A large European-scale forgery network that produced and sold fake works of art attributed to famous artists such as Banksy, Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol has been uncovered by Italian police, Reuters reported on Monday.
According to the authorities, 38 people from Italy, Spain, France and Belgium are being investigated on suspicion of conspiracy to handle stolen goods, forgery and illegal sale of works of art, the Carabinieri art team and the prosecutor’s office in Grind.
The chief prosecutor in Pisa, Teresa Angela Camelio, said that experts from the Banksy archive, involved in the investigation, considered this operation as “the greatest act of protection of Banksy’s work”. The agency that represents the artist, Pest Control, had no immediate comment, but on its website it warns buyers about the risk of “expensive fakes.”
The suspects organized two Banksy exhibitions
Among the artists whose work has been forged are established names from the 19th and 20th centuries, such as Claude Monet, Vincent Van Gogh, Salvador Dali, Henry Moore, Marc Chagall, Francis Bacon, Paul Klee and Piet Mondrian.
Investigators seized more than 2,100 counterfeit parts, estimated to have a market value of around 200 million euros, and identified six forgery workshops, including two in Tuscany, one in Venice and the rest in other European locations.
The investigation was launched in 2023 after around 200 fake pieces were seized from the collection of a businessman in Pisa, including a copy of a drawing by Amedeo Modigliani. This discovery led to the identification of fakes sold through auction houses in Italy and links to a group specializing in Banksy and Warhol fakes.
To boost their credibility, the suspects even staged two Banksy exhibitions with published catalogs in prestigious locations in Mestre, near Venice, and Cortona, in Tuscany, investigators added.
Source: www.descopera.ro
