Posted on 06/01/2022 7:25:41 PM PDT by simpson96
Florida art dealer Daniel Elie Bouaziz has been charged with wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering for allegedly selling fake works attributed to such big names as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, Banksy, Henri Matisse, Keith Haring, and Roy Lichtenstein.
News of Bouraziz’s alleged illegal activities first came to light when the FBI raided one of his Palm Beach galleries, Danieli Fine Art, in December. He also owns Galerie Danieli; both businesses are located on Worth Avenue, which has become a hot spot for prestigious international art galleries in the wealthy Florida enclave.
Galerie Danieli stood out from its white-cube, blue-chip neighbors. It was decorated with velvet ropes, a red carpet, and over-the-top crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Art was hung salon-style alongside large television monitors displaying NFT drops.
When Artnet News visited in December, just days ahead of the raid, a gallery employee sternly reprimanded us for taking photographs.
Authorities believe many of the forgeries are cheap reproductions with fake seals of authenticity—like a “Basquiat” that Bouaziz stands accused of having bought on LiveAuctioneers for $495 before flipping it to an undercover FBI agent for $12 million.
“Provenance is father of Basquiat so there is not really a conversation about it,” Bouaziz reportedly assured the buyer. According to the FBI, a former member of Basquiat’s now-defunct authentication committee identified the work as a fake. The work was part of a collection that included cheap imitations of Banksy, Haring, and Georgia O’Keeffe on offer for $22 million.(snip)
Bouaziz appeared in West Palm Beach court on Friday, and was released on $500,000 bail. He has yet to enter a plea.
Each of the four charges Bouaziz faces could lead up to 20 years behind bars and a fine of $250,000 to $500,000.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.artnet.com ...
What a douche.
South Florida is a sunny place for shady people.
It looks like something you would see scrawled on the side of a building.
There was fraud going on there. Even if he was selling something the artist drew right in front of you.
And the art world has always been notoriously shady.
Hunter Biden is shocked to hear of such goings on.
I’ve read that there are a lot more forgeries on museum walls than the art experts think there are.
At least the frosting would be fresh.
Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Justice.
If a woman can have a penis, a man can give birth, and supreme court judges cannot define what constitutes a woman how do we judge that these fakes are not real?
If these fakes are self identified as authentic we must believe them.
Art bigots, Nazis, and haters. I am ashamed this is happening during Pride month.
What makes that any better than the scrawl of a 4 year old? I can see why occasionally people mistakenly sell these old painting at garage sales for chicken feed.
“Police Arrest a Florida Art Dealer for Peddling Fakes After He Tried to Pass Off a $495 Print as a $12 Million Basquiat”
i wonder how they could tell the difference ...
Butt ugly “art work.”
Bean the Movie (1997) had a wall poster version substituted in the galley for the original Whistler’s Mother (Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1), the 1871 oil-on-canvas painting by American-born painter James McNeill Whistler.
gallery, not galley.
Art theft/forgery, and the detectives who solve it, have long been fascinating to me. I think I first read a story about this area in ‘Vanity Fair’.
i don’t mind expressive art if done well and with some thought- I’m very lenient when it comes to art expression, but my goodness that looks like something a child woudl draw- The only real semi artistic quality to it is weight distribution of the colors and the rule of thirds- the drawing though is idiotic- -
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