Wolfgang Beltracchi Art Forger
Wolfgang Beltracchi is a German art forger whose claim to fame was forging hundreds of paintings and selling them for millions. He is called the forger of the century though there are a few that may call him the “Robin Hood of art.” For three and a half decades he painted 300 paintings in the style of the greatest artists in history including Picasso, Gauguin and Monet. He would sign them as originals and museums and collectors alike would be thrilled to purchase them. Beltracchi would actually have his wife do the work of selling the paintings. The pair had a decent story of provenance and even tried to create old-looking photos to back up their provenance stories.
His forgeries were so good that even the best museums in the world would not spot the fake. The widow of painter Max Ernst even came forward and said Beltracchi’s painting was her husband’s most beautiful forest painting. It is likely that the truth would have never been discovered if it would not have been for a single mistake. Beltracchi was creating a work by Heinrich Campendonk from 1914, but he mistakenly used titanium white a color that was not available in 1914. He was sentenced to 6 years in prison for the forgeries and his wife was sentenced to four. The pair were allowed to leave the prison to work as long as they returned at night.
Wolfgang Beltracchi now only paints under his own name and now due to the fame of his forgeries he is a highly sought after artist. His paintings have sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars but most of that money has gone toward paying off the $20 million that he has been ordered to pay back. Despite the forgeries that Beltracchi has admitted, it is believed that there could be hundreds more out there and museums either don’t know or won’t reveal that they have a fake. Admitting to a fake would not only be an embarrassment to the museum but it would mean losing millions in the value of the painting.