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German Based Russian Avant-Garde Dealer Exonorated

March 21, 2018

In 2013, Itzhak Zarug (an Israeli born art dealer living in Germany who specializes in Russian avant-garde paintings) was arrested by German police on suspicions of running an international fraud ring.  By 2016, authorities began to realize that the case against him was not as solid as they thought and he was released.

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El Lissitzky

During the investigation, Zarug’s personal collection of over 1,800 works of art (including paintings by Marc Chagall,  Alexander Rodchenko, El Lissitzky, and Kazimir Malevich) were seized.  After a five year long investigation, Zarug has been exonerated and all but 3 of his works have been returned.  According to recent reports: The court ordered exhaustive analysis of the paintings. Separate investigations were undertaken in the UK, France, Israel, Spain and Switzerland, and more than ten expert witnesses testified in court. … The court retained three works out of the collection of 1,800 after tests found traces of pigments that do not match the date of the pictures. Mr Zarug maintained he had bought the pictures in good faith.

Even though Zarug was found innocent in regard to any involvement in the global counterfeit ring, he and his business partner, Moez Ben Hazaz, were found guilty on lesser charges after Hazaz, admitted falsifying the provenance of some works in order to drive up the price. As owner of the business Mr Zarug was found legally culpable despite denying knowledge of the falsification.  They were ordered to pay back about $1.2 million (for the 3 sold works purportedly by Rodchenko and Lissitzky: the paintings contained phthalocyanine blue, a brilliant blue pigment that was only produced years after the works were allegedly made) along with court fees and sentenced to time served.

After reading a number of news reports (a few are below), there still seems to be many unanswered questions.

Source: £3bn art fraud case collapses after German court told ‘fakes’ are real thing

Source: Russian avant-garde forgery case ends in convictions and disappointments

Source: Israeli Art Dealer Cleared of Counterfeiting After Years-Long Probe

 

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