[CPProt.net] A Frenchman's business: fake old masterpieces paint extravagant Dubai hotel walls

[Museum Security Network / Cultural Property Protection Net (Ton Cremers)]

 Saturday, April 02, 2005 
A Frenchman's business: fake old masterpieces paint extravagant Dubai hotel
walls 
'Interpreting' master painters is a 'democratizing' art form of its own ... 
 
By Agence France Presse (AFP) 

 
 
 
DUBAI: What better place for a prestigious exhibition of fake old master
paintings than Burj al-Arab, the sail-shaped landmark hotel soaring on the
beachfront of the kingdom of extravagance, Dubai. Fancy a Picasso, a Van
Gogh or a Renoir? No need to spend a fortune at London auction houses, just
fly into Dubai to find your dream ... or at least a copy of it.

The once-sleepy Gulf port city has succeeded in becoming the region's most
vibrant business and leisure hub through gigantic projects, including an
upcoming fake ski resort of real-snow slopes in the desert.

It is in this spirit that flamboyant French master forger Christophe Petyt
intends to present 100 exact copies of masterpieces in his "L'Art du faux,"
or the art of the fake, exhibition, which will run from April 9 to April 17
and cost $280,000.

"This is the place where dreams come true, where extravagant things happen,"
said the 35-year-old Frenchman, who will only dress in eccentric Versace
clothes.

"Burj al-Arab is the place for that," he said, admiring the fiberglass
screen of the sail facade running up to a 700-foot-high (213-meter-high)
helipad, which hosted last month a game between tennis stars Andre Agassi
and Roger Federer.

In addition to wealthy local art lovers, foreign potential buyers will be
met at Dubai airport by immaculate white Rolls Royce cars that will take
them to Burj al-Arab, where guests admire every morning scuba divers feeding
the fish in the giant aquariums of the golden lobby.

The exhibition will be held on the 18th-floor amphitheater of the world's
only seven-star hotel where clients can only stay at duplex suites with a
personal butler for between $1,500 and $10,200 a night.

Copies of the masterpieces were made by Petyt and his army of 82 forgers
around the world for his foundation that only sells single copies of each
artwork.

"There will be copies of impressionist, classical, modern and orientalist
works. There will be Renoir, Manet, Monet, Degas, Botticelli, Miro, Botero
and Picasso among others," he said.

Instead of spending millions of dollars, art lovers can buy a unique copy
for between 1,000 euros and 20,000 euros ($1,292 and $25,842).

"Prices only take into consideration the time taken to make the painting and
the framing. We do not take into consideration the real price of the
original masterpiece," said Petyt.

Petyt likes to tell the story of a wealthy Swiss art lover who bought 40 Van
Gogh fake paintings to mix them with the 60 original ones adorning his
villa's walls near Geneva.

"Some people want to hide the original in their vaults for security reasons,
so they hang a fake one," he said.

Petyt has been in the Guinness Book of World Records since 2000 for owning
"over 2,500 fake paintings representing some of the most famous works in art
history." 

Asked about criticism of forged masterpieces, Petyt is adamant: "It is a way
to democratize painting. There is a difference between creating and
interpreting: When a singer becomes a celebrity, nobody will say that he is
a fake because he performs songs made, or previously sung, by others," he
said.

"The same goes for musicians who perform symphonies created by Mozart or
Beethoven, so why isn't it allowed for painters?

"Master forgers do not do it for the money, they are passionate about the
technique of the artist and the history of this artist. They can only really
master one or two painters' techniques," he said.

Taking forgery to the extreme, Petyt's business card presents on the upper
right corner a picture of a famous Van Gogh self-portrait.

"It is a fake one, of course," laughs a close aide of the master forger. -
AFP
 

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/