Forged Art at V and A

A fascinating collection of forged art at V and A Museum invites you to step into the world of art crime. With over 100 fake and forged pieces of art on display, there is plenty of chance to see just why forged art is very big business.

Fakes and forgeries
Curated by the Metropolitan Police Art and Antiques unit, the display of forged art at V and A Museum includes around art worth around £4 million if it were genuine. Examing the ways in which the police spot frauds, and the effects that these forgeries have one the art market, the collection is a intriguing look at the criminal art world.

Crime doesn't pay
As criminal groups look for more inventive ways to finance their activities, the art crime has become much bigger business. Taking an indepth look at what defines a forgery and providing insight into real cases of forged art, V and A Museum invites you to step into a very artistic underworld, where everything is not what it seems.

Masterpiece or master criminal?
One of the highlights of the dislpay of forged art at V and A Museum is the collection of pieces created by Shaun Greenhalgh, who has been labelled the most diverse forger in history. Faking pieces of Egyptian statuary to paintings by Lowry, the artist worked alongside his family in his own garden shed and could knock up his impressive antiquities in a matter of weeks. Alongside his work, visitors to the Victoria and Albert Museum can also see a recreation of his infamous shed where forged art by Babara Hepworth and Thomas Moran were created.

Famous names
Many of the artworks on display in this collection have never been seen outside of police custody or the courts, making this a must see show for anyone interested in art or policing. Alongside the Shaun Greenhalgh pieces, other items on show include fake Banksy prints, paintings by John Myatt and Robert Thwaites, antiquities by John Andrews and forged silverware by Ashley Russell.

The display of forged art at V and A Museum, the Metropolitan Police Service's Investigation of Fakes and Forgeries takes place from 10am - 5.45pm, Saturday 23rd January - Sunday 7th February 2010. Entrance is free.

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