Before reading this article, I sincerely invite you to click "Follow", which is not only convenient for you to discuss and share, but also brings you a different sense of participation, thank you for your support.
The fake painting of the Chinese uncle actually deceived dozens of rich Americans and raised $80 million.
In 2011, when a wealthy American was sorting out his collection of paintings, he accidentally found that one of them was a fake, and turned to file a lawsuit against Fayuan, demanding compensation.
Later, a number of wealthy people looked at the paintings they took and found that something was wrong, they all bought them in the same gallery, and the author of these paintings was a Chinese grandfather.
What's going on here? Why is a Chinese man involved in the sale of counterfeits?
In 2011, American billionaire Pierre divorced his wife and began to divide the joint property according to the legal process.
So Pierre asked an appraiser to appraise the price of the painting, but the results surprised everyone, and the appraiser of a professional organization declared the painting a fake.
When the staff carried out carbon 14 testing on this famous painting, they found a pigment, the age of this pigment is quite clear, it was born in the 70s of the last century!
According to art history, the original author of the painting died in 1956, a discovery that means that Pierre's cherished painting is in fact a fake.
The discovery exploded like a bomb through Pierre and his entire social circle, and he began to trace the process of buying the fake, eventually finding the place where it was purchased, a well-known gallery.
Anger and disappointment filled Pierre's heart, and he could not tolerate that he had been deceived for so many years, let alone that those wrongdoers had violated his trust and property.
So, he decided to seek justice from the law and took the gallery to court to recover the compensation it deserved.
After a lengthy investigation and trial, the court finally handed down its verdict. However, this is only the beginning, and Pierre is not satisfied with simple compensation, he asks investigators to follow the case down and find out who is behind it.
With the assistance of the police, the investigation leads to a breakthrough when they uncover a group of shrewd criminal gangs who use sophisticated technical means to make fakes and sell them to well-known art institutions through various means.
After a painstaking search and investigation, the police finally zeroed in on one of the masterminds of the criminal gang, named Grafila, a brilliant criminal who had been at large for many years.
However, justice will come, and in a sophisticated arrest operation, the police successfully capture Grafila, who is brought to justice and receives the punishment she deserves.
However, in the background check, Grafila is not from a painting class, and she is not good at painting, she should only be in charge of the sales link, and there are other criminals in the production link behind her.
After some interrogation, Grafila's heart finally could not bear the weight of her heart and chose to confess.
She claimed that the person who provided the fake was a Chinese, and she found the Chinese in the name of imitation and asked him to help paint the fake.
She then bought the imitation at the normal price and sold it to a gallery at a high price, and the appraiser did not examine it carefully and was deceived and never found out.
It wasn't until Pierre stumbled upon the truth that the shadow of artistic fraud was fully revealed. However, the scars left by this "art thief" who escaped with impunity are extremely deep, and the number of people who have been defrauded has reached dozens of people, with a total amount of up to $80 million.
Who is this Chinese? How did he confuse the real thing?
How did the Chinese uncle's fake painting fetch $80 million in the American collecting world?
Qian Peichen, a Chinese painter who once disrupted the American collecting scene, studied in the United States in the 80s of the last century and was the first to engage in manual labor to earn a living.
Later, they began to paint on the streets, and after a chance acquaintance with Grafila, the two began to operate in a fake way, harvesting $80 million among the rich Americans.
Did Qian Peichen know that his paintings were sold for a high price? Is he the mastermind behind it?
Qian Peichen was once an imaginative and artistically gifted teenager, who was fascinated by colorful pictures since he was a child, and he loved art and dreamed of one day becoming a famous painter who could paint the world in his heart with his brush.
However, the cruelty of reality often shatters people's beautiful illusions, he grew up in an ordinary family, the family is not wealthy, and his parents work hard so that he can get a better education, but they cannot afford the cost of Qian Peichen's art education.
As a result, Qian Peichen had to give up his dream and choose a stable and practical path - to become a mathematics teacher.
His life seems to be bound by the shackles of reality, facing boring teaching work every day, but deep down he is always struggling, eager to release his inner enthusiasm and creativity.
Qian Peichen did not give up his artistic dream, he used his spare time to paint, although his works are just simple graffiti, but in his heart, they are gorgeous and colorful paintings.
His paintings gradually attracted the attention and appreciation of those around him, and he gradually began to participate in some amateur art exhibitions, although he did not achieve much success, but this did not stop him from pursuing his dream of art.
In 1979, at a large-scale art exhibition, Qian Peichen's works were more praised, and his heart surged with surging emotions, longing for the day when he could stand on a bigger stage and show his works and be appreciated by the world.
In 1981, Qian Peichen struggled to grab the $1,000 flight ticket to the United States to pursue his dream, his heart was full of fear of the unknown and his persistence in his dream.
