Reader's Digest

July• 2018 | 89

artists.Hescrapedthetoplayersof

a suitably dated painting retaining

the‘ground’usedtocoatthecanvas

andgothisbrushesout.“Youhave

to respect the hard work he put in”

says Eastaugh. “Although he’s not a

scientist in his own way Beltracchi

wasinnovativeandexperimental.

Hebuiltaspecialovenandcooked

hispaintingsuntilhegotthecrack-

inginthepaintsurfacethatcomes

with age.”

Tofurtherconvincebuyersthe

Beltracchis concocted an elaborate

backstory that Helene had inherited

theartworksfromhergrandparents
whotheyclaimedwereinter-war-
year collectors. When questions
startedtobeaskedWolfgang
mocked up sepia photographs with
Helene dressed in period clothes
pretending to be her grandmother.
In the background hung Wolfgang’s
reproductions which she claimed
proved the pictures’ provenance.
They said the grandparents did
business with the renowned German
Jewish collector Alfred Flechtheim.
Itworkedbecauselikeallsuccessful
PHOTO: PETER HORREE/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO cons the art world wanted it to be

Left:WolfgangandHeleneBeltracchiatascreeningoftheilm

Beltracchi – he Art of Forgery;(above)hisinfamousMaxErnstforgery

he Forest (2) which sold to a publishing tycoon for a cool US$7 million