ArtDependence | Operation Cariatide: Over 2.100 Fake Artworks seized, 38 Individuals under Investigation

Monday, November 11, 2024

The Carabinieri (Italian police) has uncovered a large-scale pan-European forgery network making and selling fake artworks attributed to some of the best known names in modern and contemporary art including Banksy, Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol according to a pressrelease.

38 People were placed under investigation in Italy, Spain, France and Belgium on suspicion of conspiracy to handle stolen goods, forgery and illegal sale of artworks, the paramilitary Carabinieri art squad and the Pisa prosecutors' office said in a joint statement on Monday.

The chief prosecutor of Pisa, Teresa Angela Camelio, said experts from the Banksy archive who assisted with the investigation considered Monday's operation as "the biggest act of protection of Banksy's work."

The operation, named "Cariatide" (inspired by a painting attributed to Amedeo Modigliani), recovered counterfeit works of renowned artists such as Amedeo Modigliani, Andy Warhol, Banksy (one of the most frequently forged), Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Arman, Francis Bacon, Wassily Kandinsky, Gustav Klimt, Henry Moore, Haussmann, Tapies, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Twombly, Wilfredo Lam, Marc Chagall, Monet, De Chirico, Giacometti, Aubertin, Mituraj, Afro, Boccioni, Paul Klee, Van Gogh, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Vasarely, Pollock, Haring, Hopper, Death NYC, Renato Guttuso, and Salvador Dalí.

Investigators said they had seized more than 2,100 fake pieces, with a potential market value of about 200 million euros and discovered six forgery workshops over Europe.

They said their investigation started in 2023 when they seized about 200 fake pieces from the collection of a businessman in Pisa including a copy of a drawing by Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani. That led them to forgeries sold by auction houses across Italy, and to connect them to a known group believed to specialize in forgeries of Banksy and Warhol.

To boost their credentials, the unnamed suspects organized two Banksy exhibitions with a published catalog in prestigious locations in Mestre near Venice and Cortona in Tuscany, investigators said.

Main Image: Operation Cariatide, Palazzo Toscanelli (archive)

ArtDependence WhatsApp Group

Get the latest ArtDependence updates directly in WhatsApp by joining the ArtDependence WhatsApp Group by clicking the link or scanning the QR code below

Subscribe to the Newsletter

Event Map

See all upcoming events on an easy to use google map

Image of the Day

Anna Melnykova, "Palace of Labor (palats praci), architector I. Pretro, 1916", shot with analog Canon camera, 35 mm Fuji film in March 2022.

Search

About ArtDependence

ArtDependence Magazine is an international magazine covering all spheres of contemporary art, as well as modern and classical art.

ArtDependence features the latest art news, highlighting interviews with today’s most influential artists, galleries, curators, collectors, fair directors and individuals at the axis of the arts.

The magazine also covers series of articles and reviews on critical art events, new publications and other foremost happenings in the art world.

If you would like to submit events or editorial content to ArtDependence Magazine, please feel free to reach the magazine via the contact page.