US fake art scandal reaches Switzerland
A Swiss museum curator is currently facing a lawsuit for having declared a fake Rothko painting to be real. According to the charges, his expertise helped sell the forgery. (SRF/swissinfo.ch)
In 2008, a lawyer’s office on Lake Zurich drew up a purchase agreement for a painting by the American artist Mark Rothko. The artwork entitled “Orange, Red and Blue” was sold for $7.2 million (CHF6.4 million) to casino tycoon Frank Fertitta. Except it was a fake.
The deal was arranged by Oliver Wick, a former curator at Basel’s Beyeler Foundation. Wick, a known Rothko expert, authenticated the painting. And he received a $450,000 fee from the sale for his expertise. Now the buyer is pressing charges against Wick.
Knoedler, the US gallery that sold the painting, is also facing charges. The fake Rothko is just one of about 60 forgeries sold by Knoedler totalling $80 million. It’s one of the biggest art forgery scandals in US history.
Both Wick and the Beyeler have refused to comment on the allegations.
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