In a foreign country, Qian Peichen's life was not as good as he imagined, and he worked intensely every day to adapt to the new living and learning environment.
The high cost of studying abroad made him struggling to make ends meet, and he had to find various low-level jobs to make ends meet, and although this gap made him extremely uncomfortable, he never gave up.
However, the road to fame seemed to be becoming more and more difficult, and he found that his paintings were not recognized and appreciated by too many people, and Qian Peichen felt frustrated and lost in the face of this situation.
He often sat alone in the cold dormitory late at night, looking out the window at the lonely night scene, and he began to doubt his choices, his abilities, and even whether his dreams were just a pipe dream.
By chance, he came to the park with a paintbrush and paper, ready to look for some inspiration for this leisure weekend, when a young man passing by stopped and curiously approached him to ask if he could paint his portrait.
Qian Peichen was overjoyed and accepted the request without hesitation, and he used dexterity to draw the young man's face vividly on the drawing paper.
Soon, the surrounding people were also attracted and asked Qian Peichen to paint portraits of them.
As time passed, Qian Peichen's portraits became more and more popular, and his fame gradually spread throughout the park, and his income gradually increased.
With the increase of income, Qian Peichen's living conditions gradually improved, he was no longer busy running around for a living, and in his heart, an idea gradually sprouted - to take his wife and daughter to the United States to reunite with him and live a happy life.
What disrupted Qian Peichen's plan? How did he embark on the road of breaking the law and committing crimes?
With his superb painting skills, the fake painting of the Chinese uncle became popular in the United States, selling for $80 million.
On the way to seek help from an intermediary, Qian Peichen was cheated out of all his savings, and his early efforts were all in vain, which made him feel unprecedented hopelessness and helplessness.
As the days passed, Qian Peichen fell into a heavy thought, his state of mind had changed somewhat, and at this moment, Grafila came to the door to ask for his paintings.
Did Qian Peichen agree to Grafila's request? Did he finally get away with it?
As the sun slowly rises and shines with golden light, Qian Peichen paints his artwork alone on the street, telling his inner story with his brush.
An unfamiliar voice suddenly broke his thoughts: "Wow, this painting is amazing!" Qian Peichen looked up and saw a Spaniard standing in front of him, his eyes flashing with surprise and appreciation.
The Spaniard, who calls himself Grafila, praised and commented on his paintings, pointing to the details on the canvas and saying: "Your paintings are truly lifelike, with deep emotion and skill in every stroke. You must be an amazing artist! ”
Hearing these praises, Qian Peichen's heart was suddenly filled with joy and pride. Grafila told Qian Peichen that she was an art collector and had a high appreciation for art.
She was attracted to Qian Peichen's paintings and hoped to become friends with him and provide a broader stage for his artworks, and the two soon became close friends.
In the course of their relationship, Grafila gradually revealed to Qian Peichen that she wanted to have accurate imitations of some famous artists, and she believed that Qian Peichen's painting skills could perfectly meet his needs.
She promised that as long as Qian Peichen could produce accurate imitations, she would buy them at a high price, so that his works would be more widely recognized and disseminated.
Although Qian Peichen was a little hesitant about this proposal, he finally accepted it, knowing that this was a rare opportunity not only for his work to be recognized by more people, but also for him to bring more income and opportunities.
Grafila only needs abstract paintings, while Qian Peichen knows the works of masters well, he has studied Van Gogh's starry sky, felt Picasso's color impact, immersed himself in Pollack's graffiti, and felt Monet's interplay of light and shadow, and has explored the painting techniques and styles of various masters.
Grafila was full of praise for Qian Peichen's work, and every time, when she picked up his work, she would be satisfied with paying thousands of dollars.
Qian Peichen didn't think much about Grafila's motives at first, but as the other party needed more and more of them, he gradually came back to his senses, and the other party was very likely to use imitations to make profits.
It's hard to imagine that every imitation is sold by Grafila for a sky-high price, and those thousands of dollars in income are nothing compared to Grafila's works that are sold for millions.
Qian Peichen did not know that he had become a part of this conspiracy, he was just working hard for his dreams, but he did not know that he had been drawn into an irreparable whirlpool, his paintings were used, his reputation was trampled on, and he knew nothing.
It wasn't until Grafila was arrested a few years later that Qian Peichen knew that the other party was so big, and he was very happy because he was not involved in buying and selling fakes, and the American police were helpless about it.
Now that Qian Peichen has become a well-known artist, his original works have won awards in several awards, and he no longer needs to rely on imitations to make a living.
Many years have passed, but Qian Peichen's turbulent years seem to be still in front of him, and he is like a meteor across the night sky of art, leaving dazzling traces.
What do you have to say about this? Welcome to leave a message in the comment area to discuss!