The Factory of the Fake – A Journey Through Artistic Forgery

Museum: Mostra "La fabbrica del falso" - Roma Tre

Introduction

Welcome to the exhibition "The Forgery Factory", hosted at Roma Tre University. This exhibition presents the results of three investigative operations conducted by the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage between 2004 and 2025, integrated with the multidisciplinary research of the Laboratory on Forgery at Roma Tre University. Unlike exhibitions dedicated to original works, which typically celebrate aesthetics and art history, this itinerary constitutes a clear visual denunciation of the damage that forgery inflicts on cultural enjoyment and the market. The fraud does not concern only the creation of a single object, but extends to the production of false historical documentation and certificates of authenticity to support substantial volumes of business. The itinerary unfolds through three main operations: Operation "Half Dollar": focused on Franco Angeli, with the seizure of over 650 counterfeit canvases. Operation "Quadro sicuro": characterised by an incalculable number of forgeries attributed to artists such as Picasso, De Chirico, Fontana, Guttuso and Warhol. Operation "Olga": dedicated primarily to the figure of Carol Rama and Enrico Baj, with more than 250 seized works. These investigations uncovered true forgery "factories": warehouses, garages or apartments where works were produced in series. During the visit, you will be able to observe not only the finished products, but also the tools used by the forgers, as well as footage on the investigations of the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, the research activities of the Laboratory on Forgery at Roma Tre, and the presentation of a project by the University of Heidelberg. The exhibition is part of the national research project "FATA" (From Authenticity to Art), funded by the Ministry of University and Research. The study of this phenomenon is of interest not only to judicial authorities, but also to the training of professionals in the sector (archaeologists, cultural operators, historians and art dealers); it also requires the dissemination of information and the raising of awareness among the public and in particular among younger generations.

Operation "Half Dollar"

This section examines the investigation known as "Half Dollar," launched in July 2008. The operation began when the Carabinieri of the Forgery and Contemporary Art Section acquired the catalogue of a Roman exhibition on Franco Angeli, organised twenty years after his death. The serious doubts about the authenticity of the paintings on display were confirmed by the preliminary opinion of an official from the Musei d'Arte Contemporanea of the Municipality of Rome. The investigations focused on a Milanese company that had organised the event. A multimillion-euro business run by the owners of the artist's Archive came to light; they were deceiving collectors by issuing false certificates of authenticity. In total, approximately 650 works were seized: had they been originals, their market value would have been around 4 million euros. The inquiry brought to light two clandestine laboratories equipped with canvases, spray paints, and metal or cardboard stencils, used to reproduce the decorative motifs typical of Angeli. The forgeries were produced by two distinct figures: a professional painter active in the Venetian area and a second forger in the Bologna area, who had learned the techniques directly from a former collaborator of the master. The organisation, which also sold through e-commerce channels, was dismantled with the arrest of six people. This illicit activity caused serious damage to Franco Angeli's reputation and to the market value of his works.

Franco Angeli

In this room we explore the figure of Franco Angeli, born in 1935 and died in 1988, an artist who transformed technical experimentation into an instrument of social and political denunciation. His work did not seek aesthetics as an end in itself, but a language capable of recounting the atrocities of war and the dynamics of power. Despite market pressures for serial production, Angeli firmly asserted the artisanal identity of each of his works. The phenomenon of the falsification of his works began as early as the 1970s and 1980s, fuelled by gallery owners who commissioned reproductions from imitators. However, the study of the seized paintings has made it possible to identify technical errors that are decisive in distinguishing originals. From 1965, Angeli used spray paint and stencils through a slow and layered process: to achieve his celebrated "veiled" surfaces, he applied at least ten coats of extremely diluted paint over a layer of lightweight, wide-weave fabric. This method created a filtered image effect, similar to a blurred memory. In contrast, in counterfeit works the forgers' "veil" appears coarse up close and too evanescent from a distance, depriving the work of that aura of mystery and depth that characterises Angeli's authentic production.

