This week, Italian authorities seized 21 alleged forgery from a major monograph program in the northern city of Parma.
Exhibition of 80 drawings, engravings and tapestries that opened on September 27 at Palazzo Tarasconi. A court in Rome ordered the seizure after Italian Art Irrily Squad Carabinieri TPC, and Spanish experts agreed that the artworks may not be real.
Diego polio, commander of Carabinieri TPC’s Roman branch, told guardian Italian authorities first suspect that the works were forged after a routine inspection in January. “Something wasn’t right,” he said. “We noticed that only Dali’s lithographs, posters and sketches, as well as some statues and other objects were on display, but there were no paintings or anything important. It’s hard to understand why someone was organizing such a low-value exhibition.”
Polio also told Italy’s Bruno Radio: “If it is indeed proven to be untrue, then those who hold the exhibition will have to prove why they show untrue works and of course may also be responsible for certain crimes of art forgery.”
Stefano Opilio, the prosecutor involved in the investigation, told Art newspaper Carabinieri TPC sent an exhibition catalogue to the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation in the Catalan town of Figueres in February. The foundation later confirmed that the program had not been consulted yet.
The foundation said in a report released in March that it was “confused” about the source of the project. When the Foundation’s experts visited the show shortly after, they were very skeptical of the work.
“From the content of this exhibition…it started, and the Dali Foundation expressed doubts about three drawings and a series of prints,” the foundation said in a statement. Sepia.
However, according to Opilio, the Italian Art Crime Squad waited until Parma showed the works before raiding the show. The captured work contains 18 lithographs and three drawings, reportedly part of a collection borrowed by two Italians.
A company called Navigare organized the “Dalí, Between Art and Myth”. The Italian Army Infantry History Museum in Rome had previously held a performance from January 25 to July 27. The agency is managed by the Italian Ministry of Defense.
The Italian Ministry of Culture is now inspecting the works and if confirmed as counterfeits, they can be permanently confiscated, and the suspect may be prosecuted for forgery or intentionally caused forgery.
“It’s a question now, to know whether these works were directly forged by the people who made them circulate, or were purchased from others,” Opilio said.
Palazzo Tarasconi and Navigare have no responses Artnews’ Request a comment at publication.
