Forging One's Way to Fortune
or Jail on the Internet - Part 3
by Anayat Durrani - 10/23/2006
Read part one: Art Crime: Shining Light on a Serious Problem
Read part two: Putting a Dent in Art Crime
The late Richard Diebenkorn was a California modernist painter, world famous for his large-scale abstract paintings. He is recognized for his striking use of color and for moving between figuration and abstraction throughout his career. Diebenkorn has been well known in the art world for years, but it was the year 2002 that brought the painter into the international spotlight for a far different reason. Artwork alleged to be by Diebenkorn became entangled in the dark underworld of Internet art crime, where fraud and forgery are the rules of the game. At the center of the crime was a lawyer turned eBay art auctioneer.
“When I started selling art on eBay, it wasn't with the intent of doing anything illegal,” former lawyer Kenneth Walton told Fine Art Registry (FAR).
Walton said he never sold art until an old Army buddy named Ken Fetterman resurfaced in his life in 1998. Fetterman told him he had been buying cheap art and selling it for a higher price for years. Fetterman had recently begun selling art on eBay and quickly introduced Walton to the concept.
“It was only over time that I realized that some of the works he was selling, or giving to me to sell, were forgeries. Eventually, I grew used to the idea, and tried it out myself with the infamous forged Diebenkorn that led to our downfall,” Walton says.
In April 2000, Walton was working as an attorney for the third largest law firm in Sacramento. He sold art with Fetterman on eBay for about a year on the side. Though the majority of the paintings were legitimate, some contained forged signatures of famous artists in order to bump up their value. Walton and Fetterman also helped boost bidding by placing what is called “shill” bids through the help of a third person named Scott Beach. In a year of eBay art auctions, Walton says he grossed about $60,000. Eager to take it to the next level, Walton worked on his next big score.
Walton combed the antique stores and found a piece that resembled work done by Diebenkorn, who had been dead since 1993. In May 2000, Walton added to the painting the initials "RD52," to show the painting had been done by Diebenkorn in 1952. He listed the painting on eBay saying he found it at a garage sale in Berkeley, where Diebernkorn lived. Pretending to be a “hapless rube,” he used the name ‘Golfpoorly,’ and started the bidding at 25 cents.
“I call this the ‘naive seller’ strategy. I would offer a forged painting, pretend to know nothing about it, and show a close-up photo of the signature,” says Walton. “Art speculators went wild for auctions like this, as they assumed they could take advantage of a seller who didn't know the true value of what he had. All it took was two such speculators to bid against each other.”
With the help of shill bids, the painting reached $135,858 by the time the auction ended on April 28, 2000. A software executive in the Netherlands was the winning bidder. But it was too late for Walton, his scheme quickly fell apart. The bidding attracted the attention of skeptical art experts and dealers worldwide and made the front page of the New York Times. Eventually the FBI got involved (although they didn’t know the painting was a fake until Walton told them toward the end of the prosecution).
Walton and Beach pleaded guilty in Sacramento federal court to wire and mail fraud and were ordered to pay more than $94,000 in restitution to previous victims of eBay fraud. Walton also gave up his license to practice law. After nearly two years as a fugitive, Fetterman was captured in Kansas and was given a four-year prison sentence.
Copyright and the Internet
Copyright is the legal right that artists have when it comes to how their work is used or reproduced. An artist’s artwork is protected by copyright as soon as it is created. Copyright safeguards an artist’s right against piracy or unlawful use and provides additional income for artists derived from its reproduction. Despite this, copyright violation continues to be an issue many artists are forced to confront.
Artist Anna L. Conti runs a website called eBay Art Fraud – A Cautionary Story. On her website she details how in June 2004 a friend found some of her paintings for sale on eBay at about $50 each (she sells them for $1000+). The paintings were sold under a different name and labeled as “original art” though she says that it was reproduced from copyrighted images belonging to her. While she says frauds of her work have since ceased, she maintains the site is still wrought with fake art.
Copyright violation and forgery is a serious issue. It is particularly a problem on the Internet where artwork is often easily forged, reproduced, and sold without regard to copyright. But, as Walton and others like him have found, it does have its consequences.
“If I copy one of your paintings and auction it on eBay or elsewhere, I commit forgery and copyright infringement,” Thomas G. Field, Jr., Professor of Law at Franklin Pierce Law Center in New Hampshire told FAR. “If I only sell one of my paintings as yours, I commit only forgery. Both result in civil liability to you as well as criminal liability.”
Field says that copyright involves federal law but forgery is covered by state law and also the federal wire fraud statute if sold on the Internet. While Field is unsure whether the Internet offers more possibility for art fraud he says it does give a crook access to more people. Walton agrees.
“The internet has provided a vast new market for art criminals,” says Walton. “I have no experience with stolen paintings, and I don't know if such paintings are sold regularly over the Internet, but for art forgers, the Internet has provided many customers.”
Walton called the art market on eBay “still very robust” but less than a seller’s market compared to when he was selling on it in 1999 and 2000. “But there are a lot of paintings and money changing hands every day, and plenty of happy buyers and sellers. The vast majority of the art is legitimate, but there is, sadly, still plenty of fraud.”
While the Internet has become an unwilling accomplice to art crime, art registries like FAR are a great resource to combat it for both artists as well as art collectors (Read the Buyer Beware article). Walton, however, says many buyers are unaware of them.
As someone with first hand experience from the opposite side, Walton does offer buyers of art some useful advice. He said buyers should carefully check a seller's feedback, and make certain they are doing business with someone reputable. They should always carefully read the fine print in an auction, and never assume something that is not explicitly promised.
“They should always ask detailed questions, and if they don't get adequate responses, they should take their business elsewhere,” says Walton. “Most importantly, they should remember this: if a deal seems too good to be true, it very likely is.”
Walton released his book earlier this year called, "FAKE: Forgery, Lies & eBay.” It provides an interesting and thorough narrative of his experience. It is available for a steal on eBay at half the price.
— Anayat Durrani | October 23, 2006
About the Author: Anayat Durrani is a freelance journalist with extensive experience in investigative reporting, a sharp wit, a keen nose and the tenacity of the British bulldog. She is writing a series of articles on art crime for the Fine
Art Registry. Stay tuned for the next article.
Read more about Anayat.
Comments:
The views and opinions of individual authors/contributors expressed on the FAR web site do not necessarily state or reflect those views and/or opinions of Fine Art Registry or its agents or subsidiaries.
© 2006 Global Fine Art Registry, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without express permission.
Fine Art News Feed
