A workshop outside Rome containing 71 fake paintings falsely attributed to famous artists including Rembrandt van Rijn, Pablo Picasso, and Andy Warhol has been raided by Italy’s art crime squad, local authorities announced.
The operation was uncovered by the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage police squad, which oversees art and antiquities crimes, per a report in the Guardian.
After receiving a warrant to investigate a local art restorer’s property on the outskirts of Rome, the paintings, in various states of completion, were seized by Italian police, along with hundreds of painting materials, art catalogues, forged certificates of authenticity and stamps from now-defunct art galleries and collections, and evidence of falsified artist signatures.
Early evidence pointed towards an art restorer working within one of the city’s north districts. Completed forgeries were reportedly sold online on eBay and Catawiki, an online auction platform specializing in art and collectibles, police said. A team from the public prosecutors’ office in Rome and the forgery unit monitored sales sites, where the found hundreds of paintings bearing the fake signatures of artists from the 19th and 20th centuries, including Italian post-Impressionist Mario Puccini, Italian Futurist Giacomo Balla, and Belgian Luminist Anna De Weert.
The length and profits of the scam are still undetermined. Authorities have not revealed the identity of the forger or that of any accomplices.
Late last year, Italian police discovered another forgery network across Europe involving 38 people with a $210 million value at stake. The suspects had even organized two Banksy exhibitions in Italy, accompanied by a published catalogue.
