Berlin art expert convicted: fraud with fake Warhol!

Berlin art expert convicted: fraud with fake Warhol!

A Berlin art collector is at the center of a sensational fraud that shook the art world. He was sentenced to a probation penalty of one year and ten months by the Berlin District Court because he had sold a fake work by the legendary pop art artist Andy Warhol. According to rbb | 24 , the verdict already took place on Tuesday. The 69-year-old defendant had sold a screen printing picture "Red Marilyn, 1962", which he acquired for only $ 676 on the Internet, to a good-faith art collector-and that for a proud 770,000 euros!

The public prosecutor explains that the art collector, a real estate entrepreneur, was caught up in this fraud via a gallery. The gallery owner, who has now died, had sold the work of art to the plaintiff after his restoration, which was previously under pressure by an alleged other interested parties. Of the 500,000 euros that were actually paid for the work of art, the accused received 400,000 euros. The fake was finally exposed by a picture on the screen that Warhol itself showed and which could not have arisen before 1975, while the work allegedly came from 1962, the co -action explained how stern.de reported.

In this scandalous case, the art expert was condemned not only for fraud, but in a particularly severe case. The process was an important clarification in the world of the art market, where the value of original works is subject to immense fluctuations. The verdict is not yet final, but it throws a shadow on the credibility of many art transactions and shows the dangers that lurk in the largely unregulated art market.