Husband and wife duo Wolfgang and Helene Beltracchi spent decades painting forgeries in the styles of deceased European artists and selling them for millions of euros. The Betracchis extensively researched the artists’ lives: travelling to where they had lived, reading letters and diaries, and reading academic discussions of their work. Wolfgang painted the images (numbering around 300) which were claimed to be either known paintings that had been lost or undiscovered ones; he claimed to have mastered the style of about 50 deceased artists. However, one mistake blew the whole operation open when Wolfgang purchased a zinc pigment that also contained titanium, which wasn’t used in pigments until the 1920s. The painting in question was supposedly painted in 1914. The pair spent several years in prison and were ordered to pay €35 million in restitution. (https://www.cnn.com/style/article/wolfgang-helen-beltracchi-forgers/index.html)
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