My kid could draw that

The Independent reports that forgeries of Russian Avant-Garde paintings and drawings are on the rise. More and more fakes are appearing on the auction blocks, and unsuspecting (i.e. uninformed, nouveau riche) are spending millions on them.

After reading the article, my first reaction was to stick it in the "My kid could draw that" file. But after a little thought, I think it belongs in my "Caveat Emptor" file.

I am a monstrous fan of the Russian Avant-Garde. It was an era (albeit brief) when paintings were created in the crucible of social turmoil. Their sharp blocks of color and abstract geometric forms signified a bold new direction in art and society. Unfortunately, a large amount of the value of their work is in the underlying manifesto. As the interest in these paintings grows, so do the number of forgeries (geometric forms + primary colors = easy to copy).

As reported:

For years, their artists – who believed that art should have a social, rather than purely decorative purpose – have been largely forgotten. Now Russia's new rich have rediscovered the Russian avant-garde, and have turned it into one of the most lucrative art markets in the world.

But William MacDougall, of the specialist London Russian auctioneers MacDougall's, said that more than half of the works submitted to his auction house are fakes. "It's a particular problem with Russian art," he said. "There are wealthy people who have made great mistakes. Your typical Rembrandt collector would have started at a young age with etchings, then moved on to lithographs and would have 25 years' experience before buying an oil painting. A Russian collector has a £100m fortune, aged 35, and starts buying a great deal at once. The prices are huge, big enough to motivate dishonest people."

He added: "There are more fakes around than genuine works. Half of the work we receive we reject on grounds of authenticity. The most difficult period to authenticate is the avant-garde art of the 1920s."

[Image above: Kazimir Malevich, Composition No. 56 (1936)]