Alleged Master Forger and Fake High-Price Paintings

ABC News tracks man authorities call master art forger to studio in Shanghai.

[@TheEmpress1768]

I love how they asked him to paint, and he doesnt even have any paint on the brush

Lmao yes, and the paint on the pallette is dry as hell.

[@Sky_TEC_Illustraition_Systems]

@ 😂😂😂😂

[@itsjustnopinionok]

You Go Chinese construction worker master painter.

[@baphometpresidente4637]

i think construction worker has more knowledge about bricks so he probably surpassed the original rathko brick like painting?

[@stopmotionmoron2373]

Its silly that stuff like this sells for fortunes and talented artists stuggle

[@colinsushiboy745]

Growing up I use to forge autographs. Cause my fav athlete wouldn't sign and I'm to lazy to wait outside coliseums lol. One time I seen my bogus forgery at a comic sports card store. Doesn't take much for a sucker to fall for fakes

[@taylorj6177]

You mean like Van Gogh

[@taylorj6177]

'tis life. It's what happened for Van Gogh (who personally I believe is a bit overrated..))

[@danseabreeze1404]

WHAT??? I'm dying for a famous painting of a circle! : D

[@paulocuento9949]

@@colinsushiboy745 youre my hero bro

[@hughjarsol1933]

I love the fact that idiots pay huge money for fakes , they own trash .. lmao

[@Sum_Ting_Wong]

The real hustle is the real Rothko painting

[@paulsmith1981]

Modern contemporary art is of such a low standard even construction workers can successfully fake them.

[@debspringchannel831]

Exactly... just the fact that people are paying huge amounts for it is beyond me.

[@suunkarra5763]

The critic at the end was right, if you like a piece of art and end up owning it, it doesn't really matter who made it. But, with this art bubble people often use works as investments instead which is a double edge sword. On one hand it make sure that great works of art are kept well preserved, while making art that may be quite ugly to some more valued.

[@johnta17]

What does it say about the intrinsic value of art when they can be faked to begin with? Maybe we are being duped by the real paintings.

[@NicholasStClair-zw5er]

Finally someone in the comments gets it.

[@johnta17]

Nicholas St.Clair right

[@paulocuento9949]

@@taylorj6177 you dont get it... its all a big scam.. the art world perpetuates this nonsense called "abstract art" by giving a deeper meaning to something that is basically garbage.. to sell it big time...how they convince people is a mix of hype, perception, popularity, and "expert validation"

[@deidradahl2802]

@@paulocuento9949- This is one of the reasons I always come straight to the comment section. looking for someone who can explain more clearly, what I always thought

[@MrBignick88]

rich people don't care about the artist or the painting its the value they care about they use it as a tax dodge by getting loans against it whose repayments are cheaper than income taxes

[@SteadfastHero]

How the hell are these squares selling for that much?

[@brianrichards7006]

Unless the artist duplicated the type of canvas and the stretcher boards, and aged the paintings, they should have been determined as fakes by any good restorer. Due diligence is required when spending a lot of money, so I suspect the major dealers and the auction houses were complicit in the scheme. But that information has been known for a good number of years, so it is no surprise.

[@2011blueman]

The forger isn't forging old masterpieces, these are modern contemporary works (I won't call it art), on modern canvas using modern paints that are all easily obtainable.

[@jaimelannister3317]

Their are very few legit art works left in the world . Many of ur ancient epics and greatworks are forgery . During the Renaissance it was very common to forge great works and epics .

[@daverigby23]

Jackson Pollock - why not do your own ? Who's to know. Obviously not the 'experts'

[@taylorj6177]

Lol uh, hello YOU would know. The lack of any concept of integrity in these comments is a sad sight for humanity.

[@DavidFraser007]

This made me laugh when the art expert said Forgers can splash paint too! Well so can my kids, and if somebody wants to pay me millions for their efforts, I accept bank transfers.

[@PCJ52]

Hold on a minute, I'll be right back. I'm rich! I think I have one of those on my fridge.

