I am always wondering what motivates art thieves and art forgers, since both occupations require secrecy and anonymity. The art thief and forger must also have a clientele to sell to, and that clientele must also be secret and discrete.
The Greenhalgh family of England is indeed one of the greatest teams of art forgers and sellers that the modern world has ever known. Shaun Greenhalgh (b. 1961) is the family master art forger who has the uncanny ability to produce art forgeries in many mediums and from many different eras of art history.
At a quiet English country home in Bolton, Shaun Greenhalgh created forgeries of Thomas Moran, the Hudson River School American painter, sculptures attributed to Paul Gauguin, as well as various sculptures and metal works presumed to be of ancient Assyrian and Roman origin respectively.
Shaun Greenhalgh’s documented forged works include fakes said to be by the Italian sculptor Constantin Brancusi, English sculptor Barbara Hepworth, photographer Man Ray, and German Expressionist Otto Dix.
Part of Shaun Greenhalgh’s mad genius not only lies in his ability to copy art but in his ability to do the research and homework to give his artwork believable provenance. For example, the forged Paul Gauguin sculpture of a faun was based on a drawing by the artist. Also, Gauguin is much better documented and known for his paintings, making any ceramic objects allegedly created by the master himself more muddied in its origins.
The Faun was such a successful forgery that it was sold to Sotheby’s who in turn auctioned it off for 20,700 UK Pounds in 1994. Three years later it was bought by the Art Institute of Chicago for about $125,000 and it was touted as a major museum acquisition.
The rest of the Greenhalgh family helped to provide fake origins or provenances for the forged works by Shaun. Shaun’s dad, George, was the primary salesperson since Shaun is very shy and doesn’t like to talk on the phone.
Perhaps the most interesting part of this whole story for me is the perceived motivation of the Greenhalgh family. It was not greed, for when the family was finally found out and the police came to call they were found to be living in abject poverty with half a million pounds in the bank. The Greenhalghs allegedly resented the art and museum world. As a self taught artist, Shaun Greenhalgh resented the enormous amounts of money spent on bits of rock and paint and seemed to take joy in deceiving over-educated experts with his autodidact forged artworks. The defense lawyer for Shaun Greenhalgh argued that Shaun was expressing his love for the arts and that the forgeries were a serendipitous product.
Shaun Greenhalgh is currently serving a four-year prison sentence for his forgeries. There is no doubt that many museums and dealers are now stuck with Greenhalgh forgeries, but few want to come forward to claim they were duped by a lower middle class, self-taught boy from Britain. In the world of art forgery and art fakery, Shaun Greenhalgh is perhaps the greatest of them all.
Read all about it in this BBC article that gives more information about the art forger Shaun Greenhalgh and his parents, Olive and George Greenhalgh. This article includes an excellent slide show that help to illustrate this strange yet true tale of art fakery and forgery.
The Greenhalgh family of England is indeed one of the greatest teams of art forgers and sellers that the modern world has ever known. Shaun Greenhalgh (b. 1961) is the family master art forger who has the uncanny ability to produce art forgeries in many mediums and from many different eras of art history.
At a quiet English country home in Bolton, Shaun Greenhalgh created forgeries of Thomas Moran, the Hudson River School American painter, sculptures attributed to Paul Gauguin, as well as various sculptures and metal works presumed to be of ancient Assyrian and Roman origin respectively.
Shaun Greenhalgh’s documented forged works include fakes said to be by the Italian sculptor Constantin Brancusi, English sculptor Barbara Hepworth, photographer Man Ray, and German Expressionist Otto Dix.
Part of Shaun Greenhalgh’s mad genius not only lies in his ability to copy art but in his ability to do the research and homework to give his artwork believable provenance. For example, the forged Paul Gauguin sculpture of a faun was based on a drawing by the artist. Also, Gauguin is much better documented and known for his paintings, making any ceramic objects allegedly created by the master himself more muddied in its origins.
The Faun was such a successful forgery that it was sold to Sotheby’s who in turn auctioned it off for 20,700 UK Pounds in 1994. Three years later it was bought by the Art Institute of Chicago for about $125,000 and it was touted as a major museum acquisition.
The rest of the Greenhalgh family helped to provide fake origins or provenances for the forged works by Shaun. Shaun’s dad, George, was the primary salesperson since Shaun is very shy and doesn’t like to talk on the phone.
Perhaps the most interesting part of this whole story for me is the perceived motivation of the Greenhalgh family. It was not greed, for when the family was finally found out and the police came to call they were found to be living in abject poverty with half a million pounds in the bank. The Greenhalghs allegedly resented the art and museum world. As a self taught artist, Shaun Greenhalgh resented the enormous amounts of money spent on bits of rock and paint and seemed to take joy in deceiving over-educated experts with his autodidact forged artworks. The defense lawyer for Shaun Greenhalgh argued that Shaun was expressing his love for the arts and that the forgeries were a serendipitous product.
Shaun Greenhalgh is currently serving a four-year prison sentence for his forgeries. There is no doubt that many museums and dealers are now stuck with Greenhalgh forgeries, but few want to come forward to claim they were duped by a lower middle class, self-taught boy from Britain. In the world of art forgery and art fakery, Shaun Greenhalgh is perhaps the greatest of them all.
Read all about it in this BBC article that gives more information about the art forger Shaun Greenhalgh and his parents, Olive and George Greenhalgh. This article includes an excellent slide show that help to illustrate this strange yet true tale of art fakery and forgery.
