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Thieves and forgers…
Why not link art history and criminal investigation? Discover, thanks to our special playlist, the most incredible stories of the art world! From the famous Mona Lisa theft in 1911 to the mysterious and unsolved case of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist, you are bound to be surprised by the stories of robberies and forgers you are about to discover.

In 2011, shock waves erupted in the art world when the long-established New York gallery Knoedler & Company announced it was closing. Knoedler had been in major dealer in modern art, handling works by mid-century American masters like Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Robert Motherwell. The closure of the gallery coincided with persisting rumors that a number of works the gallery had sold were highly convincing forgeries. In the past few years, details have emerged that link the gallery to a dubious dealer and Chinese immigrant who painted works resembling those of well known artists in his apartment in Queens. In today’s episode, we discuss the Knoedler case, as well as the notions of “originality,” “authenticity,” “copying,” and “forgery.” As we will see, these complex ideas become more complex–and even contradictory–when translated between the cultural contexts of the US and China, where copying now operates on an industrial scale in the notorious Dafen Oil Painting Village.

Content produced by: Art History Happy Hour

On the agenda
podcast - 46:41
Fakes and copies: The Cases of Knoedler and Dafen
By: Art History Happy Hour
video - 51:42
Private: The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)
By: ArtCurious
video - 10:30
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Heist
By: Everything Everywhere Daily Podcast
video - 5:30
Stealing the Mona Lisa: The Art Theft of the Century
By: Artrageous with Nate
video - 5:37
The strange history of the world’s most stolen painting
By: Ted Ed
video - 5:16
The art forger who tricked the Nazis
By: Ted Ed