A French court gave a two-year prison artist forges paintings Chagall and Picasso. 61-year-old Guy Ribs (Guy Ribes) was a member of a criminal gang, in 1997-2005 sells about a hundred fakes. Fraudsters deceived victims, posing as the heirs of collectors. Prices for works sometimes reached 300 thousand euros.
However falsifier been convicted 11 of his associates. Ribs and the gang's ringleader, 55-year-old art dealer Robalya Pascal (Pascal Robaglia), will have to pay damages in the amount of 900 thousand euros (1,16 million dollars).
Ribs told the court that he was good at drawing since childhood and started writing a fake in 1975 - the "amusement" and also because of his own paintings are not sold. According to him, it was easier to make copies than trying to sell their work to those who do not understand. Criminal lawyer Antonin Levy (Antonin Levy) said that
the court recognized his talent and the defendant saw in him "an artist, and not just forger».
(ARTinvestment.RU
http://artinvestment.ru/news/artnews...o_forgers.html)