In Paris, they will burn fake Chagall

When Martin Lang, a businessman from Yorkshire, acquired the Nude painting, attributed to Marc Chagall, for £ 100,000, he hoped it would become a family property. Now, after 20 years, he is faced with the prospect of seeing how the object of his investment is burned in front of the French court.

Attributed to Marc Chagall - Nude

63-year-old Martin Lang from Leeds in 1992 bought the Nude painting, dated 1909 - 1910 on the advice of a Russian art dealer who worked at that time in a large auction house. Chagall, who died in 1985, was a pioneer of contemporary art, revered by collectors around the world. One of his paintings has recently been sold for $ 10 million.

After watching one of the episodes of the BBC program “Fake or Fortune?” (Fake or Fortune?), Lang contacted the presenters of the television program to confirm the authenticity of his picture. When buying, as proof of the authenticity of the work, Lang was given the Soviet catalog of the works of Marc Chagall, which featured the work he bought.

And so, after so many years, it turned out that the picture was a fake. Studies have shown that the blue and green pigments used in painting the canvas are too “modern” and were developed only in the 1930s. In addition, from later editions of Soviet catalogs of the artist’s works, the picture was excluded. To finally confirm the results of the examination, Nude was sent to Paris to the Chagall Committee, headed by the artist’s granddaughter.

Transferring the painting to the committee, Lang signed a contract according to which the heirs of Marc Chagall may demand the arrest of the work, or take other measures prescribed by law. But now it turns out that the committee created to protect the artist’s reputation is going to destroy the picture, despite the fact that Lang asked just to mark the work as a fake and return it to him. It seems almost unbelievable, but French law provides for the destruction of fake works of art by burning them.

Philip Mold (Philip Mold), an art expert on the program "Fakes or Luck?", Condemned such extreme measures, calling them "barbaric." “I can’t believe that this is really happening,” he said. Mold added that the Chagall Committee seems to be “obsessed” with the idea of destroying the picture, although it can be used to train experts who should distinguish real works from fakes. He also noted that although £ 100,000 is a serious amount, it in itself reflects the fact that the picture was not formally verified, since if its authenticity were proven, then the price of the work would be at least £ 500,000.

BBC program experts believe that up to 90% of works in the Russian art market are fakes, and Marc Chagall’s paintings are the most popular targets for falsification. In particular, the picture of Lang, according to experts of the Chagall Committee, became an imitation of the painting “Reclining Nude”, painted by the artist in 1911.

Pierre Valentin, a lawyer specializing in works of art, said that 2 paintings attributed to Juan Miro had already been destroyed in this way (by burning). Their owners tried to return the paintings to themselves, but French law does prescribe the destruction of fakes by burning in the square in front of the courthouse. It turns out that Lang has no chance to regain the picture, although members of his family managed to become attached to this work, albeit not a script.

Lang, who no longer hopes to get his picture back, demanded that he be guaranteed that if he ever finds out that his work was genuine, he will receive full compensation. “There is nothing definite in life. There is always room for error, ”he said.

Anna Sidorova © Gallerix.ru