Sunday, November 23, 2008

And you thought Ebay was the only place to buy forged paintings…

And you thought Ebay was the only place to buy forged paintings… Giuseppe Concepcion at work.

It seems that a ‘prominent’ New York and Miami art dealer was arrested last week on charges of selling forged paintings. If the allegations are true the art dealer, Giuseppe Concepcion, set his caliber high. The alleged forgeries include works by several famous artist-- the likes of Henri Matisse and Marc Chagall.
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Prosecutors have stated that Concepcion sold customers the forgeries from a gallery he operated in Manhattan and from the Proarte Gallery in Miami. His activity is alleged to have occurred between 2005 and 2007. However, Concepcion’s lawyer, Mark Heller, has stated that no crime had been committed and that his client is a law-abiding professional who is dedicated to art and art advocacy.

Heller went on to say that Concepcion had been under investigation for several years and would be exonerated. Heller has also noted that a few of the works had exchanged hands between other art dealers and that he feels as if his client is being used as a scapegoat. Will this case expose other crooked art dealers? Only time will tell.

Art fakes and forgeries are a $12 billion industry according to the FBI’s Art Register. The recent economic downturn has spurred art collectors and investors to be more active in knowing the complete marketing history of the works they have acquired. Needless to say, I don’t think Giuseppe Concepcion will be the first to go down. The art dealers bail was set for $500,000. If convicted he may face up to 30 years in prison.
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Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin
Senior Editor

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is why people should buy art from upcoming artists. At least then you know what you are getting into. Why focus on the greats of the past when you can invest in the greats of tomorrow.

Jeffrey Collins said...

^^^Exactly.

Anonymous said...

Forget all that great nonsense, just buy what you enjoy and want to hang in your living room, something that has life to it, grows on you through time, and exalts life. Problem is, there isnt much of that anymore. Dead stuff with juvenile ideas. But when you see something you like, buy it if you can afford it, not for quick investment.

Thats what is wrong with the stock market, looking for a quick turnaround, Invest for the long term, not as speculation. Its simple. Now, finding art worth a damn these days, now THATS takes some work.

Anonymous said...

Vanrijngo says; Absolutely not if this heading is supposed to be a question,... and if this arrest of this forgery suspect actually takes place that we have read about, it will amaze me to no end. When and if it does, the slap on the wrist and the short time in a Federal Prison would more than likely be a piece of cake for this supposed art professional, for the the amount of money I'd assume would be waiting for this suspected thief, more than likely funds probably stashed away in an off shore account somewhere under a different name.

These amounts are just a pinch in the bucket of this twelve billion $ industry, according to the FBI’s Art Register, and I do believe they fail to mention that amount was what is accumulated every year. Now you add up the money what these supposed art thieves and fraudsters supposedly are accumulating on eBay's auction site, while ninety nine percent of the art put up on eBay auction site does not bring buyers, and if the art happens to get bid on, it's usually by fictitious bidders who don't pay.

This fraudulent art thing just happens to be the most MFA laughable thing rising up in this whole supposed fine art world, especially when it comes right down to who is actually getting screwed and by who. This whole fraudulent art thing could be straightened out in no time at all, for good, and by just using new technologies in science, which by the way are already in use around the MFA world of ours in every courtroom of every country in this world.