On one wall hangs a Picasso, on another a Lowry and, down the corridor, a Giacometti. Together, the masterpieces at the Victoria and Albert Museum would be worth millions . . . if they were genuine.
But everything here is a fake. Each exhibit was created to dupe the experts. Forged art and antiques are so abundant on the international market that police seized enough to mount a V&A exhibition.
The Investigation of Fakes and Forgeries has been curated by the arts and antiques unit of the Metropolitan Police.
By way of items from the ancient to the modern art world, the display aims to warn dealers, curators and collectors of the lengths to which forgers will go to dupe them.
The show is for industry experts only and will not be open to the public — although the Met says that it recognises the public fascination with the subject and may stage a touring show next year.
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Many of the pieces displayed this week are from active cases. They include a network that has been trading in forged Assyrian reliefs inspired by examples in the British Museum, Roman silver and Barbara Hepworth sculptures among seized wares worth up to £2 million on the open market.
Museums, auction houses and individuals have been victims, Detective Constable Halina Racki, of the art and antiques squad, said.
One faker of Renaissance medals made a tin box which he fixed beneath his car. He put the medals in the box with pebbles and sand and, after a year of driving, the motion created a convincing finish.
The display includes a typewriter used by John Drewe to forge documentation to bolster the authenticity of forgeries created by the artist John Myatt, his partner-in-crime. Myatt painted in the style of masters such as Matisse and Giacometti, the Swiss Surrealist. Drewe forged the documents and added them to research libraries at institutions such as the V&A. Drewe sold the works to the auction houses of Christie’s, Phillips and Sotheby’s, and to dealers in London, Paris and New York.
Drewe and Myatt were arrested in 1995. As head of the operation, Drewe was convicted in 1999 and sentenced to six years in prison. Myatt was jailed for one year. Police have recovered 80 of about 200 fakes created.
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The exhibition reflects the exacting care with which the documents were forged. In addition to using a typewriter of the period, the pair obtained authentic ink and paper.
Detective Sergeant Vernon Rapley, head of the arts and antiques unit, said that Drew was undermining art history because no one could be sure how many forged documents were in the archives. The display includes a Picasso that is unlikely to fool the experts.
The gangs typically trade the fakes for drugs and firearms. Many forged Picassos are linked to the heroin trade from Turkey. Sergeant Rapley said it illustrated how art forgery was linked to organised crime.
The exhibition is sponsored by the Art Loss Register (ALR), which holds a database of fakes with its lists of stolen and looted items. Julian Radcliffe, chairman of the ALR, said that the annual value of forgeries traded in Britain was estimated at between £100 million and £200 million.
Antonia Kimbell, art trade manager of the ALR, said: “There is reluctance on behalf of some members of the trade to report fakes for fear of the poor publicity that can come from media accounts of individuals being caught out.”
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The art of forgery