[@vetteseller5]

This is all BS, auction houses thrive on forgeries, they know exactly what they are doing.

[@abbeyan9284]

If you spend that much on paintings. You deserve to get scammed

[@patrickarmitageWWW]

6:16 Honest opinion with plenty of wisdom.

[@ksuhuh]

Modern art forger; easiest part time job for toddlers.

[@EGarrett01]

3:11 that is a gorgeous painting. I don't care if it's fake. That is beautiful to look at.

[@mnmdisney]

I would love to have a good copy from the old masters!!

[@Bickidan]

The art world is absurd. It's a competition to show off "success" by having rare, expensive things and to appear more cultured. Fake it 'til you make it. But, similar to having a designer structure everything in your home without knowing much about you, having a roughly painted square on a canvas could say more about you than you think.

[@danseabreeze1404]

FIFTY SIX MILLION for two rectangles of color? AAAahaha, ha! No wonder they're easy to copy! And drips of paint for the other "painting", LOL!

[@ingridllinas5612]

Incredible how experts could be forged despite all the advance tech to prove if paintings were really made by the proper author. Pigments and type or painting are very effective. Some type of paintings have not existed at the time the work was painted. As has happened with Pollock’s and others. I refuse to believe a gallery sells a fake in order to get millions. Reputation, clients and lawsuits are highly important. A life time in the art business can be destroyed in a second. Money just brings prejudice.

[@robhaidheuch]

He couldn't fake a Velasquez, a Carravagio, or a Singer Sergeant, so that shows anyone with a minimum of artistic ability could create fake modern art.

[@eccentricdetectorists9754]

72% of ALL artwork is fake. Sports memorabilia is even worse!!!!

[@boxingmotoman]

No truer words have been spoken. From 2021 its is a epic bubble of proportions

[@phyllisarrington7436]

The Chinese guy shouldn't have forged the signature. Because he did it's hardly convincing that he was just painting replicas.

[@harsh1225p]

I would not even buy a real one for more than 100$

[@taylorj6177]

Good for you?

[@jigglestumps]

Lol. If you have the opportunity to buy a real Rothko or Pollock for $100 you would. Nobody would turn that down... If it had the provenance and the authentication certificate you could sell it the next day for literally 500,000 times what you spent on it.

[@Sky_TEC_Illustraition_Systems]

If want to...You can choose to watch and then rewatch the last ten seconds of this film at 6:45 for a shot of this master's technique. The way he strikes and then pulls the brush up and out against the canvas makes for a glimpse at a last stroke that is striking.

[@Miko36019]

The Chinese painter got $10.5 million from the $80 million painting.that he had painted .. this came out the New York Times newspaper i read the articles Pg10-11 he did get paid ten million after it was sold by the auctioneer

[@suzanneelkerdi3551]

What a great man 👏

[@Flofromprogressive]

Let’s be honest, if you truly are an art fanatic you should be able to tell the fake from the real really easily

[@2011blueman]

If you're an art fanatic you're not buying these garbage children's splotches in the first place.

[@terrygause29653]

Jackson Pollock’s so-called art is proof that the art world is easily duped.

[@anindyabagchi27]

What happened to art!! When I think of art, the Ghent alter piece comes to my mind. Not Rothko.

[@manulafuente7020]

As an artist i am glad these people and galleries are being scamed! Art is not a commodity and if you buy or trade for gains you deserve to be fooled!

[@ninjaprodigy5905]

I don't get it how can someone pay that much for blocks? What the hell am I missing how can anyone fork over so much money for this shit fake or not?

[@AngelB32]

Some of the people who spend obscene amounts of money may be art lovers, but let's be honest, for most part it's money laundering and tax evasion schemes that fuel the prices nowadays... And the so called art experts just give the market what it wants...

[@StanleyKowalski.]

p.o.s called art, thats why easy to fake it. good job forgers

[@oseasviewer7108]

Whatever happened to due diligence for provenance? - those burnt through foolish pride, hubris and arrogance are deservedly 'rewarded'

So if you want to buy a Roscoe block of colour....I'll do you one....I've got several I'm using to stop a leak in the rabbit hutch.....

