{"id":142,"date":"2025-04-28T12:25:05","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T19:25:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ac.nau.edu\/artcrime\/?p=142"},"modified":"2025-05-05T09:38:07","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T16:38:07","slug":"inside-the-mind-of-a-master-forger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ac.nau.edu\/artcrime\/2025\/04\/28\/inside-the-mind-of-a-master-forger\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the Mind of a Master Forger"},"content":{"rendered":"
F. Falsaria<\/div>\n\n\n

All are curious about the inner workings and mysteries of underground criminals. I have earned millions forging 19th-century paintings and have learned hidden techniques, deceived authentication methods, and exploited shady dealers. I, the Impasto Imposter, am here to teach you how to create your own 1800s forgery from start to finish, including the factors behind each decision you must make. I have mastered copying the hand of French artist Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) and his unique use of the palette knife and thick impasto style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My successful forgery of Courbet\u2019s painting, Bord de la Mer, Palavas<\/em> (1854, oil on canvas), and how he functions as an artist will be the basis of my examples. First, let\u2019s review what to consider when selecting the artist and painting you want to copy.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Choosing your artist and painting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Choosing your artist is critical because we want our forgery to be as least suspicious as possible. So, even though a painting from Leonardo da Vinci or Johannes Vermeer would pay off very well, these artists have small oeuvres, and any \u2018new\u2019 work to appear would undergo a relentless amount of inspection. I chose to forge Courbet\u2019s work because he created nearly 300 paintings (mostly of landscapes) in his lifetime, making it less likely for my forgeries to be recognized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Gustave Courbet. 1844. Le D\u00e9sesp\u00e9r\u00e9<\/em>. 18 in. by 21 in. Oil on canvas. In private collection.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We want to create a forgery of an artist that people want to buy, so researching the market for your artists of interest is necessary. While Courbet is not in as high demand as the old masters, he is known as one of the first artists to utilize the palette knife as a paintbrush to apply thick layers of paint to give his paintings an interesting impasto texture. Due to his ingenuity, paintings now average between $100,000 to $1,000,000. I would also recommend looking into your artist\u2019s work habits because it is not uncommon for artists to take shortcuts, allowing us some leeway for perfection. For example, Courbet signed his apprentices’ paintings nearly<\/em> identical to his style to lighten his load of many commissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Gustave Courbet. 1854. Bords de la Mer, Palavas<\/em>. 15 in. by 18 in. Oil on canvas. Mus\u00e9e Fabre, Montpellier<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Choosing your painting is much easier once you have decided on an artist. Depending on whether you are creating an original painting or copying another, it is safest to create a familiar subject for the artist. My forgery of Bord de la Mer, Palavas,<\/em> is a landscape he created multiple times, making only slight changes to its composition. I also recommend only recreating paintings that are part of private collections to save them from being recognized. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Learning how your artist paints<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Now that you have researched your artist and know your subject, you must learn how to paint like them. Finding this kind of information is difficult, but not impossible. For those interested in Courbet specifically, I recommend reading Courbet and the Modern Landscape <\/em>by curators Mary Morton and Charlotte Eyerman. They give valuable information on how he paints each genre of painting and his techniques. Courbet painted quickly with various brushes, rags, and palette knives to obtain specific pictorial effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Gustave Courbet. 1870. Cliffs at \u00c9tretat<\/em>. 26 in. by 32 in. Oil on canvas. Nationalgalerie, Berlin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Painting like Courbet takes skill because there is a certain balance between keeping the surface smooth and maintaining the visual texture of the paints, just like he did. Putting layers of transparent glaze between your paints and scraping off excess materials accomplishes this effect. Then, use your palette knife to shave and scrape the painted surface to gain, for example, the chalky look of rocks and cliffs in landscapes. More importantly, it is time to talk about authentication methods and how to pass their tests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connoisseurship and Scientific analysis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The first method of authentication is called stylistic analysis or connoisseurship. A connoisseur, a professional specialized in an artist’s style, examines the techniques used to create a painting in comparison to the specific artist. I push the importance of perfecting your artist\u2019s hand so your forgery looks identical to any connoisseur performing stylistic analysis. Passing connoisseurship should be your top priority because you need everyone to believe it is real by looking at it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The toughest authentication method to pass is scientific analysis. Depending on the artist you are copying, it is likely that your forgery will not be subjected to scientific tests because they are expensive to perform. Still, I always take extra precautions to make my paintings as authentic as possible, just in case. To the right, you will find some standard analysis tests and what they specifically look for or identify.