The Capitoline Wolf

The iconography of the "Capitoline Wolf" entered Franco Angeli's repertoire in the early 1960s, as part of a triptych of political denunciation presented at the 1964 Venice Biennale. The work symbolizes the millennial corruption of Rome, placed alongside the representation of American economic power, namely the dollar, and of religious power. In the 1970s, the artist refined his technique using stencils and spray paints to define these iconic images. The direct comparison between the original and the seized forgeries reveals insurmountable technical discrepancies. In the counterfeits, the animal's silhouette appears rigid and lacking the natural dorsal curvature present in the original. The legs show an anatomically inconsistent inclination and the teats are simplified into triangles devoid of nipples. Even the ears differ drastically, taking on in the forgeries a shape reminiscent of a flaming arch. Further revealing details are found in the stars: perfect and symmetrical in the forgeries, asymmetrical and varied in the original. The forger also used a brush to finish the outlines, leaving lumpy traces absent in the authentic work, which was executed exclusively with spray. Finally, even the blood coming from the jaws betrays the forgery: in the original it is liquid paint that drips by gravity, while in the forgery it is an effect artificially achieved with oblique brushstrokes and dense paint.

Operation "Quadro sicuro"

The "Quadro sicuro" operation dismantled a vast counterfeiting network based in Florence with ramifications throughout central and northern Italy. The system introduced fake paintings by Guttuso, De Chirico and Fontana onto the market at extremely competitive prices, always accompanied by false certifications. The investigation was subsequently launched in 2003, following the inspection of a suspicious work at an auction house in Prato. The investigations led to the discovery of a clandestine laboratory set up in a condominium garage in Florence. Here the Carabinieri found stacked paintings, counterfeit stamps and old typewriters used to produce false expert appraisals, backdating them by decades. The network involved art dealers and television salespeople who commissioned "author's copies," regularly signed, from unsuspecting artists; subsequently, the copyist's signature was erased and replaced with prestigious names such as Picasso or Warhol. For sales, the organisation made use of television broadcasters and satellite platforms. The quality of the imitations was so high as to deceive even prestigious galleries. While the fake Warhols were sold for around 5,000 euros, the imitations of Guttuso, Fontana and Burri reached valuations of tens of thousands of euros. The judicial proceedings concluded with numerous convictions and compensation for the damaged civil parties.

When Certificates of Authenticity Are Forged

In this section of the exhibition we analyze the seized documentary material, a crucial element for understanding how modern fraud operates. The "Quadro sicuro" operation demonstrated that forgery concerns not only the artwork, but the entire ecosystem of documents surrounding it. For each counterfeit painting, "false evidence" was meticulously created to reassure the buyer about the provenance and legitimacy of the item. The cornerstone of this system is the certificate of authenticity, mandatory by law in Italy. However, the absence of a single official model allows forgers to easily produce declarations on plain paper or on the back of photographs, passing them off as official documents from experts, heirs, or foundations. The fraud also extends to labels and stamps placed on the back of the canvas, often perceived by the public as a definitive guarantee of history and provenance. The forgers' attention to detail went as far as simulating the marks of specific frame suppliers and craftsmen, deliberately chosen because they were known to have worked with the original artists. Every ink stamp, every dry mark, and every "signature stamp" was designed to convey an illusion of value and historicity, inducing the victim to purchase through the construction of a fictitious past for the artwork.

Works Signed Piero Dorazio

The nine paintings displayed here imitate the style of Piero Dorazio (1927-2005). Seized as part of "Quadro Sicuro", they reflect collectors' tastes and can be divided into three strands: works inspired by the 1990s (rectangular stripes), pieces that simplify the famous painting *ERG IV* from 2002, and grid compositions on monochrome backgrounds typical of the artist's final phase. The investigations revealed a systematic and unscrupulous method of forgery. The forgers commissioned "copies" or "tributes" from painters who were often unaware of the illicit purpose. An emblematic case involves a painter who admitted to having changed the background colour of a reproduction (from yellow to pink) solely because the client wanted the painting to match the furnishings of a specific room. Once the copy was obtained, the client proceeded to remove the copyist's signature and replace it with that of Dorazio. These works were then sold in bulk at prices far below market value: for example, seven paintings (including works by Dorazio and Tano Festa) were exchanged for just 1,500 euros. This price, while demonstrating the purely commercial nature of the fraud, also highlights the naivety of those buyers who were convinced they had struck an impossible "bargain".

