There is an age-old saying in the art world that the "perfect fake" does not exist. Even expert forgers agree. But how does one go about proving if something is a fake or if it is authentic?
Take the case of one of the world's leading furniture dealers, Bill G.B. Pallot, who masterminded the forgery of at least four chairs, sold them to the Palace of Versailles, and then admitted it to the French police. French officials suspect Pallot may be responsible for other copies that currently exist in museums and private collections all around the world.
The Paris Match called Pallot "the Bernie Madoff of art," and Le Monde referred to Pallot's crime as a "fraud against national identity." But Pallot actually takes a degree of pleasure in what he did. When asked about his crime, Pallot admits: "The first time, it was a stupid joke: Gotcha.' Nobody sees: the art experts don't see, the curators don't see, the auction houses don't see, the dealer doesn't see." He frankly admits that he found it amusing and even 'exhilarating' to humiliate the denizens of his world.
When art collectors feel that they have been defrauded, they are either too embarrassed to come forward, or they do not know where to begin to find an expert to help prove the authenticity of their object. When it comes to authenticating art, a professional opinion matters. At Find Art Experts, we help clients navigate the oftentimes opaque art world to find the answers they need. Our multinational experts specializing in art authentication, provenance review, art loss services, scientific and forensic testing can help provide trustworthy and accurate information to art collectors' individual and unique questions about their collections.
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