Spanish police seized three fake artworks from a collector who was allegedly trying to sell them on the black market for €12.5 million EUR (roughly $14.7 million USD).
The Generalitat Valencia Police said that the paintings, which were attributed to famous painters Amedeo Modigliani, Francisco Goya and El Greco, were proven false by several Spanish art authorities. A collector from the Spanish province of Toledo was working with art dealers to sell the works in exchange for a 10 percent cut of the sales.
One of the pieces, which mimics Modigliani’s signature surrealist style, came with documents that were allegedly forged in order to prove authenticity. The piece was intended to be marketed to buyers in Switzerland, Mexico and Germany and was valued at €8.5 million EUR (approximately $9.9 million USD). The other paintings also had similarly counterfeit documentation.
Antonio López, the head of the Historical Heritage group of the Police of the Generalitat, warned that the resale of forgeries is a “persistent problem in the art market.” Modigliani is widely considered to be one of the most frequently forged artists in the world.
New York-based photographer Mark Greenberg is currently selling a one of one NFT collectible called the PORTRAIT featuring his film snapshot of Andy Warhol. The photograph depicts the late pop artist standing before his iconic Electric Chairscreenprints. The image was captured in 1985 when Greenberg spent a day with Warhol at his Factory Studio in Manhattan during an assignment for the Associated Press.
“Greenberg found Warhol ‘quiet yet cooperative.’ Standing in the same room as the man deemed ‘The Pope of Pop,’ Greenberg was curious to understand how Warhol masterfully created his own legendary image,” as per a press statement. “On a whim, Greenberg thought it might be fun to shoot Warhol holding a sign that stated the obvious. To his delight, Warhol agreed.”
Greenberg was 28-years-old when worked as the NYC Assignment Editor for the Associated Press. He then went on to photograph the world often alongside his friend and fellow photographer, Peter Beard. In the years since, Greenberg became a two-time best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize-nominated photographer.
The PORTRAIT is currently being sold as an NFT on Rarible’s platform. The purchase includes the IPFS CID to the full-res file (234mb file, sized at 7,200 x 10,800 or 24x36in at 300dpi) which was scanned from the original Kodachrome 64 slide.
The Louvre has made its entire art collection available online and for free.
The new Collections database is comprised of 482,000 works from the French museum, the Musée National Eugène-Delacroix, the Tuileries and Carrousel gardens sculptures, plus “MNR” (Musées Nationaux Récupération, or National Museums Recovery) pieces that were found after World War II and were handed over to the Louvre until they can be returned to the real owners.
Researchers and art enthusiasts will be pleased with the database as they can explore through simple or advanced researches, entries by each curatorial department and even themed albums. There is also an interactive map that will help visitors explore the Louvre room by room and will be available in French, English, Spanish and Chinese. The Collections database can be accessed on tablets and computers but will work best on smartphones, and will continue to grow as museum experts update it on the regular.
“Today, the Louvre is dusting off its treasures, even the least-known,” Jean-Luc Martinez, President-Director of the Musée du Louvre, said in a statement. “For the first time, anyone can access the entire collection of works from a computer or smartphone for free, whether they are on display in the museum, on loan, even long-term, or in storage. The Louvre’s stunning cultural heritage is all now just a click away! I am sure that this digital content is going to further inspire people to come to the Louvre to discover the collections in person.”
Visit the new database on the official Louvre Collections website.
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