[@BubbaSpartans]

Rothko and Pollocks work is great. It’s the art market that everyone should be upset with. If you think Rothko and Pollocks work is simple and devoid of meaning, you should take some time out of your day to learn about them, and most important of all, stand in front of their work and then make a judgment. Art history is much more complex than a simple “Realism” vs. “Abstraction”. Enroll in an art history course at your local community college. That’ll help broaden your perspective. You may still hate Rothko and Pollock, but at least you’ll be able to say why, and expand beyond a snap judgement that social media encourages.

[@lieblee3063]

That’s a SMART CHINA MAN.Good job sir👍

[@AdamPopowski]

Dude, Asian American is the preferred term now, dude.

[@fernandocenteno6362]

Very important.and very important, the ESTYLE OF COLORS,LOOKING FRESH.RECIENT. COLORS.????? Yes Baby.

[@ernstvolf8537]

How on Eart someone could come up with the idea it was ART ? :))))))))))))))))

[@2011blueman]

The problem is that Rothkos and Pollocks are garbage "modern art" that are no better than children's paintings but a bunch of wealthy people have been fooled into thinking they have some imaginary value. The forger was simply capitalizing on a market full of buyers that are idiots whether they're buying "real" paintings or fakes.

[@Fixingtodraw]

You really need imagination to paint like that.

[@sinongmakulet]

Stupid paintings. If only Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Rembrandt is alive today, they will laugh at these paintings.

[@nicksundby]

So many lessons here

[@aaronjohnson8159]

6:28 is exactly right

[@jaymcbakerk]

Lol art forgers used to need a high level of painterly skill. Nowadays modern art is such a joke that a construction worker can paint coloured squares and rich idiots pull out their chequebooks

[@taylorj6177]

The guy at the end is wrong - the lesson isn't that "people don't care about quality of the art, just the name." Many admitted themselves they liked them until they were known fakes... It's that there is more to ANY object that has some specific HISTORY, or "provenance," if you like - it's that we as humans value what we imagine to be a past and its story... a very human thing to do. And that is quite, quite valuable. Would you say the same about, for example, the "lost arc" or something similar? I doubt it...

[@tiwantiwaabibiman2603]

That it's "probably" a fake??? No, it IS a fake! I'm an artist and independent curator and can tell from this video that the fake Pollock is a fake by the vibrancy and tone of the colours.

[@michaelwhite8031]

A lot of dealers know what their selling.

[@nwk111]

Am actually amazed ppl pay millions for abstract paintings that are so simple to paint...why are ppl so stupid to pay in millions for just random red and black boxes 🙄 ... What about those who spend hours on minute detailing....

[@jacekpokrak9258]

For centuries, art has fascinated people. The sensitivity of the audience resulted from being stimulated by cultural events, social changes, wars, etc. This is how new directions in art emerged. Today's world needs something else, and that's why Compmaturism. The works of the Compmaturists relate to today's human needs; they are emotional, devoid of routine and calculation. They are filled with art juice.

[@usaisamess8880]

if you cant tell the real deal from a fake, what is the point of art????????????

[@readmycomment3157]

The art word isn't up in arms, it is well aware there are fakes about and it turns a blind eye.

[@doppelbanger5797]

a child can imitate rothko successfully

[@taylorj6177]

Funny you say that - I painted something quite, quite similar when I was oh, fourteen?? Not as good, but, perhaps passable. Does that mean I'm equal to Rothko - or any other, for that matter? NO. And THAT is the entire point you all seem to be missing. There is much more to a history than just the fact one was a master painter, or whatevr

[@vshah1010]

Are these people even serious to consider that art? Yes, it's just two different color rectangles. I'm not an artist, but I'm sure I can paint that. Also the Pollock painting just looks like he just splashed paint on a wall. I'm sure most people can do that also. I wouldn't consider either painting to be art.

[@taylorj6177]

@@vshah1010 Lmao. Aren't you aware of what a cliche that is? "Oh, I can do that..." Yeah? Then do it. Cuz ya CAN'T.

