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September 5, 2008 4:07:04 PM CDT

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Gauguin Sculpture a Fake

Posted Dec 12, 07 12:03 PM CST in Arts & Living 

(Newser) – After a decade on display at the Art Institute of Chicago, a ceramic figure allegedly sculpted by Paul Gauguin was revealed yesterday to be a fake. The museum discovered 'The Faun,' a half-man, half-goat figure, to be the work not of the 19th century French artist, but of a British family notorious for producing art forgeries, the AP reports.

The museum, which refused to disclose how much it paid, has traced the counterfeit sculpture to the Greenhalghs, a family who long ran a forgery operation in which the son created fakes that the elderly parents sold on the art market. Greenhalgh productions include an 'Egyptian' statuette and 'Assyrian' stone reliefs. The son is now in prison, the mother got a suspended sentence, and the father awaits sentencing.

Source Associated Press

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The Paul Gauguin sculpture "The Faun" housed by the Art Institute of Chicago has been discovered to be a fake, according to the museum.   (artic.edu)
Visitors look at paintings by French artist Paul Gauguin at the opening of an exhibition at Rome's Vittoriano Museum, 05 October 2007.   (Getty Images)
Visitor looks at paintings by French artist Paul Gauguin at the opening of an exhibition at Rome's Vittoriano Museum, 05 October 2007.   (Getty Images)
Visitors look at paintings by French artist Paul Gauguin at the opening of an exhibition at Rome's Vittoriano Museum, 05 October 2007.   (Getty Images)
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Great Britain  • Chicago  • art market  • art auction  • art museum  • forgeries  • forgery  • Paul Gauguin


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