Art is mankind's first collectible. It has been collected for over 4,000 years — by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, down to the Impressionists and today's modernists. The highest price ever paid for any collectible was nearly half a billion dollars: $450,000,000 for Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi, bought by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.
Where the money is, the forgers follow
Modern art has exploded among younger collectors, with abstract works tripling or more in value over the past decade. Wherever value concentrates this fast, the fakes and scoundrels follow — and in a completely unregulated market they can fake a painting and create a fraudulent appraisal to match it.
Art truly does transcend everything in life. That is exactly why it is worth faking.
What the chapter covers
- Signatures, attributions, and the authentication question
- Restoration and "enhancement" that crosses the line into fraud
- The appraisals manufactured to support a sale
- Why the highest-value market is the most-targeted