# "Beltracchi" - the Art of Forgery



## Statistikhengst (Apr 13, 2014)

An associate of mine invited me to a Sunday morning film at the local "arts" cinema and we saw a film that was -essentially- a documentary about Wolfgang Beltracchi (born Wolfgang Fischer), probably the greatest art forger there ever was.

The film is in German, but long stretches of it are in French and English as well.

It is a documentary in which he and his wife personally appear, during a three day vacation where they are let out of their respective jails (  ) to make the film. They were a forgery team, but in a way that needs some pretty heavy explaining. Both are serving time for their crime, but get to go work in his Atelier by day - because, I believe, of a deal he struck with the police in order to help them catch other forgers who are less criminal that he was.

How did he make forgeries of very, very expensive art?

First, he did not make copies of well known pieces of Art at all. He did something completely different:

*1.)* He concentrated himself on artists of the pre-WWI period through the 1920s, studied their works, went through catalogues to find work titles for which there were no pictures at all to be found- or - he would simply paint another work perfectly in the style of that artist that would be a logical extension of a series that the artist had done, like, seagulls or cliffs, for instance.

The amount of genius and criminal energy that flows through this man is nothing less than amazing, and you can see how he goes through the entire process of making a totally "authentic" forgery during the film.

From 1970-2008, a span of 38 years, Beltracchi and his wife put out hundreds and hundreds of forgeries, many of which netted sums of over $5,000,000.00 per painting.

In a nutshell:

*2.)* Wolfgang and his wife (Helena Beltracchi, he took on HER last-name when they married, this is allowed under German law) would go to flea markets and art markets and buy up old paintings that were pretty bad. He was not interested in the painting, but rather, the canvasses, frames and and seals of authenticity on the back that would be in the period from ca. 1905-1930 or so.

*3.)* They also bought up every tube of old paint that they could. This detail is important for later.

*4.)* They also visited extremely old villas and houses - many of them shuttered, to collect dust samples. This is also important.

*5.)* Then, using a number of methods, he would strip off the old painting from the canvas and paint a new "Max Ernst" or "Heinrich Campendonck". Something like that.

*6.)* Then, he used a specially made oven to heat the painting to get it to completely dry within 24 hours. Usually, paintings take up to 6 months or more to truly dry out and also lose the "paint smell". Some paintings he put in a box in which there was also a lot of cigarette smoke.

*7.)* He often even used very old nails, identical to each other, to nail the canvass back onto the frame. He then inserted some of the 100 year old dust into the cracks on the back of the frame, esp. at the bottom, where dust collects most easily.

*8.)* Now comes the kicker: he than made a fake living room environment, using wallpaper from the 1910s-1920s, dressed his wife up in clothing, makeup and hairstyle of the day, hung the newly "discovered" paintings on the wall, photographed her sitting in front of the paintings, made the photos look extremely old (also used photographic paper that he found from the 1930s and so) and then sent the photos off to _lesser known_ art catalogue companies, who accepted the photos as real, recorded the painting name and year of creation, etc. And then, a couple of years later, the larger art catalogue companies picked up on the incontrovertible evidence (  ) of the smaller companies and included the stuff in their catalogues as well.

More than likely, there is upward of at least 1 Billion USD of forged artwork from him under the names of many famous artists all over the world.

*What did him in was a tube of Titanium White paint* that he bought at a flea market. He did not realize that someone in the 1960s refilled that very old tube with newer stuff, which then showed up under analysis and the painting was then confirmed as a fake. That's what got the snowball rolling.

I've never quite seen a film like this before. It certainly doesn't glorify crime, but it allows you to see the human being(s), it allows you to see the process of forging and the film itself is a wonder to behold: all sorts of photographic techniques were used in the film and all sorts of interview sequences with people who got swindled by him. There is a sequence where literally hundreds, if not thousands of family photos of him, his wife and their two kids whiz by the audience so fast that it almost hurts the eyes.

Also, the genius of the man cannot be ignored. For him, making a perfect forgery was totally easy and he considered it to be his work. I know, I know, that in itself is totally perverted, but when you see the film, you can see how nonchalantly he approaches it all.

