Six Spaniards convicted of trafficking in fake paintings

The trafficking of fake Spanish paintings from the 19th century, including a Goya, brought in more than a million euros for criminals. The existence of vast traffic of counterfeits could be revealed when the work of Nicolás Falcó, The Adoration of the Magi , sold for 18,000 euros, turned out to be false. The Valencia police became aware of the fraud when the original was put on sale in 2020 on the legal market for 45,000 euros. The investigation carried out by agents of the Historical Heritage Group of the Valencia police enabled seven people to be arrested. According to El Mundo, the works were accompanied by fake certificates of authenticity, and the sale brought in at least 1.2 million euros to the criminals. La immaculada achieved the highest selling price by Francisco de Goya, a painting sold for 900,000 euros. The other masters (most of the Spanish painters of the 19th century) copied are numerous: José Benlliure, Nicolás Falcó, Cecilio Pla, Lucas Villaamil, Benjamín Palencia, López Mezquita, Puig Roda…. The police have collaborated with the Institut Valencià de Conservació, Restauració y Investigació (IVCR ), the Museum of Fine Arts in Valencia, and the director of the Benlliure Museum in Valencia. Of the 27 works seized by the authorities, 18 are fake. Of the seven suspects, six were ultimately convicted by the Castellón Criminal Court for the offense of fraud. Three of them were sentenced to ten months in prison, three months for the other three and the last one was acquitted, according to El Mundo. The resale of counterfeits on the art market is a recurring problem in Spain and the world. Last March, the Valencia police seized three copies of works by Francisco de Goya, El Greco, and Amedeo Modigliani, offered on the black market for 12.5 million euros. Read in Le Journal des arts, article by Julie Goy art expert: vwart.com