[@taylorj6177]

Is your avatar a rothko?

[@danielmayorga4812]

For some reason chinese art has never climbed the top ladder of European and Western Art. Can this chinese forger could imitate a Michelangelo's David ?

[@Leumasleumas725]

Even fakes are articulate as the OG. The greed of the riches lead to fakes.

[@ARTEllipsepaintings]

amazing art world

[@JackIsNotInTheBox]

Kinda feel bad for the forger. He got paid scraps for his talent.

[@dashinvaine]

Oh noes, my abstract masterpiece (that you can't tell which way up it should go) turns out to be by this guy and not by that guy, it's no longer 'real art'!

[@TheFiown]

Any person who has millions to spend on a painting deserves what he gets. For me forgers are heroes !

[@tushkafilms1061]

1:40 who the hell would spend millions of dollars on that crap. I can throw spaghetti at the wall and make it look better.

[@DarkAndTriumphant]

I think my pet cat can forge those.

[@terriniemeier6578]

Well it's an Art, love an Artist who is good enough to do a Fake.

[@marlenedietrich2468]

if you can see the painting you're buying, and decide to pay a surden amount for it, how was you fooled?

[@madjidchouarbi3921]

The problem with contemporary art is there's no technicity involved in creating those so called masterpieces. As you don't have to be a high technician to paint it, anyone can forge that kind of painting. And because those painting had been made using modern pigments, there's no chance to identify a fake with scientific analysis. To be honnest, making a fake abstract painting is not that hard. Pollock, Rothko, Basquiat and other are really far far away from genius like Cravaggio, Da Vinci, or even from modern artists like Cesar Santos...

[@dmac5108]

You have to be fair, Basquiat is a tad bit better than the likes of Rothko, Franz Kline & Pollock. More on the level of Twombly & Warhol whose work has a more abstract cerebral quality to them.

[@dmac5108]

Also a REAL Basquiat would be rather difficult to duplicate for anyone who knows his work, he had a distinguished, unique hand regardless of his lack of formal technique, unlike the others you mentioned.

[@mr.j9303]

That guy knew along what he was getting into!!!

[@thomasrapulane6294]

That's what you get for buying splatter and color blocks for millions

[@SendooranSCAR]

58mill for painting wow

[@natsalta]

Who would buy this crap paintings for millions? I do not feel sorry for buyers, even it is a crime to sell fakes

[@stanleypratt8293]

This just goes to show you how ridiculous it is to buy a "block" Rothco or a "dribble" Pollock is. There is nothing special about them like paintings by the hundreds of artists that came before them. Van Eyke, Vermeer, Rembrandt, Carravaggio to Van Gough, Renoir, Monet, to all of the Renaissance masters. I laugh at anyone who buys a Warhol painting of soup cans. What a joke. I don't like Picasso's or Dali's paintings but they at least have artistic value. I know people will hate this comment but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

[@maureenobrien3250]

Is this a joke! Give me a break..

[@rolandopretto]

Most funny lisp I've heard in a while

[@TurkiyeCumhurbaskani]

Even the original Rothko is garbage and worthless crap.

[@etienne7774]

What's next.....fake IPhones?

[@iJamie8467x]

its all mind games

[@jack7nine]

Im no expert but the way the forger was using that brush i qustion if hes ever painted

[@taylor-vl1re]

The blocks were painted by 4th graders in art class...lol...

[@baphometpresidente4637]

6:22 sums up the human behaviour

[@stephen011298]

If you’re gonna fake a painting to sell for millions Rothko is the easy choice

[@sharit7970]

Anyone willing to plunk down $3 m for this ==> 02:00 forfeits the right to complain.

[@kennyd3696]

Vextation of spirit

[@hansvetter8653]

No comparison to Wolfgang Beltracchi !

[@Constantinesis]

People who say a child can do better paintings make a common mistake nowadays of replacing a concept with a technique. A technique can ultimately be learn by anyone through repetition but an original ideea needs the spark of genius. Yes anyone can paint a Rothko but nobody could have done it if it Rothko didn`t do it in the first place.