Word has it that there are at least 100 major art collectors in the world who have a work or two of his, but are not willing to come forth, so we may never know how much damage he caused to the integrity of the art world. But imagine this: a guy who is swindling the art world for 38 years straight before finally getting caught.

He had an Altelier in Southern France and also one on the outskirts of Cologne. I and my associate almost fell from our chairs when we saw the Cologne scene - I know where that Atelier is, exactly where it is, I have walked by it many, many times on the way to IKEA on the outskirts of Cologne. And low and behold, his Alelier is next to a flea market type of shop that deals in, well, old art stuff.

There is a scene where an elderly, very, very wealthy french couple who was swindled got interviewed and it is just hilarious to see how she henpecks her husband. None of that stuff was scripted. The camera teams came, the interview was held and what was said was said.

The one police investigator who was in charge of pressing forth the affadavit was so pissed about the large swindle that he said on camera that in this case, he would have no problem with the application of Shariah Law against Beltracchi.

There is one man in the film who has to do with the art scene who was interviewed, whom I met once, at a party in 2008, where I performed for the then Vice Chancellor of Germany, Guido Westerwelle. Lord, the world is small, really small. 

Even if you are not a fan of docu-films, I can highly recommend this one. It makes for a fascinating, riveting 100 minutes of watching.


Here is the Trailer (in German, but still worth a gander):



And a 60 Minutes segment on the guy:



If the film ever comes out in the States, maybe on something like PBS, I would encourage all to give it a good look. Cool stuff.


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## Statistikhengst (Apr 13, 2014)

[MENTION=43625]Mertex[/MENTION]  [MENTION=45164]pacer[/MENTION]  [MENTION=42649]Gracie[/MENTION]  [MENTION=42916]Derideo_Te[/MENTION]  [MENTION=41527]Pogo[/MENTION]  [MENTION=40540]Connery[/MENTION]  [MENTION=36528]cereal_killer[/MENTION]  [MENTION=38281]Wolfsister77[/MENTION]  [MENTION=20112]bodecea[/MENTION]  [MENTION=38146]Dajjal[/MENTION]  [MENTION=24208]Spoonman[/MENTION]  [MENTION=1322]007[/MENTION]  [MENTION=40845]Jeremiah[/MENTION]  [MENTION=36154]Roudy[/MENTION]  [MENTION=29697]freedombecki[/MENTION]  [MENTION=26838]Ropey[/MENTION]  [MENTION=6847]Foxfyre[/MENTION]  [MENTION=20321]rightwinger[/MENTION]  [MENTION=20450]MarcATL[/MENTION]  [MENTION=20412]JakeStarkey[/MENTION]  [MENTION=41303]katsteve2012[/MENTION]  [MENTION=46804]RandomVariable[/MENTION]  [MENTION=25493]kiwiman127[/MENTION]  [MENTION=34688]Grandma[/MENTION]  [MENTION=3135]jillian[/MENTION]  [MENTION=13805]Againsheila[/MENTION]  [MENTION=47390]DriftingSand[/MENTION]  [MENTION=32620]earlycuyler[/MENTION]  [MENTION=19448]CrusaderFrank[/MENTION]  [MENTION=18990]Barb[/MENTION] [MENTION=42946]Howey[/MENTION] -- just some friends and acquaintance whom I thought would really enjoy the OP above.  If the film ever shows up on youtube, I'll let you know.

Please do not quote this posting, otherwise, the call list gets duplicated.


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## DriftingSand (Apr 13, 2014)

What a genius!  Like Maxwell Smart (on the series "Get Smart") used to say: "If only he used his paint for good ... instead of evil."  Hahaha.

Good or bad German's are generally known for high intelligence.  I bet Beltracchi's original art will be worth a good bit of coin sometime down the road.  I'd like to see his personal artwork done in his own style (if any exists).


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## DriftingSand (Apr 13, 2014)

Actually, the forgeries are really well done and will probably draw some big coinage simply based on the manner by which they came to exist. What an interesting story.  Beltracchi may be more interesting than the painters he emulated.


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## pacer (Apr 13, 2014)

Statistikhengst said:


> *What did him in was a tube of Titanium White paint* that he bought at a flea market. He did not realize that someone in the 1960s refilled that very old tube with newer stuff, which then showed up under analysis and the painting was then confirmed as a fake. That's what got the snowball rolling.


