The Art of the Con: The Most Notorious Fakes, Frauds, and Forgeries in the Art World by Anthony M. Amore
Authors: Anthony M. Amore
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Acknowledgments
The last words my father ever spoke to me before he died were those of encouragement for my work on this book. I hope that he would have been proud of it.
First and foremost, this book could not have been completed without the dedicated work of countless state and federal prosecutors, federal agents, postal inspectors, and police officers who investigated and prosecuted the crimes of the con men whose schemes, as well as the travails of the victims, are described within. The crimes that seem to lead to “open-and-shut” cases in fact required untold hours of investigation, interviews, surveillance, and—of course—paperwork in order to crack these complex crimes. More than anything else, this is a book about their work. I’m deeply indebted to all of them for their efforts.
I wish to thank my daughters, Gabby and Alessandra, who listened to me drone on and on about the writing process, various art crimes, and my work at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. It must be a chore for them since both Gabby and Alessandra are far better writers and deeper thinkers than I.
I’m grateful to my literary agent, Sharlene Martin at Martin Literary Management, for her support, guidance, and faith. I’m also thankful for the support I received from my editor, Karen Wolny, and the entire team at Palgrave Macmillan.
At the Federal Bureau of Investigation, continued thanks go to Special Agent Geoffrey Kelly, Special Agent Greg Comcowich, public affairs specialist Katherine Gulotta, Special Agent Linda English (Ret.), Betsy Glick of the FBI’s HQ Office of Public Affairs, and Laura Eimiller, FBI press relations for the Los Angeles Field Office.
At the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, my gratitude goes to U.S. attorney Carmen Ortiz, public affairs officer Christina Sterling, and assistant U.S. attorney Ryan DiSantis.
Two local police officers in particular are making a major impact on art crime of all sorts in the American cities where it is the biggest problem, and I’m appreciative to them for their efforts. They are detectives Don Hrycyk of the Los Angeles Police Department and Mark Fishstein of the New York Police Department.
Thank you to former federal prosecutor and current mayor of New Bedford Jonathan Mitchell for his time, assistance, and his work.
From the United States Department of Homeland Security, thanks are in order for Special Agent Thomas Benz.
I owe a particular debt of gratitude to Dr. Nicholas Eastaugh and Dr. Jilleen Nadolny of Art Access & Research in London for their willingness to help me as well as for their expertise, perspectives, and remarkable work.
At the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, thank you to David Mathews, Shana McKenna, Amanda Venezia, and especially Gianfranco Pocobene, whose expertise was particularly valuable from concept to completion of this book. The breadth of Gianfranco’s knowledge is staggering.
Dr. Enrique Mallen, professor, director and editor of the On-line Picasso Project at Sam Houston State University; Christopher A. Marinello at Art Recovery International (www.artrecovery.com); and Ryan Moore at eBay kindly provided me with invaluable assistance.The resources of artnet (www.artnet.com) were very valuable to me in my research.
Thanks are also due to Dr. Lois Cuddy for teaching me to be a writer.
Howie and Kathy Carr’s encouragement was the catalyst for moving forward with this book. I’m indebted to them both for this and for all the opportunities to which they have exposed me.
Shau Yi Lee sent me countless useful stories on forgery from afar. Art fraud expert Collette Loll provided me with great ideas and direction. Read more about her work at www.artfraudinsights.com. Meghan Weeks lent me her perspectives on creating art. See her great paintings at megcweeks.com. Ashley Ragg assisted me with some last-second updates on the Knoedler case.
My proofreaders were indispensible, especially the brilliant Natalie Wolcott
The last words my father ever spoke to me before he died were those of encouragement for my work on this book. I hope that he would have been proud of it.
First and foremost, this book could not have been completed without the dedicated work of countless state and federal prosecutors, federal agents, postal inspectors, and police officers who investigated and prosecuted the crimes of the con men whose schemes, as well as the travails of the victims, are described within. The crimes that seem to lead to “open-and-shut” cases in fact required untold hours of investigation, interviews, surveillance, and—of course—paperwork in order to crack these complex crimes. More than anything else, this is a book about their work. I’m deeply indebted to all of them for their efforts.
I wish to thank my daughters, Gabby and Alessandra, who listened to me drone on and on about the writing process, various art crimes, and my work at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. It must be a chore for them since both Gabby and Alessandra are far better writers and deeper thinkers than I.
I’m grateful to my literary agent, Sharlene Martin at Martin Literary Management, for her support, guidance, and faith. I’m also thankful for the support I received from my editor, Karen Wolny, and the entire team at Palgrave Macmillan.
At the Federal Bureau of Investigation, continued thanks go to Special Agent Geoffrey Kelly, Special Agent Greg Comcowich, public affairs specialist Katherine Gulotta, Special Agent Linda English (Ret.), Betsy Glick of the FBI’s HQ Office of Public Affairs, and Laura Eimiller, FBI press relations for the Los Angeles Field Office.
At the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, my gratitude goes to U.S. attorney Carmen Ortiz, public affairs officer Christina Sterling, and assistant U.S. attorney Ryan DiSantis.
Two local police officers in particular are making a major impact on art crime of all sorts in the American cities where it is the biggest problem, and I’m appreciative to them for their efforts. They are detectives Don Hrycyk of the Los Angeles Police Department and Mark Fishstein of the New York Police Department.
Thank you to former federal prosecutor and current mayor of New Bedford Jonathan Mitchell for his time, assistance, and his work.
From the United States Department of Homeland Security, thanks are in order for Special Agent Thomas Benz.
I owe a particular debt of gratitude to Dr. Nicholas Eastaugh and Dr. Jilleen Nadolny of Art Access & Research in London for their willingness to help me as well as for their expertise, perspectives, and remarkable work.
At the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, thank you to David Mathews, Shana McKenna, Amanda Venezia, and especially Gianfranco Pocobene, whose expertise was particularly valuable from concept to completion of this book. The breadth of Gianfranco’s knowledge is staggering.
Dr. Enrique Mallen, professor, director and editor of the On-line Picasso Project at Sam Houston State University; Christopher A. Marinello at Art Recovery International (www.artrecovery.com); and Ryan Moore at eBay kindly provided me with invaluable assistance.The resources of artnet (www.artnet.com) were very valuable to me in my research.
Thanks are also due to Dr. Lois Cuddy for teaching me to be a writer.
Howie and Kathy Carr’s encouragement was the catalyst for moving forward with this book. I’m indebted to them both for this and for all the opportunities to which they have exposed me.
Shau Yi Lee sent me countless useful stories on forgery from afar. Art fraud expert Collette Loll provided me with great ideas and direction. Read more about her work at www.artfraudinsights.com. Meghan Weeks lent me her perspectives on creating art. See her great paintings at megcweeks.com. Ashley Ragg assisted me with some last-second updates on the Knoedler case.
My proofreaders were indispensible, especially the brilliant Natalie Wolcott
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