[@jasonbernard5468]

I think rather that no one could sell it if he didn't..

[@Constantinesis]

Thats also an interesting point of view...

[@dmac5108]

"Art history" is a sham too bro. It's a narrowed perspective on the actual history of art to benefit, promote & validate a small select group of so-called artists, see Koons, Hirst (both corporate artists who barely touch "their" own work), Rothko, Pollock, Franz Kline etc. There is a stage for all sorts of art but there seems to be a lack of art that doesn't need a written explanation to appreciate.

[@dmac5108]

*in the art establishments & institutes.

[@hudamashaan5238]

If it’s good enough to trick critics, then it’s good enough. The forgers are nothing but talented hustlers

[@nobodyguy4524]

Theres alot of crap art today

[@dgh469]

any jews involved ?

[@truereclaim7341]

Like how can come one look a the Pollock painting and think it's a good work of part I use to make them in MS paint back in the day and I've seen my niece make one does that mean I can sell them for 58 million

[@RetroAP]

Do it then

[@milossiljko6819]

And original painting isn't even close artwork. Poor american, they make valuable things out of garbage based on opinions of "prominent" people in us.

[@asifmahmood3634]

This fake and real concept in an art business is created by those businessmen who are making billions out of rich individuals who have been make to believe that it is a safe and profitable investment with millions in return. Actually they are now threaten by Chinese art work. If a replica is equally good and cost 50 dollars instead of 50 million is worth buying. Yes, I agree that nobody should be cheated either by those who sell replicas for a real or by those who make billions from originals. Business itself is an art in which an individual is made to buy willingly unnecessary stuff. Art is an expression and the most powerful expression is a book, so buy books instead of colours. If you like colours then buy Chinese replicas for 40-50 dollars instead of spending millions. Buying expensive things has become a status symbol, for example buying branded products. Actually we all paying more just for the brand name and the same unbranded product cost less than half. This mindset is again created by marketing strategist and working very effectively.

[@tushkafilms1061]

2:46 that is insane some rich a##hole would pay $58,000,000 for that. My 9 year old daughter makes better art. There’s starving people around the world and somebody would pay that much for something like that… insane…

[@turnoffthelights1858]

This goes to show how art is not about talent, rather it's about perspective. A highly talented individual can turn out reproductions of art, yet why can't he use his talent and create original artwork of his own?! Because he has no perspective.

[@weirdscience6820]

This artist does create his own work but like most unknowns, he went unrewarded for it. Chinese artists, given the sheer population size of China, would be a dime a dozen. All the perspective in the world won't make a difference if the stars don't all align. It takes luck. Can't tell me that only famous artists have perspective.

[@randomridho]

the squares and splashes can be easily done by a 3yr old

[@itsjustnopinionok]

G people buy that art out of demand. It can be done by a child. But a childs paintings are not in demand.

[@moncorp1]

You're right Im The Mapp. That's why contemporary art is fraud.

[@JimOverbeckgenius]

There's one super-genius artist operating in secret who almost never sells his artworks, because he wants them kept intact and out of the hands of wealthy scum. See the KZbin short films Dolcedo Art of the Thunderbolt Ground-floor & Mezzanine.

[@thesoundcouncil3771]

People really want to believe.

[@magureatari19]

oh his name is .. unfortunate. gopnik is not the most classy word to call yourself. i know it is not his fault, but... poor guy.

[@Li-yt7zh]

That interviewed artist on the run is not the real forger, but a quasi-look-alike paid to double as the man himself. Fooled again :o

[@josephrapoza6453]

I know roscos.... I know Roscos, they look like crap and if you pay millions for painted squares you got what you deserve paint squares.. Who cares who made that mess....

[@jaimelannister3317]

Everything you see on the showroom floor is factitious, it’s all narrative . For those of familiar with the subject being able to forge a master work is an accomplishment. Michelangelo and many other of the great Renaissance master were great forgers .