To think he might have been able to continue with the forgeries had it not been for this one slip-up.


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## Statistikhengst (Apr 13, 2014)

DriftingSand said:


> What a genius!  Like Maxwell Smart (on the series "Get Smart") used to say: "If only he used his paint for good ... instead of evil."  Hahaha.
> 
> Good or bad German's are generally known for high intelligence.  I bet Beltracchi's original art will be worth a good bit of coin sometime down the road.  I'd like to see his personal artwork done in his own style (if any exists).




In fact, in the film, the one art historian who interviewed Beltracchi himself told him that there are people who would like to buy his own works with a hypenated name like "Beltracchi-Picasso" and such. Beltracchi kind of shrugged his shoulders as if that was just too boring for him... lol...


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## earlycuyler (Apr 13, 2014)

Statistikhengst said:


> An associate of mine invited me to a Sunday morning film at the local "arts" cinema and we saw a film that was -essentially- a documentary about Wolfgang Beltracchi (born Wolfgang Fischer), probably the greatest art forger there ever was.
> 
> The film is in German, but long stretches of it are in French and English as well.
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I need to watch this.


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## Statistikhengst (Apr 13, 2014)

earlycuyler said:


> Statistikhengst said:
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> > An associate of mine invited me to a Sunday morning film at the local "arts" cinema and we saw a film that was -essentially- a documentary about Wolfgang Beltracchi (born Wolfgang Fischer), probably the greatest art forger there ever was.
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If it comes out, we send you to a quick German course!!!


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## Mertex (Apr 13, 2014)

Statistikhengst said:


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Dateline....or 60 Minutes did a story on this guy not too long ago.  Very interesting....someone with so much talent, why he couldn't just become a great artist himself...fascinating.


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## Grandma (Apr 13, 2014)

This fascinates me. The extreme lengths they went to...

If he had done a few forgeries and got away with them, while slowly starting to introduce his own work he could have legally made millions.


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## freedombecki (Apr 13, 2014)

DriftingSand said:


> Actually, the forgeries are really well done and will probably draw some big coinage simply based on the manner by which they came to exist. What an interesting story. Beltracchi may be more interesting than the painters he emulated.


The longer he stays in jail, the more famous he will become, and the more demonized the justice system will be. lol.


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## freedombecki (Apr 13, 2014)

Mertex said:


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Maybe he will use his notoriety to become a master painter. Oh, wait. He is a master painter. He just has a strudel in his noodle for not noticing.


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## Statistikhengst (Apr 13, 2014)

freedombecki said:


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As I wrote, when the one art historian asked him why not just paint his own stuff, he shrugged his shoulders and looked bored. Guess that means that "normal" painting didn't give him the kick he needed.


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## Mertex (Apr 13, 2014)

Statistikhengst said:


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I guess doing something illegal was giving him a high he couldn't get from just painting...


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## Statistikhengst (Apr 14, 2014)

Mertex said:


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That's what I am guessing. And when you see the utter luxury he lived in - he had a large Villa in Freiburg - if he had just stopped, all would have turned out well for him, but he couldn't stop, just let we can't stop posting here at USMB.... USMB.... USMB.... USMB.....      aaaaaaarrrrrgggghhhhhhhh!!!!


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## earlycuyler (Apr 14, 2014)

Statistikhengst said:


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My step dads fluent, he can translate, and I can grab the gist of some things.  I'm positive I could find subtitles some place.


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## Statistikhengst (Apr 14, 2014)

earlycuyler said:


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## Book of Jeremiah (Apr 14, 2014)

Statistikhengst said:


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I don't believe that is it, Stat.  He has marvelous talent but no imagination.  In other words, he can forge the artistic talent of other artists but he doesn't have the imagination to create his own work because he lacks the freedom in his own spirit to create.   I have 4 friends who are inventors.  All of them demonstrate immense freedom in their personalities.  That is the common denominator.  They know how to let their imagination soar.   They are free to create.  

  So this guy made a career out of deceiving people but what he didn't count on was it only takes one time he makes a mistake and there is ALWAYS that one time.  This was his.   He didn't get away with anything.  They are going to trace back every sale connected to his name and get the matter settled in due time.  

