Fakes and Copies: The Cases of Knoedler and Dafen

​​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.

LINKS
Zhenhan Hao's "Imitation": his website; Hyperallergic interview
Ian Ross Gallery's "Made in China," 2013
Doug Fishbone's "Made in China," Dulwich Picture Gallery, 2015

NEWS
Knoedler Gallery
November 30, 2011:"A Gallery That Helped Create the American Art World Closes Shop After 165 Years," The New York Times
January 26, 2016: "Knoedler Gallery Director's Lawyer Says Other Experts Were Dubed by Fake Rothko," The New York Times
January 28: "Experts Testify they Couldn't Authenticate Knoedler Paintings," The Wall Street Journal
February 10: "Knoedler Gallery and Collectors Settle Case over Fake Rothko," The New York Times
February 15: "More than Money: Inside the Knoedler Art Fakes Scandal," The Observer
May 22: "80 Million Con," 60 Minutes
​Dafen Oil Painting Village
July 15, 2005: "Own Original Copies of Real Western Art!," The New York Times
August 23, 2006: "China's Art Factories: Van Gogh From the Sweatshop," Spiegel Online
December 20, 2008: "China to the Rescue? Not!," The New York Times
May 14, 2013: "Capturing the Copy Town Trend," Hyperallergic
July 23, 2013: "The World's Biggest Art Factory," The Daily Mail (lots of pics here!)
April 24, 2014: "In China, Art to Gogh," Wall Street Journal