Chances are if someone were to walk into one of our public art museums unannounced and offer to sell them an artwork, there would be much checking of the work before any cash changed hands. Faking art is not a big business in New Zealand (although that's not to say that it doesn’t happen).
But what if the person that knocks on your museum’s door is offering to give you the masterpiece? Maybe not so much checking. Apparently that’s exactly what’s been happening in the US over the last 20 or so years. Some guy (either disguised or genuinely kitted out as a Jesuit priest and going under the name of Father Arthur Scott) has been offering fake paintings to museums as gifts, and having them accepted. Why is he doing it? Probably for the same thrill fakers always get from their work; the pleasure of fooling the experts and usually topped up by the pleasure of receiving a big chunk of change as well.
Image: an example of an easily identified fake. You can read the full and sorry story here.
Other OTN fake art stories:
