FBI Art Crime Team Seizes Fake Andrew Wyeth

The Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting the FBI Art Crime team has seized a forged Andrew Wyeth watercolor.  It seems this watercolor has been in circulation for some time, and had been known as a fake since Andrew Wyeth himself declared it a forgery.  The current owner who was trying to sell the painting will not be charged as he too was also fooled by the painting into thinking it was authentic.

The painting was consigned to a Connecticut auction house in 1998 which sent the painting to Andrew Wythe for authentication.  He returned it stating it was a forgery. The article states this is one of four Wythe fakes to surface since his death in January.

The Philadelphia Inquirer states

To try to authenticate the painting, the auctioneer approached the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, where the painting was viewed by Wyeth collection manager Mary Landa. She instantly recognized it as the same forgery that she and Wyeth had spotted a decade earlier.

"It was indeed a watercolor and it was signed 'Andrew Wyeth,' but it was not his signature," Landa said yesterday. "It was an exact copy, with all the little squiggles, every figure in it was the same. But it was clear that it was very stiff and didn't flow like Andrew Wyeth's work."

This is one of four fake Wyeth works to surface since the artist's death at 91 in January, she said.

Worried that the counterfeit would continue to circulate, Landa contacted FBI agent Peter Gangel and Assistant U.S. Attorney David Hall, the Wilmington-based federal prosecutor who handles Art Crime Team cases nationwide.

Hall would not comment on the status of the other forgeries but said the FBI's investigation was continuing.

Federal authorities investigate art forgeries on a case-by-case basis, depending upon resources available and the significance of the fake art, Hall said.

"We want to try to nip this kind of crime in the bud because it's common for it to pick up after an artist dies and is now unable to authenticate his work," Hall said. "A prolific artist like Andrew Wyeth produced so much art that it's difficult for any one person to have a mental catalog of all his works. When collectors buy something that they think is real but is not, they undermine the legacy of the artist."

Spencer, the art forgery expert, agreed. "Fakes are most insidious for the artists themselves," he said. "After all, most of what we know about an artist comes from his work."

To read the full Philadelphia Inquirer article, click HERE.