How fake paintings signed by Dorazio were produced

This section reveals the technical "behind the scenes" of the production of fake Dorazio works. Thanks to the investigations, it was possible to reconstruct the working method of a painter initially investigated and then recognized as unrelated to the organized fraud. The creative process was not based on inspiration, but on a rigorous and mechanical reproduction procedure. Everything began with the identification of an original model in auction catalogues. Once the subject was chosen, the executor produced a small-scale sketch which was then enlarged by means of heliography on tracing paper. The drawing was finally transferred onto the definitive canvas through the tracing technique. In the artist's studio, numerous pieces of evidence of this process were found: colour photocopies, sketches with tracing marks and technical annotations on measurements. The most significant aspect is that the executor sold these works declared as "author's copies", applying his own signature and a warning label on the back at modest prices (150–200 euros). The transformation into an "authentic fake" occurred only at a later stage: the clients eliminated every trace of the copyist's identity and equipped the painting with a false certification apparatus, finally introducing it into the circuit of auctions and teleshopping.

Works Signed Joseph Beuys

We now examine some collages attributed to Joseph Beuys, confiscated in Florence in 2004. The works display the typical iconography of the German artist: raw wooden frames, photographs, the apocryphal signature accompanied by a drawing of a hat, and the stamp «Hauptstrom». Despite their appearance, scientific analyses have revealed a sophisticated counterfeiting operation. The photographs were not originals, but were obtained by scanning images from books, digitally removing the typographic halftone screen, and reprinting them on photographic paper. XRF analysis confirmed the use of a high-quality "baryta" paper, treated with barium sulphate to simulate a period support. However, it is on the back of the works that the web of lies definitively unravels. A stamp bears the name of a supposed gallery of origin: «Gallerie Kuimer und Keiner, Düsseldorf». Beyond the fact that this gallery never existed, the wording contains a glaring spelling error: «Gallerie» with two "l"s, whereas in correct German it is written «Galerie». This error demonstrates how, despite the use of advanced technologies to replicate the aesthetics and materials, forgers can stumble over elementary details of a historical and linguistic nature.

Operation "Olga"

Operation "Olga", launched at the end of 2022 by the Carabinieri of Turin, targeted the forgery of works by Carol Rama, an artist who was experiencing a period of strong growth in the market. The Scientific Committee of the Carol Rama Archive confirmed the falsity of approximately 250 works seized at the home of a suspect, tracing them all back to a single hand. In this case, the forger used a very convincing technique to deceive collectors: he employed old sheets yellowed by time, pastels, and drawing tools consistent with the period in which Carol Rama would have produced those originals. The works, also attributable to Enrico Baj, were sold online and through auction houses without any certification, for an estimated turnover exceeding 350,000 euros. The investigation concluded in 2025 with the conviction of the perpetrator. In a pivotal development for scientific research, the Turin Court ordered that the seized works not be destroyed, but donated to the Laboratory on Forgery of the University Roma Tre. There, from instruments of crime, they became valuable objects of study for training experts in the fight against counterfeiting, while the Carol Rama Archive obtained compensation for the reputational damage suffered.

Restoring a Fake?

In this section we address a provocative question: does it make sense to restore a fake work? The works seized in the various operations are made from a myriad of materials: paper, canvas, metal, plastic, spray paints and oils. This material complexity exposes them to natural forms of deterioration, such as tears, proliferation of microorganisms or alterations of the synthetic layers. The decision to preserve and restore these objects stems from their change of status. Once they enter the Laboratorio sul Falso at Roma Tre, they cease to be instruments of fraud and become valuable didactic and scientific material. Conservative restoration is therefore indispensable to allow researchers and students to analyse over time the *modus operandi* of forgers and their production strategies. Preserving a fake means safeguarding a case study. Only by maintaining the integrity of these "corpus delicti" is it possible to train professionals capable of recognising minimal technical discrepancies and protecting the original art market. In this context, even the fake, when it becomes a source for research, deserves a careful conservation intervention.

To Conclude the Visit

At the end of this journey, the documentary films show the crucial phases of the seizures carried out by the Carabinieri TPC and the laboratory analyses. You will also see the international project carried out with the University of Heidelberg, demonstrating how the fight against forgery is now a global challenge that requires a synergy between law enforcement and the academic world. This collaboration transforms technical investigation into a true civic mission. Studying the materials, styles, and states of alteration of artefacts allows us to develop new methods of prevention. Counterfeiting is not only an economic damage; it is a poison that contaminates our historical memory and trust in cultural heritage. With this exhibition, we wanted to share a synthesis of the work carried out every day to cleanse the market of fraud. We have highlighted the trends of a constantly evolving phenomenon, convinced that the most effective weapon for defending art and culture is knowledge. Learning to distinguish the true from the false is the first step towards becoming conscious custodians of our history.