A secret storage with 1000 fake bronze plastics by Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966) has been found by German police officers. In Frankfurt/Main a 59 year old has been charged.
The man calling himself ?Reichsgraf? is supposed to have offered fake sculptures to several potential buyers as the district attorney and the Landeskriminalamt Baden-Württemberg announced. To prove the authentic origin of the sculptures the accused showed self-made certificates: The 59 year old said he was a friend of Alberto Giacometti?s brother, Diego, and got the sculptures out of the secret stash. The ?Reichsgraf? had a 139 pages book which is called ?Diego?s Rache? to underline his story.?In this book written by ?Lothar Senke Graf von Wallstein? you will find many details which are accurate, but it was made to legitimate a fake? says Eberhard W. Kornfeld an internationally renowned Giacometti expert.
He was offered a bronze once; but it was badly done and definitely not by Giacometti, he said, and he should know since he was one of the closest friends of the artist.
A 61 year old art dealer and his wife are in pre-trial custody now. They are supposed to be accomplice and the owners of the storage room where the sculptures where found. The art dealer is already on trial for a different fraud. They are now charged with organised fencing.
According to the sources the storage has already been found on the 11th of August. German police also searched spaces in Mainz, Mannheim, Schwerin, Greater Munich and Magdeburg.
News-Detail
September 2009
Inventory with 1000 Giacometti-fakes discovered
Giacometti original, here ?Le Nez? in the Louisiana Art Museum in Humlebaek, noth of Kopenhagn
