A giant network of counterfeit paintings worth about 5,400 billion VND was destroyed.

Some 38 people are under investigation in Italy, Spain, France and Belgium on suspicion of conspiracy to sell stolen goods, forge paintings and illegally sell artworks, the Carabinieri paramilitary art police and the Pisa city prosecutor's office told Reuters in a joint statement on November 11.

Fake artworks by Banksy, Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol are displayed after an Italian police operation against a large-scale Europe-wide counterfeiting network, in Pisa, Italy

Teresa Angela Camelio, Pisa's chief prosecutor, said experts from Banksy's archive were assisting the investigation, calling the operation on 11 November "an act of protection of Banksy's work".

Pest Control, the agency representing the artist, did not respond to a request for comment. On its website, Pest Control says counterfeiting is commonplace and urges anyone interested in purchasing any Banksy work to be wary of “expensive fakes.”

Other artists whose works have been forged include giants of 19th and 20th century art such as Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, Salvador Dali, Henry Moore, Marc Chagall, Francis Bacon, Paul Klee and Piet Mondrian.

A Banksy work on display in Glasgow, Scotland

Investigators said they seized more than 2,100 fake works, with a potential market value of more than $215 million, and discovered six counterfeit workshops, including two in Tuscany, one in Venice and the rest elsewhere in Europe.

They said the investigation began in 2023 when they seized about 200 fake works from the collection of a businessman in Pisa, including a copy of a painting by Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani.

Works of many famous artists were counterfeited

That led investigators to fake works sold at auction houses across Italy and linked them to a well-known group believed to be making fake Banksy and Warhol paintings. Investigators added that to enhance their reputation, the unnamed suspects staged two Banksy exhibitions at prestigious venues in Mestre near Venice and Cortona in Tuscany.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/mang-luoi-lam-tranh-gia-khong-lo-tri-gia-khoang-5400-bi-triet-pha-185241112110816642.htm