Carabinieri officers posing with confiscated forgeries in the style of Miró, Mondrian, Kandinsky, and others
In June, I wrote about how Italian authorities confiscated a drawing being passed off as an original by Amadeo Modigliani. It is based on a real Modigliani drawing from his Caryatid series, sketches he made between 1912 and 1914 as preliminary drawings for a sculpture series. Recently, another fake drawing based on Modigliani’s Caryatids led Italian authorities to uncover a massive forgery conspiracy active in several European countries.
In what has been called Operazione Cariatide, the Carabinieri, prosecutors in Pisa, and Eurojust have opened investigations into 38 people residing in Italy, Belgium, France, and Spain. In what the Italian press is calling a “maxi-sequestro”, or a mega-seizure, the Carabinieri have since raided six locations uncovered as workshops and confiscated over 2,100 fakes and forgeries. Had they been authentic, this haul would have been worth around €200 million. The forgeries were predominantly based on works by modern and contemporary artists like Picasso, Kandinsky, Basquiat, Pollock, Chagall, Miró, and many others. Warhol and Banksy forgeries are considered this conspiracy’s specialty.
The investigation into this forgery ring started in March 2023 when a businessman in Pisa had his art collection confiscated, which included about 200 forgeries. Among these was another fake Modigliani Caryatid, which eventually gave the investigation its name. This led to them monitoring both auction houses and e-commerce platforms. They soon traced many fake works offered at regional Italian auction houses back to a group of forgers operating workshops in Venice, Lucca, and Pistoia. After looking into these individuals, they uncovered an entire network extending beyond just Italy. The Italian authorities are not only going after the forgers but also auction house employees who may have knowingly worked with the forgers to sell these works. There may also be others who are complicit, as investigators have found that the forgers staged exhibitions for some of their Banksy fakes to give them a sense of provenance and legitimize them. Over 18 months, another three forgery workshops were uncovered where there were not only fake artworks but also counterfeit certificates and stamps to fool specialists and investigators.
The Carabinieri is exhibiting the confiscated forgeries at Pisa’s Palazzo Toscanelli between November 11th and 15th.