Yesterday, 26 April, held a press conference on counterfeiting in the books of Natalia Goncharova

Yesterday, 26 April, the Russian News and Information Agency RIA Novosti press conference on the theme: "A rigged in Art: Russian experts to protect creative work by Natalia Goncharova. The reason for the meeting served as a fake work included in the publication about the life and work of Natalia Goncharova.

The discussion was attended by director of the Tretyakov Gallery (TG), Irina Lebedeva, a senior researcher at the Department of Painting of the first half of the twentieth century GTG Irina Vakar, Acting Head of Rosokhrankultura Viktor Petrakov, an art historian, director general of the publishing house "Russian Avant-Garde" Andrew Sarabyanov, the financier and collector Peter Aven, collector James Butterwick.

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counterfeits were found in two editions, published in 2010-2011: "Goncharova" Anthony Parton ( Anthony Parton Goncharova: The Art and Design of Natalia Goncharova) and Natalia Goncharova: her art between tradition and modernity "Denise Bazetu ( Denise Bazetoux Natalia Gontcharova: son oeuvre entre tradition et modernité).

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This story is not new, it began About 10 years ago, when the market began to appear fake paintings Russian avant-garde early twentieth century with the expert opinions of three people: Anthony Parton, Denise Bazetu and Jean Chauvelin (Jean Chauvelin). Sometimes the conclusion of both signed two of these experts.

output of two large books dedicated to the works by Natalia Goncharova, by itself caused a real shock to the expert community of Russia, and the amount of gross, if not primitive imitations of them, beyond all imaginable limits: experts believe that 60-70 percent of the pictures in these books - a fake.

The mere fact that when working on any books Parton, nor any Bazetu never came to the Tretyakov Gallery, where the largest collection of paintings by Goncharova in the world, says a lot.

More about incidents. Counterfeits are usually equipped with unimaginable Provenance: they all come from the collections of the NKVD generals with fictitious names and addresses on the territory of Kazakhstan. Why there? Well, probably thought that quite Tmutarakan.

And where provenance too lazy to write, were treated with the phrase: "from the private collection».

The reasons for such large-scale hoaxes clear: the high cost of paintings by Russian avant-garde in general, and Natalia Goncharova, in particular (it owns the most expensive in the world of painting, written by a woman ("Spanish Flu", approx. 1916, 6.43 million pounds. - AI .), the average cost of her paintings in the millions of dollars).

press conference was held with great emotional incandescence, and appeals to the experts to do something, responded P. Aven , who announced that all we all know (who would doubt his knowledge!): and who makes a fake, and who sells. Said that there is a stable group of international crooks who are in France and Switzerland, and that their names he now does not name for legal reasons. These criminals have hired Parton and Bazetu to legalize their counterfeit. The publication of these books - one of the steps in this direction. Ebenezer himself checked false provenance of paintings and personally made sure that all out. Verify the authenticity of fake paintings will not be difficult: they are all painted in our time, and any technological expertise immediately identify it.

Aven said that now considering the issue of initiating criminal prosecution of fraud in France where the laws in this area are very strict, and suggested that the state represented by Rosokhrankultura and the Ministry of Culture to participate in this matter.

This initiative was immediately supported by the acting head of Rosokhrankultura Viktor Petrakov .

present at the press conference James Butterwick , said that the call to publishers who have published these books, in order to inform about the situation, but the reaction was: they trust Professor Parton.

This reaction, unfortunately, reflect the situation. Why did this become possible gross fraud? Why they are not afraid of the reaction from Russia? Because the credibility of our expertise in the West too is not perfect.

First, in mid-November 2010, in the light of a book Parton, and almost immediately Online ARTinvestment.RU signal appeared about the horrific number of forgeries she stuffed .

In the near future, we, the editors AI, will post all the fake pictures of these monographs.

Constantine Babulin, AI