ds: German Art Forgery Scandal Reaches Hollywood ( Steve Martin )

[JMS]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,765658,00.html

German Art Forgery Scandal Reaches Hollywood

The scope of what is believed to be Germany's biggest art forgery scandal since World War II has reached as far as Hollywood. American actor Steve Martin bought one of the fake paintings in 2004 and later sold it at a loss of some 200,000 euros.

German police believe that American actor, comedian and collector Steve Martin played a minor role as a victim in what may be Germany's biggest-ever art forgery scandal. According to investigators at Berlin's state criminal police office (LKA), the art lover purchased what he believed to be a 1915 work by the German-Dutch modernist painter Heinrich Campendonk. He bought the colorful "Landschaft mit Pferden," or "Landscape With Horses," from the Paris gallery Cazeau-Béraudière for what would have been considered the bargain price of an estimated €700,000 (around $850,000 at the time) in July 2004.

Before the purchase a Campendonk expert had confirmed the painting's authenticity and identified the painter's signature on a label attached to the back. But 15 months later Martin, who would later publish a novel about the New York art scene called "An Object of Beauty," tried to re-sell the work. Art auction house Christie's finally auctioned it off in February 2006 to a Swiss businesswoman for €500,000 -- a loss of €200,000 from Martin's original purchase price.

Investigators believe the fake Campendonk originated from either the invented "Knops" or "Jägers" art collections devised by a group of German swindlers caught in 2010. Main suspect Wolfgang Beltracchi, along with accomplice Otto Schulte-Kellinghaus and two sisters are all under suspicion of selling dozens of forged paintings since 2001 and possibly even earlier.