The Faun

for an undisclosed sum, thought to be about $125,000. It was hailed by them as "one of its most important acquisitions in the last twenty years." [Bailey, Martin. [http://www.theartnewspaper.com/article.asp?id=7105 "Revealed: Art Institute of Chicago Gauguin sculpture is fake"] , "The Art Newspaper", December 12, 2007. Accessed December, 13, 2007.]

For a decade the sculpture remained on display, and was part of a major joint exhibition on Gauguin with the van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. However, following revelations about its existence at Greenhalgh's trial in 2007, "The Faun" was tracked down by "The Art Newspaper" to Chicago and exposed as a fake.

In October the Art Institute removed the statue from display, and announced that it was seeking compensation from Sotheby's. What the ultimate fate of "The Faun" is to be has not yet been revealed. [Bailey, Martin. [http://www.theartnewspaper.com/article.asp?id=7105 "Revealed: Art Institute of Chicago Gauguin sculpture is fake"] , "The Art Newspaper", December 12, 2007. Accessed December, 13, 2007.] [Vogel, Carol. [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/13/arts/13gauguin.html?_r=2&ref=arts&oref=slogin&oref=slogin "Work Believed a Gauguin Turns Out to Be a Forgery"] , "New York Times", December 13, 2007. Accessed December 14, 2007.]

Background to the forgery

In the early to mid 1990s Shaun Greenhalgh was predominately involved with paintings. He sold a Samuel Peploe, but in particular he was successful with his Thomas Morans. He sold one to Bolton Museum in 1994 and at New York auctions in 1995 he sold seven, and is reckoned to have produced as many as 40. [Bolton Museum, (no byline). [http://www.boltonmuseums.org.uk/news/amarna-princess-statement "Amarna Princess statement"] , "Bolton Museum", Nov 29, 2007; Milmo, Cahal. [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20071117/ai_n21116621 "Family of forgers fooled art world with array of finely crafted"] , "Independent", Nov 17, 2007; Chadwick, Edward. [http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/search/display.var.1840818.0.antiques_rogues_show_update_3.php "Antiques Rogues Show: Update 3"] , "The Bolton News", Nov 17, 2007.] Yet at the same time that he was involved with these he must have been researching the possibility of at least one Gauguin work. As well as "The Faun" he is known to have also forged a Gauguin vase, possibly at a later date. [Lovell, Jeremy. [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10476643 "Octogenerian British art forger sentenced"] , "New Zealand Herald", November 17, 2007. Accessed December 26, 2007. Not clear from article if reference is to a painting or an actual vase: "There was also a Gauguin vase and numerous antiquities.." Nor is it mentioned in any other article. Cf Ely Sakhai who sold a fake of Gauguin's "Vase de Fleurs". See Thompson, Clive. [http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/features/9179/. "How to make a fake"] , "New York Magazine", May 24, 2004. Accessed December 26, 2007. Examples of Gauguin's vases: [http://www.abcgallery.com/G/gauguin/gauguin126.html "Ceramic vase with Tahitian Gods"] ; [http://www.abcgallery.com/G/gauguin/gauguin119.html "Ceramic Vase with a Caricature Self-Portrait"] ]

