The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "art collectors" ...
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Warhol Inc., The Brillo-Box Scandal
Even though he died more than two decades ago, Andy Warhol’s images are still in high demand. The prices for his paintings rank among some of the highest and his fame shows no signs of diminishing. Furthermore, the amount of products with his imagery continues to expand and his brand is becoming one of the most powerful in the world. The second part of this story, describes the Brillo box scandal. This scandal deals with Warhol’s Brillo boxes design being reproduced and sold as originals.
Tags: Andy Warhol; Brillo boxes; Brand; artist; Collectors; Work; Art; Paintings
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The Faking of the Russian Avant-Garde
The Russian modern art market is saturated with fake works. Many European museums and auction houses are completely filled with fraudulent pieces. Once source says that phony modern art from Russian far outnumbers authentic pieces. The problem is exacerbated by a network of experts and professionals who accept large fees to validate Russian modern art as authentic.
Tags: Russian; artwork; modern; fraud; false; fake; phony; bogus; avant-garde; collector; art market
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The Scandal Sweeping Russia's Art Market
Forgers were buying inexpensive paintings by minor European artists from the 19th century, and "russifying" them. They added fake signatures and sold them for large sums to inexperienced Russian collectors. For instance, the forgers would replace something in the painting, perhaps a Roman ruin, and replace it with something more "Russian," like an onion-domed church. The value of these paintings went from a few thousand dollars elsewhere to hundreds of thousands of dollars in Moscow. ARTnews' story includes before and after photos showing how some works were altered to look more "Russian."
Tags: Art; art forgery; Russian art; art collectors; art value
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Conflict of Interests
Shelby White and Leon Levy are prominent antiquities collectors. Last August the White House announced the appointment of White to the President's Cultural Property Advisory Committee, which reviews proposals to the United States from foreign countries requesting US Import bans on antiquities artifacts endangered by pillaging and illegal export. Some say this causes a conflict of interest for White. Others say it is the prefect position for such an avid collector.
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The surreal legacy of Man Ray
Artnews investigates the handling of the estate of art photographer Man Ray. The story probes the rumors that Lucien Treillard, Man Ray's former secretary and a leading expert on his work, has helped a Japanese collector acquire many of the artist's posthumous prints, worth an estimated $5 million.
Tags: intellectual property rights; Man Ray trust; art market
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Head Found on Fifth Avenue
The New Yorker takes a look at how archaeologists are slowly discovering who has been taking the buried treasures of ancient Sicily. Many of the unearthed pieces have ended up in NYC's Metropolitan Museum of Art and in the homes of prominent private collectors. The search for looters and the consequences are the primary focus of this article.
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The art of deception
Visonary philanthropist. High-powered lawyer. Big-time art collector. The driving force behind the glittering rebirth of downtown Fort Lauderdale. With all this going for him, Tropic asks, why did Elliott Barnett have to steal?
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The Search
The story examined the legal and historical background and implications of a lawsuit filed against a private art collector who unknowingly purchased a Degas pastel that had been stolen by the Nazis during World War II. The suit was brought by the descendants of the family who owned the Degas and perished in the Holocaust. The story explored the family's nearly forty year search for this and other artworks and examined current practices in the art world that routinely fail to establish thorough histories and credible provenance for art that is sold for millions of dollars.
Tags: TAPE
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When is a Calder not a Calder?
This story deals with the little-known problem of fakes in the booming market for sculpture by Alexander Calder. Four prominent American art dealers were suing a London dealer and a collector, claiming that a Calder mobile they bought from the collector through the dealer was a fake. The leading expert on the artist's works, Klaus Perls, agreed it was a fake, but a judge disagreed and ruled the work genuine. This decision shocked the art world, as a judge with no background in art overruled the expert. Since Perls retirement, Calder's grandson, Alexander Rower, is the official expert on his grandfather's work, as is producing the authoritative catalogue raisonne. This means he has sole authority to bestow the stamp of authenticity. Many dealers and collectors are distressed that Rower has rejected about 80 works as fakes without any real explanation. People who are knowledgeable think that Rower, who was 13 when his grandfather died and has no training in art history, isn't qualified to make such judgments.
Tags: forgery
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No title (id: 13707)
ARTnews investigates how Russian art has come to the West illegally for the past 70 years while the Soviet Union was isolated behind the iron curtain. Forgers, smugglers, and corrupt officials control the traffic and make huge profits from it, while collectors, dealers, and museums in the West are duped. (Feb. and Sept. 1996)