The old American art gallery "M.Knoedler & Co" sold 80 million fake paintings for more than ten years and was made into a documentary.
A Spanish grandfather cooperated with his girlfriend and dumped a high imitation of Qian Peichen, a Chinese old man who taught mathematics and then made a living by street painting, to a gallery. The gallery director was tempted by 15% commission and got it on the shelves at Sotheby's In the past ten years, he sold 60 paintings totaling 80 million US dollars and got 10 million in commission.
The fake paintings sold are specializing in people like Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock, "contemporary art masters" + famous + dead + good imitation (search Jackson Pollock's number 1, how much this painting is worth depends on where you hang it).
The ending was very happy. The old man went back to Spain and said he didn't know it. Mr. Qian went back to Shanghai and said that he was only in charge of painting. The gallery director said that I always believed it was real painting. The gallery owner said that the director was responsible for this. The key figure in the painting, the Spanish grandfather's girlfriend, did not leave in New York, and was only sentenced to 9 months after being released from prison and still living in Manhattan.
The whole thing is very funny, especially the bad guy. After the director went to Spain to interview him, the master picked out a harmonica and said it was played by Bob Dylan. He said to the director, you can ask for a price. A true sales guru.
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