Lecture on forgeries

"Forging Ahead: The Jagers-Beltracchi Case and the evolving role of
    scientific and technical art historical analysis in
    authentication"
Dr. Nicholas Eastaugh
Art Access and Research Ltd.,
London, and the Pigmentum Project
University of Oxford

In the Grand Robing Room
Freemason's Hall
60 Great Queen Street
London WC2B 5AZ
Thursday, 8 November 2012
6 pm

Wolfgang Beltracchi is currently serving out a sentence for perhaps
one of the largest art fraud cases of recent times: dozens, if not
hundreds, of works purportedly by German Expressionist and other
modern masters such as Derain and Ernst produced across several
decades that are calculated to have earned the gang tens of millions
of Euros. But what are the further implications for the art world?
How, for example, could such a large group of works in a wide range
of styles get past so many vigilant specialists for so long?
Moreover, why did material analysis, a key component in the ultimate
identification and exposure of the fakes, only come into play so
late in the day? The Beltracchi case, as others such as the
prevalence of fakes in the Russian art market and American Abstract
Expressionism do, presents a direct challenge to us. While the root
motives may be typically financial, the end results include
undermining the legitimate art market and corrupting our
understanding of art history. In this lecture Dr. Eastaugh, whose
study of the so-called Rotes Bild mit Pferden painting triggered the
original arrest of Beltracchi, will examine the background to the
case, discuss the wider technical findings on the Beltracchi corpus
and draw lessons from the strengths and weaknesses exposed in the
field's current approaches to questions of authenticity.

Dr. Nicholas Eastaugh originally trained as a physicist before
studying conservation and art history at the Courtauld Institute of
Art, London, from where he also received his doctorate.
Additionally, Dr. Eastaugh is currently an Honorary Visiting Fellow
at the University of Oxford. He jointly established the Pigmentum
Project, an interdisciplinary programme aimed at harnessing both
science and art history to further the study of historical pigments
that led to the publication of the well-known Pigment Compendium.
For 25 years Dr. Eastaugh has also been a consultant in the
scientific study of paint and paintings, with a worldwide range of
clients that includes numerous museums and other organisations, all
major auction houses, as well as many leading dealers, numerous
private collectors and conservation studios. In 2009 he co-founded
Art Access and Research Ltd. with the aim of furthering the
application of science in art history as well as widening access to
scientific and technical art history methods in authenticity
studies.

Doors open at 6pm.

In the Grand Robing Room at Freemason's Hall, 60 Great Queen Street
London WC2B 5AZ. Close to both Covent Garden and Holborn Tube
Stations.

Tickets:
    Icon members: UKP10
    non- members: UKP15

Free wine and cheese inc. in price of ticket.

Please register by sending your name and stating if you are an Icon
member. Your name must be on the security list no later than
Tuesday, 6 November 2012.

    RSVP Clare Finn
    +44 20 7937 1895
    finnclare<-at->aol<.>com


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 26:21
                Distributed: Saturday, October 13, 2012
                       Message Id: cdl-26-21-014
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