Reader's Digest

July• 2018 | 91

READER’S DIGEST

produced Beltracchi

moveditfromhispal

ette” says Eastaugh.

But the art detec-

tive didn’t rely solely

on science. His speci-

ality was pigmentation

and he’s amassed 300

vials of brightly colou

powders from nearly

chapter of art histor –

and yellows from Pompeii blues from

ancient China and Japanese glass pig-

ments – which he keeps in an oice

drawer. Each helps him understand

how artists worked in nearly every his-

torical period and consequently how

to spot a modern fake. Red pigment

for example used to be so expensive

that painters boiled cast-of garments

to extract the dye and bits of ibre can

still be found in their work today.

According to Professor Martin

KempanemeritusprofessoratOx-

ford University and leading expert

on Leonardo da Vinci “Art forgery

isahugeissue.It’sacatandmouse

gamethattheforgersarefinding

moredifficulttostayaheadofbut

they’llalwaysindawayintothelat-

est art market hotspot. he Russian

artsceneforexampleisabitlike the

Wild West at the moment.”

THE BEGINNING OF THE ENDfor

the Beltracchis came when Wolf-

gangcopiedapaintingbyGerman

expressionist Heinrich Campen-

donk who died in 1957. His fakeRed

Picture with Horsessoldforarecord
US$3.6millionin2006butissues
were soon raised about its supporting
documentation. In 2007 it was sent to
aGermanartinstituteforanalysis
whichfailedtoreachaconclusion
about its authenticity.
Eastaugh was itching to get his
handsontheallegedCampendonk
andin2008itarrivedathisoffices
near Tower Bridge London. Ana-
lytical tools at his disposal included
PHOTO: DPA PICTURE ALLIANCE/ALAMY STOCK PHOTOX-rays electron microscopes and

eft: renowned

erman Jewish

ollector Alfred

lechtheim; (below)

artin Kemp

rofessor of the history

f art at Oxford