That the art world is a special subculture won’t surprise anyone. For outsiders it is sometimes hard to understand why a specific painting or object is so loved or why the story about who made it is just as important (for example see the documentary My Kid Could Paint That) as what you are seeing. Various documentaries have been made who look critically at the art world, like F for Fake and Exit Through the Gift Shop.

Recently The Art of the Steal showed that art is, just like any other business, all about money. Getting a highly valued piece of art in your collection is important, because it will be the reason for people to visit your museum. The subject of this documentary, Mark Landis, uses that knowledge. What this forger did was copying famous paintings and then, after telling a story about a deceased loved one leaving it to him or pretending to be a priest, donate it to a museum. It is something he had been doing for decades and without knowing, over 60 museums were displaying his work. He seemed to be able to keep doing this, until he met Matthew Leininger, who worked for a museum in Cincinatti. Continue reading →