Sotheby’s Sues Couple For Consigning Millions Worth Of Fake Giacometti Works
Image via ID 168151820 © Raluca Tudor | Dreamstime.com
Auction house Sotheby’s is suing a couple from Florida who consigned nearly US$7 million worth of imitation furniture and decorative art, which they claimed were by Diego Giacometti. The seven works were sold in separate sales in 2016 and 2017.
According to Artnet News, a handwriting expert discovered that the provenance documents that the couple submitted were forged. Since then, the auctioneer has voided the sales and refunded the money to the buyers.
It now wants Frederic Thut, his wife Bettina Von Marnitz Thut, and their business Fine Art Auctions of Miami (FAAM) to return all their proceeds, as well.
Frederic Thut had claimed to have purchased a trove of Diego Giacometti works before consigning them to auction houses “with no disclosure concerning his own ownership interest in the works.” These works were then purchased by his wife, who consigned them to Sotheby’s at far higher estimates than their original sale prices at FAAM.
At first, Sotheby’s did not believe that the works were forged, as the Thuts had provided “strong” documents proving the works’ authenticity.
Documentation included supposed letters from famed New York art dealer Pierre Matisse and Serge Matta, brother of painter Roberto Matta. The couple also submitted a certificate of authenticity seemingly signed by James Lord, who authored a book about Alberto Giacometti, Diego Giacometti’s brother.
However, after enlisting the help of the handwriting expert, the auction house came to accept that the documents were indeed forged.
The expert had concluded that the letters written by Matisse did not match samples from archives at the Morgan Library. It was also determined that the documents “written” by Matisse, Matta, and Lord were all produced by the hand of the same person.
Lastly, to seal the deal, Sotheby’s discovered the presence of counterfeit protection system coding in the documents’ letterhead, which was only introduced to printers in the 1990s, long after the letters’ supposed 1982 dates.
It remains to be seen if the couple will be directed to make restitutions to Sotheby’s, though the auction house is certainly not taking this hit to its credibility lightly.
[via Artnet News, cover image via ID 168151820 © Raluca Tudor | Dreamstime.com]
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