In the Kingdom of Art and... Fakes: 5 Ways to Tell a "Fake" from a Great Work of Art

Art, oh, art. Today, it not only stirs the soul and decorates the walls of penthouses, but above all... fills the wallets. Collecting works of art has become an international sport of the elite - with the finals at Sotheby's and Christie's auctions, where representatives of art lovers and billionaires from Silicon Valley fight shoulder to shoulder for the works. One brushstroke? 80 million. A made-up signature of Picasso ? Priceless - when it comes to scandal. Where streams of cash flow, there appear... fraudsters. Forgers with a disturbing talent, convincing even the best connoisseurs that here is another lost masterpiece. And then... surprise! There is a lack of pigment, history, sometimes even - as it turned out in one of the high-profile cases - the letter "c" in Pollock's name.

According to the BBC, on February 19 , the Italian Carabinieri Cultural Heritage Unit uncovered a secret forgery operation in a district of Rome. Authorities confiscated more than 70 forged works attributed to famous artists – from Pissarro to Picasso , Rembrandt to Dora Maar – along with materials used to imitate old canvases, artists' signatures and the stamps of defunct galleries. As it turns out, this is not an isolated case, and there are more "guys" for millions for fake works sold at auction .

So how do you tell a real Vermeer gem from a carefully crafted one? Here are five ways to spot a fake masterpiece that every collector, aesthete, and art market survivalist should know.

1. Fake Pigments, Real Trouble: Chemical Analysis of a Work of Art

Not all that glitters is gold—and not every blue pigment existed in the 17th century. Forgers may paint like Rembrandt , but their greatest enemy is not the art critic, but the chemist. Anachronistic paint ingredients , such as titanium dioxide, can dismantle a fake faster than an auction hammer.

It was a speck of modern paint that betrayed one of the greatest frauds of the 20th century — Wolfgang Beltracchi . The "Master," who convinced the world that he had "discovered" the forgotten work of Heinrich Campendonk , inadvertently used a ready-made pigment that the beloved expressionist never had a chance to use. Science does not lie, forgers always do.

2. The History of Art Ownership - In Search of the Truth

A masterpiece doesn’t just appear like a mushroom after rain. It has a pedigree, shipping lists, stories about eccentric barons and mansion fires. If a painting supposedly by Vermeer has never appeared in a catalog before and its owner is a “mysterious collector from Lucerne” — you better think twice.

The forger Hans van Meegeren convinced the world that he had painted a newly discovered Vermeer —and sold it to Göring himself. When accused of collaboration, he defended himself in the most audacious way: he publicly painted "another Vermeer" to prove that all the earlier ones were his.

3. When Art Speaks Through the Brush: A Style That Cannot Be Faked

Eyes can lie, but hand gestures rarely do. Artists paint with a unique power, lightness, or rhythm that cannot be easily replicated. Forgers often fall into the trap of trying "too hard." The strokes are too precise, the emotions too calculated, and the whole thing resembles... a cosplay of a great master.

Eric Hebborn , another notorious forger , understood this all too well. With the help of brandy, he was able to enter into the spirit of the Renaissance master. Some say that his fakes still hang in the world’s most important museums—unidentified and revered.

4. What's beneath the surface: X-raying a work of art with modern technology

Sometimes, to see the truth, you have to look deeper—literally. X-rays , infrared, and fluorescence spectroscopy reveal what the naked eye cannot see: painted-over layers, earlier sketches, and even… other paintings.

The still life, supposedly by Van Gogh , had long been a source of suspicion. Too pastel, too clean, too... un-Van Gogh. Until research revealed the bodies of wrestlers hidden beneath—the very ones the artist had mentioned in his letter to his brother. Voilà! The painting was not only original, but doubly Van Gogh.

5. Typos cost millions - check your signature before you pay

In the fashion world, a typo on a "Guccci" label immediately indicates a fake. In art, it can be worse — you can overpay for millions before someone notices that the name " Pollock " is missing a "c."

This is exactly what happened in one of the most spectacular scandals on the art market , when the prestigious Knoedler gallery sold for years fake Rothko and Pollock paintings — produced by an unknown artist. Interestingly, it was enough to check ... the spelling. But, as we know, who would bother about details when it comes to millions of dollars?