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first cautionary step I take is to create each of my forgeries by hand, so researching your artist\u2019s techniques will be very valuable. Imaging spectroscopy and x-radiography will show your entire process from start to finish, layer by layer.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Scientists also use x-radiography to date canvases and woods in frames or supports, so I always use originals from the nineteenth century. For your canvases, finding them used from antique stores or galleries is easier, and you remove the paint with thinners and bleachers yourself. For framing, I like to reference John Payne\u2019s book Framing the Nineteenth Century: Picture Frames 1837-1935<\/em> closely,<\/em> where the author gives detailed examples of frames from all over the world, including stylistic choices, creators, and even authentication stickers. It is an incredible guide to popular styles in the 1800s and what authentication stickers look like to make your own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Figure 11.1 Painting by Gustave Courbet, “L’homme bless\u00e9” (1844-1854), 815 x 975 mm, Mus\u00e9e d’Orsay Paris. Visible image on top and the corresponding radiography below, which reveals two previous compositions. \u00a9 C2RMF.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The most tell-tale sign of a forgery is the use of paints or ingredients that had not been utilized or created during its time. Depending on the date your painting was made, you need to be cautious about using synthetic or organic materials. Synthetic materials did not exist until 1856, and micro-raman spectroscopy can analyze the composition of your paints, determining if they are synthetic or organic. To minimize the risk of your paints being a fail point, you should make your paints from scratch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Making your paints from scratch is more difficult, but it maximizes the control of the paint’s ingredients and color. Making them yourself allows you to create specific colors and hues to mimic the dullness and browning of oil paints caused by time. During Courbet\u2019s lifetime, artists and manufacturers frequently adulterated materials to either increase their working qualities or replace expensive ingredients with cheaper ones to decrease production costs. To the left are the common adulterations of the main ingredients in oil paints done in the nineteenth century for your reference. Following these guidelines, you can pass gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and thermomicroscopy, which identify paint binders and ingredients.\u00a0
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To finish your forgery, you will need a signature. You can find artists\u2019 signatures in their catalog raisonnes or from the paintings themselves. Any time I replicate a signature, I copy it upside down. Many artists practice drawing upside down because it allows our brains only to see shapes and lines. Therefore, we do not get distracted by the overall picture. I recommend using this technique every time to get a perfect signature that completes your painting and makes it ready to sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Provenance and selling<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The last thing your painting needs is some history, otherwise known as provenance, the third method of authentication. Buyers and sellers examine the provenance of an artwork to ensure it has a clean history that connects all the way back to the artist. As a beginner forger, I consistently sold my forgeries alongside other paintings with official authentication certificates and transaction receipts. I never wanted my forgeries to draw too much attention, so having other paintings as buffers was important. Then, by altering the original documents, I could include my forgery in the receipts of the other paintings and replicate their authentication certificates to create my own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The most valuable thing I have learned through forging is that all dealers are corrupt. When dealers have the potential to profit, they have very few incentives to reveal any information that may diminish the title and lower the value, thus making them the safest place to sell your forgeries. I always bring my paintings to a dealer with the story that they were part of a family member\u2019s collection who always claimed they were original Courbet’s. The worst that can happen is that they were wrong, saving you<\/em> from any possible legal trouble. 
