I have to be honest, I am growing tired of reading news about scummy people taking advantage of others to make a quick buck. This storyline repeats itself time and time again in the art world, someone sees on opportunity to produce fake works featuring a big name and makes thousands. This time, Michael Little, a 35 year old from just outside of Seattle, started buying generic glass pieces and etching Dale Chihuly’s name into them. Aside from simply selling the fakes, Little posed as an art appraiser and “authenticated” the works he was selling and produced fake “certificates of purchase” from a Seattle gallery. During a raid of Little’s home, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents found tools for etching in glass and a rubber stamp with the address of the artist’s studio. In all, Little sold approximately $128,000 worth of fake art ($70,000 of which was through EBay).
These events have a ripple effect in the market. First of all, this obviously impacted Chihuly’s studio as confidence in the authenticity of his work was damaged but, it also greatly impacts collectors. When something like this happens, it breeds skepticism in an already murky marketplace and makes it difficult for an individual to truly trust an art dealer.
Little received a 5 month prison sentence today (although he was facing up to 15 months) and prosecutors are pushing for a payment of $75,000 in restitution.
