Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Here's the Plot for Your Next Hollywood Art World Thriller

Steve Martin Swindled: German Art Forgery Scandal Reaches Hollywood - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International: "German police believe that American actor, comedian and collector Steve Martin played a minor role as a victim in what may be Germany's biggest-ever art forgery scandal. According to investigators at Berlin's state criminal police office (LKA), the art lover purchased what he believed to be a 1915 work by the German-Dutch modernist painter Heinrich Campendonk. He bought the colorful 'Landschaft mit Pferden,' or 'Landscape With Horses,' from the Paris gallery Cazeau-Beraudiere for what would have been considered the bargain price of an estimated €700,000 (around $850,000 at the time) in July 2004.

Before the purchase a Campendonk expert had confirmed the painting's authenticity and identified the painter's signature on a label attached to the back. But 15 months later Martin, who would later publish a novel about the New York art scene called 'An Object of Beauty,' tried to re-sell the work. Art auction house Christie's finally auctioned it off in February 2006 to a Swiss businesswoman for €500,000 -- a loss of €200,000 from Martin's original purchase price."

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