I cannot rejoice in his deception because the outcome is always the same.  Someone is harmed, the person who harmed others shows no sign of remorse and the world is in awe of him because he knew how to copy someone elses work but lacked the vision to create anything noteworthy of his own.  He's a loser.  

 - Jeremiah


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## freedombecki (Apr 14, 2014)

Mertex said:


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Artists! Didn't the shoplifting charges become abated when Wynona Rider claimed she did it to reinforce a thief's role she was studying in her profession? 

Guess the fine arts judges in the EU take a different approach than the benches we have in America. 

/diabolical grin


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## Statistikhengst (Apr 14, 2014)

freedombecki said:


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Well, he and his wife ARE both serving jail time and both are let out to work in the day, due to a deal he cut to help those ultra-liberal EU cops catch more bad guys!!!

I know two really hot women who are police commisioners where I live - they are tough as nails. Woot-woot!!! And they are sweet people, too. Oh, and did I already mentioned that they are hawt??!!


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## freedombecki (Apr 14, 2014)

Jeremiah said:


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You're right, Jeremiah. A lot of my words here have been tongue-in-cheek and not in the least serious. People were hurt. That's bad.


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## Statistikhengst (Apr 14, 2014)

Jeremiah said:


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Did I ever even once say I rejoice in the deception?

Answer: no.


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## pacer (Apr 14, 2014)

Jeremiah said:


> I don't believe that is it, Stat.  He has marvelous talent but no imagination.  In other words, he can forge the artistic talent of other artists but he doesn't have the imagination to create his own work because he lacks the freedom in his own spirit to create.


What makes Beltracchi such an unusual forger is he *did not copy* existing paintings of great artists but created new work which 'he imagined the artist might have painted or which might have gotten lost.'  Watch the first 3 minutes of the following segment of 60 minutes.  He was a very talented, imaginative, and creative man.

Art forger Wolfgang Beltracchi's multimillion dollar scam - CBS News


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## pacer (Apr 14, 2014)

pacer said:


> Statistikhengst said:
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> ...


I was thinking along the same lines as Beltracchi.  In the 60 minutes segment, when asked if he thought he did anything wrong, he said "Yes, I used the wrong titanium white."    Seriously speaking though, I'm glad he is out of prison and doing what he does best...CREATE.


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## Statistikhengst (Apr 14, 2014)

pacer said:


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That's also not quite right. He IS in prison, just gets day leave to work in his Atelier, doing work for the police now. Ditto for his wife. In the evening, the two get in their respective cars and drive back to their respective prisons, which are just one exit away from each other on the freeway.


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## pacer (Apr 14, 2014)

Statistikhengst said:


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OOPS!  Thank you for the correction.


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## pacer (Apr 14, 2014)

The following Wiki article states Helene Beltracchi was released from prison February 2013.

Wolfgang Beltracchi - Ask.com Encyclopedia


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## Statistikhengst (Apr 14, 2014)

pacer said:


> The following Wiki article states Helene Beltracchi was released from prison February 2013.
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> Wolfgang Beltracchi - Ask.com Encyclopedia




Yes, but not Wolfgang, he is still serving and will serve all 6 years and then some...



> Wolfgang and Helene Beltracchi are allowed to serve their sentences in an open prison, as long as they have regular jobs. They have been employed by a friend's photostudio, leaving prison in the morning and returning after work.[3] While serving his sentence, Wolfgang Beltracchi in collaboration with a photographer has produced a number of mixed-media works, paintings embedding photographs of himself.[24] The collaboration ended September 2012.[25] Helene Beltracchi was released from prison February 2013.[26]


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## CrusaderFrank (Apr 15, 2014)

I tried to pass myself off as Jimmy Page, I didn't get very far


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## Statistikhengst (Apr 17, 2014)

CrusaderFrank said:


> I tried to pass myself off as Jimmy Page, I didn't get very far



Was it the guitar or the hair that did you in??


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## CrusaderFrank (Apr 17, 2014)

Statistikhengst said:


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Both. I play a stratocaster

Sent from smartphone using my wits and Taptalk


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## Statistikhengst (Apr 17, 2014)

CrusaderFrank said:


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Did you get the hair the right color??


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