Gauguin is significantly less well regarded for his sculptures than for his paintings. It is likely that Greenhalgh was aware of that, and saw it as an opportunity. Forgers typically focus on the lower priced artworks of major artists, for though they offer less returns, they are subject to much less scrutiny. [Thompson, Clive. [http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/features/9179/. "How to make a fake"] , "New York Magazine", May 24, 2004. Accessed December 26, 2007.] As well, Gauguin himself had left just enough of a record to indicate he may have been interested in producing such an item, a drawing of a faun sculpture in a sketchbook from 1887. This was backed up by suggestive historical events: at a Gauguin exhibition in 1906 a "faun ceramic" was displayed. [Storch, Charles and Artner, Alan. [http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-gauguin21dec21,1,7635703.story?coll=la-headlines-calendar&ctrack=1&cset=true "Taken in by a complete fake"] , "Los Angeles Times", December 21, 2007. Accessed December 24, 2007.] Also, another listing for a work entitled "Faun" was found for a 1917 Nunes and Fiquet gallery exhibition. [Bailey, Martin. [http://www.theartnewspaper.com/article.asp?id=7105 "Revealed: Art Institute of Chicago Gauguin sculpture is fake"] , "The Art Newspaper", December 12, 2007. Accessed December, 13, 2007.] Scholars in the 1960s dutifully recorded these possibilities. Even in 2007 experts were still uncertain about how many ceramic sculptures Gauguin had actually produced. Estimates range from 55 to 80. [Vogel, Carol. [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/13/arts/13gauguin.html?_r=2&ref=arts&oref=slogin&oref=slogin "Work Believed a Gauguin Turns Out to Be a Forgery"] , "New York Times", December 13, 2007. Accessed December 14, 2007.] Of these between 30 and 60 are thought to be lost or destroyed. [Storch, Charles and Artner, Alan. [http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-gauguin21dec21,1,7635703.story?coll=la-headlines-calendar&ctrack=1&cset=true "Taken in by a complete fake"] , "Los Angeles Times", December 21, 2007. Accessed December 24, 2007.]

Greenhalgh was adept at obtaining and working in a wide variety of materials, ["This is London", (no byline). [http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23421598-details/The%20artful%20codgers:%20Pensioners%20who%20conned%20British%20museums%20with%20%C3%82%C2%A310m%20forgeries/article.do "The artful codgers: pensioners who conned British museums with £10m forgeries"] , Nov 16, 2007.] and not only used a stoneware that fitted in well with what Gauguin demonstrably used, he managed to produce something "which had no obvious features to reveal it as a modern fake." [Bailey, Martin. [http://www.theartnewspaper.com/article.asp?id=7105 "Revealed: Art Institute of Chicago Gauguin sculpture is fake"] , "The Art Newspaper", December 12, 2007. Accessed December, 13, 2007.] At 47cm it was modest, yet typically sized for a Gauguin. The gallery caption of "The Faun" read "unglazed stoneware with touches of gold gilding." [Art Institute of Chicago, (no byline). [http://www.artic.edu/aic/exhibitions/vangogh/slideshow/slide_work02.html "The Faun" (slide 02)] , in "Slideshow: Van Gogh and Gauguin: The studio of the south," Art Institute of Chicago, September 22, 2001. Accessed December 24, 2007.] Use of the gold gilding was deft, it was similar to investments Greenhalgh had made on previous forgeries. In 1991, for example, he is thought to have melted down genuine Roman silver coins when reconstructing the Risley Park Lanx. [Chadwick, Edward. [http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/display.var.1840818.0.antiques_rogues_show_update_3.php "Antiques rogues show: update 3"] , "The Bolton News", November 17, 2007. Accessed November 30, 2007.] Any anomalies in "The Faun" that were detected were explained away. [Storch, Charles and Artner, Alan. [http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-gauguin21dec21,1,7635703.story?coll=la-headlines-calendar&ctrack=1&cset=true "Taken in by a complete fake"] , "Los Angeles Times", December 21, 2007. Accessed December 24, 2007. Not clear from article what exactly these "anomalies" might have been or what were the "sound explanations."]

old twice over

In 1995 "The Faun" was sold at Sotheby's for £20,700. [Bailey, Martin. [http://www.theartnewspaper.com/article.asp?id=7105 "Revealed: Art Institute of Chicago Gauguin sculpture is fake"] , "The Art Newspaper", December 12, 2007. Accessed December, 13, 2007.] The Greenhalghs, who worked together as a family, had constructed a provenance based around Olive Greenhalgh, (Shaun's mother), using her maiden name "Roscoe." She claimed to be a descendant of Roderick O'Conor, [Vogel, Carol. [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/13/arts/13gauguin.html?_r=2&ref=arts&oref=slogin&oref=slogin "Work Believed a Gauguin Turns Out to Be a Forgery"] , "New York Times", December 13, 2007. Accessed December 14, 2007.] a friend of Gauguin's purported to have bought the sculpture at the 1917 exhibition; and known to have bought at least one other. Legitimising their ownership through inheritance was a typical ploy of the Greenhalghs, as was forging documents to go with it. [See, for example, image attached to following article of the faked L S Lowry lettery: Kelly, James. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7091435.stm "Fraudsters who resented the art market"] , "BBC News", November 16, 2007. Accessed November 17, 2007.] In this case, Olive produced a copy of the sale invoice. [Storch, Charles and Artner, Alan. [http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-gauguin21dec21,1,7635703.story?coll=la-headlines-calendar&ctrack=1&cset=true "Taken in by a complete fake"] , "Los Angeles Times", December 21, 2007. Accessed December 24, 2007.]

