We’re hoping that there’s more where Randy Kennedy‘s story came from: we’re already crazy about Mark Landis, the amateur forger who dresses up like a priest and presents small-town museums with “family bequests.”

Unlike most forgers, he does not seem to be in it for the money, but for a kind of satisfaction at seeing his works accepted as authentic. He takes nothing more in return for them than an occasional lunch or a few tchotchkes from the gift shop. He turns down tax write-off forms, and it’s unclear whether he has broken any laws. But his activities have nonetheless cost museums, which have had to pay for analysis of the works, for research to figure out if more of his fakes are hiding in their collections and for legal advice. (The Hilliard said it discovered the forgery within hours, using a microscope to find a printed template beneath the paint.)

The authenticity of art is one of our favorite bugaboos. In truth a work’s authenticity has nothing to do with who made it.

Drop me a line at rjk@dailyblague.com
This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 12th, 2011 at 6:00 pm.