Investigations
The Real Thing?
A fingerprint has intensified the debate about the origin of a mysterious drawing sold at auction for $21,850. Experts don't agree whether it's a 19th–century German work or a genuine Leonardo worth $150 million. Read More
The Brillo-Box Scandal
The discovery that a respected curator produced a set of Andy Warhol Brillo boxes after the artist’s death, passing them off as originals, has created a quandary for dealers, collectors, and scholars—including the experts in charge of authenticating the artist’s work. Read More
The Faking of the Russian Avant-Garde
With invented provenances, unreliable certificates of authenticity, and “rediscovered” works by artists who are lost to history, forgers are flooding galleries and auction houses with Russian avant-garde fakes. A six-month ARTnews investigation reveals that inauthentic works now outnumber authentic ones. Read More
Inside the Gardner Case
After two decades of tips, leads, hunches, forensic tests, psychic visions, and jailhouse confessions, the biggest art heist in history is still unsolved. Read More
The Mauerbach Scandal
An exhibition in Vienna brings to light new evidence of Austria’s reluctance to return art looted by the Nazis. Read More
The Dalí Sculpture Mess
A flood of posthumous sculpture by Salvador Dalí generates millions of dollars in annual revenue—but the artist’s connection with much of the work is unclear. The market is rife with unreliable information, disputed ownership claims, unauthorized editions, and legal conflict. At least two European police investigations are under way. Read More
The Blue Print
A 50-year-old fingerprint on the side of a paint can fuels an attribution to Jackson Pollock—and charges of forgery. Read More
‘The Scream,’ the Thief, and the 2 Million M&M’s
Stolen masterpieces are priceless and worthless at the same time—they’re too hot to sell, and have limited use as collateral. But one criminal tried to use them to sweeten his sentence. Read More
The Mysterious Journey of an Erotic Masterpiece
Femme nue couchée, one of several Courbets owned by the Hungarian Jewish collector Baron Ferenc Hatvany, disappeared after World War II from a Budapest bank vault. The painting resurfaced 50 years later in Slovakia, setting off a cat-and-mouse game that resulted in its restitution to Hatvany’s heirs—who loaned it to the Courbet retrospective at the Grand Palais in Paris. Read More
‘Fools, Show-offs, and Trophy Hunters’
The art thieves in western Europe, says one expert, are mainly the Balkan Bandits. Read More
When Bad Is Good
The ARTnews 200 Top Collectors
CHINA The Next Generation
A Terrible Beauty?
UPDATED: A Long Lost Leonardo