EXHIBITION: ART AND FORGERY
A show in the Kurpfälzisches Museum deals with faked artworks and the question of how to recognise them
Usually, exposed and confiscated art fakes disappear in the storerooms of state criminal investigation bureaus. Now they are the subject of an unusual show mounted by the Kurpfälzisches Museum in cooperation with the Institute for European Art History of Heidelberg University. Under the heading “Art and Forgery – Learning What is Genuine from the Fake”, the two institutions are, for the first time, presenting multiple forgeries, including supposedly original paintings, drawings and prints by outstanding artists such as Cranach, Rembrandt, van Gogh, Modersohn-Becker, Dalí or Picasso. Supplemented by different originals, the exhibition enables both a search for clues and a comparison between “genuine” and “fake”. It can be viewed in the Kurpfälzisches Museum from 29 February to 30 June 2024.
The allegedly “genuine” works by Lucas Cranach the Elder, Rembrandt, Vincent van Gogh, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Salvador Dalí or Pablo Picasso entered the art trade in different ways. The machinations of art forgers are extraordinarily diverse, according to exhibition curator Prof. Dr Henry Keazor. They range from deceptive interferences to invented provenances and expert opinions, right up to concocting non-genuine artist biographies or even complete forgeries. The exhibition offers visitors the unique opportunity of viewing exposed fake objects for themselves. In some cases, they are compared with authentic artworks – stemming from Cologne, Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin and Heidelberg itself – for example, two forgeries by Wolfgang Beltracchi, which were produced in the manner of Heinrich Campendonk and Johannes Molzahn. A special highlight of the exhibition is the picture “The Next Rembrandt” – a portrait of Rembrandt generated with the aid of artificial intelligence and a 3D printer that arose in the context of a research project in Amsterdam (Netherlands).
The forged artworks mainly come from the storerooms of the state criminal investigation bureaus in Berlin, Munich and Stuttgart. They were brought together in the “Heidelberger Fälschungs-Studien-Sammlung” (HeFäStuS) – a collection of forged artworks compiled for study purposes – at the Institute for European Art History of Heidelberg University. Prof. Keazor is responsible for the collection. With its assistance, students of art history are trained to recognise fakes as quickly as possible. They delve into questions also raised at the show in the Kurpfälzisches Museum: What forms of art forgery must be distinguished? What happens if different forgers imitate one and the same painter? What needs to be considered when appraising artworks? Many of the findings presented in the exhibition go back to the research of students, undertaken in connection with classes in the “Heidelberger Fälschungs-Studien-Sammlung”. However, the visitors are also invited to set about looking for clues themselves and so to learn how to recognise the genuine from the fake, says Henry Keazor.
PICTURE GALLERY
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ACCOMPANYING PROGRAMME
The exhibition “Art and Forgery – Learning What is Genuine from the Fake” is accompanied by a comprehensive side programme. The speaker at the opening on 29 February is René Allonge, detective inspector in the department of art crime at the Berlin criminal investigation bureau, on “The art of investigation – how German investigation authorities deal with art forgeries”. The talk, introduced by Henry Keazor, is the curtain-raiser of a series of lectures dealing with different aspects of forging art. Likewise part of the programme is a film series in the Gloriette cinema along with thematic guided tours of the exhibition.
Talks (in German)
- 28 February 2024, 7 p.m.: “The art of investigation – how German investigation authorities deal with art forgeries”
Speaker: René Allonge, detective inspector, Berlin criminal investigation bureau (art crime) - 21 March 2024, 7 p.m.: “The crux with the original – out of the grey areas of the art business from Edgar Degas to Sigmar Polke”
Speaker: Hubertus Butin, art historian, Berlin - 25 April 2024, 7 p.m.: “Recognising fakes with artificial intelligence: possibilities and limits of a new technique in style analysis”
Speaker: Wolfgang Reuter, Art Intelligence, Munich - 23 May 2024, 7 p.m.: “‘Art’ fakers and the role of the media”
Speaker: Ernst Schöller, retired detective inspector - 20 June 2024, 7 p.m.: “What can art technique-based research on paintings achieve today? Insights into the present holding-research project ‘Venetian painting of the 15th and 16th century’ at the Alte Pinakothek”
Speaker: Heike Stege, director, Scientific Examinations Department, Doerner Institute, Munich
Film series “F like Film or Fake”
- 12 March 2024, 6:30 p.m.: “How to Steal a Million?” (1966, director: William Wyler) – in German
- 16 April 2024, 6:30 p.m.: “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” (2018, Marielle Heller) – in German
- 14 May 2024, 6:30 p.m.: “The Best Offer” (2013, director: Giuseppe Tornatore) – in German
- 11 June 2024, 6:30 p.m.: “F for Fake” (1973, director: Orson Welles) – original version with subtitles
The series combines the screening of the films with introductory remarks by Prof. Dr Henry Keazor.
Guided tours
- 3 March 2024, 3 p.m.: Art techniques of masters and fakers with restorers Yvonne Stoldt and Susanne Voigt
- 10 March 2024, 3 p.m.: Curator tour with Prof. Dr Henry Keazor
- 15 March 2024, 1 p.m.: Tour on Day of Printing with Eva Wick
- 17 March 2024, 3 p.m.: Printing techniques of masters and fakers, with restorer Susanne Voigt
- 19 March 2024, 12:15 p.m.: Tour of exhibition with Daniela Rosenberger
- 24 March 2024, 3 p.m.: Tour of exhibition with Cara Hoppe
- 28 April 2024, 3 p.m.: Tour of exhibition with Cara Hoppe
- 7 April 2024, 11 a.m.: Curator tour with Prof. Dr Henry Keazor
- 14 April 2024, 11 a.m.: Art techniques of masters and fakers with restorer Yvonne Stoldt
- 21 April 2024, 3 p.m.: Tour of exhibition with Eva Wick
- 24 April 2024, 12:15 p.m.: Tour of exhibition with Eva Wick
- 28 April 2024, 3 p.m.: Tour of exhibition with Cara Hoppe
- 5 May 2024, 3 p.m.: Tour of exhibition with Cara Hoppe
- 7 May 2024, 12:15 p.m.: Tour of exhibition with Daniela Rosenberger
- 12 May 2024, 3 p.m.: Curator tour with Prof. Dr Henry Keazor
- 19 May 2024, 3 p.m.: Art techniques of masters and fakers with restorer Susanne Voigt
- 26 May 2024, 3 p.m.: Tour of exhibition with Cara Hoppe
- 2 June 2024, 3 p.m.: Tour of exhibition with Cara Hoppe
- 5 June 2024, 12:15 p.m.: Art techniques of masters and fakers with restorer Yvonne Stoldt
- 16 June 2024, 11 a.m.: Curator tour with Prof. Dr Henry Keazor
- 18 June 2024, 12.15 p.m.: Tour of exhibition with Daniela Rosenberger
- 23 June 2024, 3 p.m.: Art techniques of masters and fakers with restorer Yvonne Stoldt
Programmes of MALSTUBE, the museum workshop
- 15 March 2024, 2 to 4 p.m.: “Faking like a book”, open printing workshop
- 19 May 2024, 4 to 6 p.m.: “Faking like a book”, open printing workshop