 of the 140 works displayed at the Terrus museum in Elne, the artist's birthplace in southern France, were fakes.
Many of the forged oil paintings, watercolours and drawings were bought with £140,000 of municipal funds over the past few decades. Others were given to the museum by two local groups that raised money to buy them by appealing for donations. Some were bequeathed by a private collector.
Yves Barniol, the mayor of Elne, near the Spanish border, said: "It's a catastrophe. I put myself in the place of all the people who came to visit the museum, who saw fake works of art, who paid an entrance fee. It's intolerable and I hope we find those responsible."
[...] Art experts estimate that at least 20 per cent of paintings owned by major museums across the world may not be the work of the purported artists.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by frojack on Monday April 30 2018, @12:41AM (6 children)
But did you enjoy the collection until you found out it was fake?
I suspect your villain is long since dead.
Municipal funds. Hmmm.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by takyon on Monday April 30 2018, @01:03AM (3 children)
Can I get a museum with just fakes? I think I would prefer it.
...
Done! [smithsonianmag.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 5, Interesting) by frojack on Monday April 30 2018, @03:16AM
Since some fakes are good enough to fool experts for years, they are on par with the original artist's work.
If you knew they were fakes, doesn't that add a new dimension to their interest?
After all people go to Tribute Band concerts all the time.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Monday April 30 2018, @11:52AM
I don't know about a museum, but you can get women with just fakes, and some guys do prefer it.
(Score: 2) by richtopia on Monday April 30 2018, @03:16PM
I haven't been, but I want to visit Dafen to see the fakes being mass-produced:
http://www.amusingplanet.com/2011/04/dafen-oil-painting-village-where-fake.html [amusingplanet.com]
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 30 2018, @01:14AM
With the exception of historical relevance, it's all the same bullshit as them in beer/coffee/wine/food/fashion snob idiots.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 30 2018, @02:52PM
A lot of people enjoy the idea that they are seeing actual history, personally finding out so many items are replicas really would ruin the enjoyment quite a bit. It may seem silly as no one was able to notice there were fakes, but it is still fraud.