MODIG THE LIANI CODE

Nearly a century after the premature death of Amedeo Modigliani, his allure continues to grow, with the price of his work soaring into Picasso territory and several major exhibitions in the offing. The only question is: How many Modiglianis are fakes? As experts vie for authority and museums test their collections, MILTON ESTEROW delves into the artist’s turbulent legacy

MILTON ESTEROW

ÔIt’s good, bad, ugly, and bizarre,” Kenneth Wayne, one of the world’s leading Modigliani scholars, said at a recent symposium at New York University on fakes, forgeries, and stolen art. “To say that the catalogue raisonné situation of works by Modigliani is a mess is an understatement.” There have been lawsuits, charges of slander, death threats, hoaxes, and thefts. A Modigliani specialist has been convicted of falsely attributing works to Modigliani. A skyrocketing market for works by the artist has been plagued by fakes in Russia, Serbia, and Italy (where Modigliani was born). Perhaps appropriately for one of the world’s most faked artists, there have even been fake fakes. Experts, meanwhile, are jockeying to be recognized as the ultimate authority on what should and should not be accepted as authentic. Jean Cocteau…

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Vanity Fair (Digital) - 1 Issue, May 2017

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