#art authentication

FBI takes possession of art exhibit from Orlando Museum of Art – WFTV

The Orlando Museum of Art told Channel 9 that it “complied with a request from the FBI for access to the Heroes and Monsters exhibit.”

Controversy has swirled over the authenticity of the work.

READ: Orlando Museum of Art director defends authenticity of Basquiat paintings

What secrets can a work of art truly hold within its fibers? We often look at paintings and drawings for the stories they tell, for the emotions they evoke, and for the technical mastery of the artist. But what if the art holds a more literal secret, a biological whisper from the past, a direct genetic link to the creator himself? For centuries, Leonardo da Vinci has been a figure of immense…

Art Collectors… let’s talk truth serum for prints

Ever caught yourself squinting at a limited-edition print thinking, “Is this bad boy the real deal… or a total wannabe?” You’re in good company. Authenticating prints can feel part Inspector Clouseau, part Cirque du Soleil - but it doesn’t need to be a dark art.

MyArtBroker have put together a super handy guide on what to look for when buying prints - signatures, paper, provenance, condition… all the fun forensic stuff. If you want to channel your inner Sherlock Hemlock, the world’s greatest detective, give it a read 📖

Whether you’re buying your first piece or adding to a collection, getting a little more street-smart is all part of the art game.

Happy reading… “X” marks the spot.

Stay curious, stay bold, stay addicted to art. 🎉🖼️

At Addicted Art Gallery, every artwork tells a story — and every story deserves to be preserved with integrity.

That's why each piece in our collection undergoes a rigorous 39-point condition check, conducted by the experts at The PIA Studio in Singapore 🧪✅

From surface condition to structural integrity and framing — no detail is overlooked. These in-depth reports ensure our collectors have complete confidence in the artworks they acquire.

Integrity is the one thing you truly own.

Introduction A Forensic Light Source (FLS) is a powerful tool used in forensic science that emits ultra-violet, visible, and infrared components of light. It is a versatile device that filters the light into individual color bands, which enhances the visualization of evidence by various light interaction techniques like fluorescence, absorption, and oblique lighting. The FLA is a crucial tool…

With an FBI art crime investigation now underway, things just keep looking worse for Orlando Museum of Art’s ‘Heroes and Monsters’ exhibit | Arts Stories + Interviews | Orlando | Orlando Weekly

...   Friends of Basquiat and fellow artists made dubious remarks after seeing the exhibition catalog, while Basquiat's family remained silent on the matter — though they later unveiled their own retrospective, King Pleasure, in April at the Starrett-Lehigh Building in New York City. "When I saw the images I knew they were fake," said an artist and close friend of Basquiat to OW on condition of anonymity, "but no one asked me that."

Orlando Weekly even received a tip in the weeks leading up to the exhibit opening that questions were being asked about the provenance of the pieces. Our tipster claimed that a gag order had been handed down to staff by museum higher-ups — a claim OMA director Dr. Aaron De Groft has strenuously denied, though sources speaking on the condition of anonymity to OW have said otherwise — and that computers had been seized from the museum by the FBI.

Casting further doubt are the identities of the owners of these works: Michael William Force and John Leo Mangan III. It was originally claimed by De Groft that the owners wanted to remain anonymous due to the enormous (purported) value of the artwork. The reveal isn't a pretty one, as both men have years' worth of shady dealings between them, dating back to the 1970s — with jail time to show for it. The third co-owner is trial attorney Pierce O'Donnell (who counts Force and Mangan among his clients).  ...

...  Force and Mangan have been involved in a number of shady dealings — stock manipulation, drug trafficking, predatory loan relief scams, numerous real estate and art forgery schemes — establishing a consistent pattern of questionable endeavor that has gone undeterred to this day. The question can reasonably be asked then, is Heroes and Monsters any different?  ...

...   Based on the patterns of most of the individuals involved any, if not all, documents of proof and authenticity are in serious question. And the same goes for the involvement of leading Basquiat authorities in this exhibit. Based on sources who spoke to OW on the condition of anonymity, two of the foremost authorities on the works of Basquiat, Diego Cortez and Jordana Moore Saggese, Ph.D., had little to do with Heroes & Monsters, and their inclusion in exhibition materials is misrepresented. (Cortez served on the authentication committee of the estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat until it ceased operation in 2012, and Prof. Saggese is an art historian and acknowledged expert on Basquiat's works.)

An interview with Saggese included in the exhibition catalog is said to have never taken place and to be a complete fabrication. Interestingly, it does not appear in the catalog's table of contents. Saggese's involvement was misrepresented to the extent that the New York Times printed a correction on March 2 noting that the February article originally described her input incorrectly as attributing some of the 25 works to Basquiat, when in actuality she was unable to attribute nine of the paintings to him, with nothing more on the matter.