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Bibliography<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Carlyle, Leslie. \u201cAuthenticity And Adulteration: What Materials Were 19th Century Artists Really Using?\u201d. The Conservator<\/em>, num. 17, 1993, pp. 56-60. https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/profile\/Leslie-Carlyle\/publication\/233276208_Authenticity_and_adulteration_What_materials_were_19th_century_artists_really_using\/links\/586c2e0808ae6eb871bb7259\/Authenticity-and-adulteration-What-materials-were-19th-century-artists-really-using.pdf<\/a>. Accessed 7 Mar. 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colombini, Maria Perla, et al. Analytical Chemistry for the Study of Paintings and the Detection of Forgeries<\/em>. Cham, Switzerland, Springer, 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day, Gregory. \u201cExplaining the Art Market\u2019s Thefts, Frauds, and Forgeries (And Why the Art Market Does Not Seem to Care).\u201d Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law<\/em>, vol. 16, no. 3, Apr. 2014, pp. 457\u201395. EBSCOhost<\/em>, research.ebsco.com\/linkprocessor\/plink?id=30819cb9-35cf-3ca9-b48d-27788e19dcb6<\/a>. Accessed 7 Mar. 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Desbuissons, Fr\u00e9d\u00e9rique. \u201cCourbet\u2019s Materialism.\u201d Oxford Art Journal<\/em>, vol. 31, no. 2, 2008, pp. 251\u201360. JSTOR<\/em>, http:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/20108023<\/a>. Accessed 7 Mar. 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gerstenblith, Patty. \u201cProvenances: Real, Fake, and Questionable.\u201d International Journal of Cultural Property<\/em>, vol. 26, no. 3, Aug. 2019, pp. 285\u2013304, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1017\/s0940739119000171<\/a>.  Accessed 5 Apr. 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hebborn, Eric. The Art Forger\u2019s Handbook<\/em>. Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1998.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morton, Mary G, et al. Courbet and the Modern Landscape<\/em>. Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum, 2006.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Payne, John. Framing the Nineteenth Century : Picture Frames 1837-1935<\/em>. Victoria, Australia, Images Publishing Group, 2007.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Townsend, Joyce H. \u201cThermomicroscopy Applied to Painting Materials from the Late 18th and 19th Centuries.\u201d Thermochimica Acta<\/em>, vol. 365, no. 1-2, 4 Dec. 2000, pp. 79\u201384, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/S0040-6031(00)00615-8<\/a>. Accessed 5 Apr. 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wagner, Anne M. “COURBET’S LANDSCAPES AND THEIR MARKET.<\/em>” Art History 4.4 (1981):410-431.https:\/\/www.deepdyve.com\/lp\/oxford-university-press\/courbet-s-landscapes-and-their-market-VebIcjx20F?#<\/a> Accessed 7 Mar. 2025.\u201cWildenstein Plattner Institute – <\/p>\n\n\n\n

C.R_Gustave_Courbet_Tome_I_Wildenstein_Institute.\u201d Publitas.com<\/em>, 2025, view.publitas.com\/wildenstein-plattner-institute-ol46yv9z6qv6\/c-r_gustave_courbet_tome_i_wildenstein_institute\/page\/306-307<\/a>.  Accessed 5 Apr. 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All are curious about the inner workings and mysteries of underground criminals. I have earned millions forging 19th-century paintings and have learned hidden techniques, deceived authentication methods, and exploited shady dealers. I, the Impasto Imposter, am here to teach you how to create your own 1800s forgery from start to finish, including the factors behind […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[9],"class_list":["post-142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forgery","tag-completed"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ac.nau.edu\/artcrime\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ac.nau.edu\/artcrime\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ac.nau.edu\/artcrime\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ac.nau.edu\/artcrime\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ac.nau.edu\/artcrime\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/ac.nau.edu\/artcrime\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1611,"href":"https:\/\/ac.nau.edu\/artcrime\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142\/revisions\/1611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ac.nau.edu\/artcrime\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ac.nau.edu\/artcrime\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ac.nau.edu\/artcrime\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}