From “A Genuine Motherwell? Make Sure Before Buying”
“TALES about art forgeries are almost always intriguing. Maybe that’s because of the big amounts paid by unwitting buyers. Or that the people involved invariably emerge as characters worthy of a thriller.
The latest tale is no exception. It involves the Knoedler Gallery, the oldest art gallery in New York, which just closed under the weight of accusations that it had sold forged paintings by modern luminaries like Jackson Pollock, Robert Motherwell and Willem de Kooning. In retrospect, the details of the sales seemed suspect from the start — a little-known dealer selling formerly unknown modern masterpieces on behalf of an owner who requested anonymity to a gallery with major connections.
I know enough about the art world to know that is a secretive, clubby place with more than its fair share of eccentrics. Still, how does something like this happen and what recourse is there for the owners of forged art? ”