There were no concerns about authenticity. As well as being well received by Sotheby's itself "The Faun" was authenticated by the Wildenstein Institute in Paris. Their catalogue raisonné had not yet been published when the sculpture was sold on 30 November, but the auction house had received a letter two weeks beforehand indicating "The Faun's" incorporation. [Bailey, Martin. [http://www.theartnewspaper.com/article.asp?id=7105 "Revealed: Art Institute of Chicago Gauguin sculpture is fake"] , "The Art Newspaper", December 12, 2007. Accessed December, 13, 2007.]

The first buyers were also experienced, London art dealers Howie and Pillar. They lived with it for years and described it as "a wonderful object."When the curator for the Art Institute of Chicago, Douglas Druick , saw "The Faun" he was reportedly "intrigued" [Vogel, Carol. [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/13/arts/13gauguin.html?_r=2&ref=arts&oref=slogin&oref=slogin "Work Believed a Gauguin Turns Out to Be a Forgery"] , "New York Times", December 13, 2007. Accessed December 14, 2007.] and "very keen to acquire it." [Bailey, Martin. [http://www.theartnewspaper.com/article.asp?id=7105 "Revealed: Art Institute of Chicago Gauguin sculpture is fake"] , "The Art Newspaper", December 12, 2007. Accessed December, 13, 2007.] Subsequently the Art Institute carried out their own research into the authenticity and purchased the item in 1997, for what was thought to be about $125,000. However to this day the Art Institute has refused to reveal actual details of the price it paid. [Storch, Charles and Artner, Alan. [http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-gauguin21dec21,1,7635703.story?coll=la-headlines-calendar&ctrack=1&cset=true "Taken in by a complete fake"] , "Los Angeles Times", December 21, 2007. Accessed December 24, 2007.] What is known is that the purchase was funded, at least in part, by the Major Acquisitions Centennial Endowment [Bailey, Martin. [http://www.theartnewspaper.com/article.asp?id=7105 "Revealed: Art Institute of Chicago Gauguin sculpture is fake"] , "The Art Newspaper", December 12, 2007. Accessed December, 13, 2007.] and is associated with the estate of Suzette Morton Davidson. [Art Institute of Chicago, (no byline). [http://www.artic.edu/aic/exhibitions/vangogh/slideshow/slide_work02.html "The Faun" (slide 02)] , in "Slideshow: Van Gogh and Gauguin: The studio of the south". Art Institute of Chicago, September 22, 2001. Accessed December 24, 2007.] At any rate, the Art Institute plans to seek compensation from Sotheby's. [Art Institute of Chicago, (no byline). [http://www.artic.edu/aic/aboutus/press/Gauguin_Statement.pdf "Art Institute's statement regarding Paul Gauguin's "The Faun"] , Art Institute of Chicago, undated. Accessed December 24, 2007.]

The good sculpture

Purchase of "The Faun" was proclaimed as a great success. Chief curator Douglas Druick declared it Gauguin's "first ceramic." In 2001 The Art Institute sculpture curator, Ian Wardropper said it was one of the most important acquisitions in the last twenty years. "The Faun" was included in a publication of Chicago's "Notable Acquisitions." It was accepted by a specialist in Gauguin ceramics Anne-Birgitte Fonsmark. The consensus of analysis was that the half-man half-goat fitted with Gauguin's known exploration of the primitive, and various attempts were made to provide a detailed interpretation of "The Faun's" sexuality in terms of Gauguin's relationships. Druick noted "the absence of the often flaunted sign of a faun’s virility, resulting in an aura of impotence." [Bailey, Martin. [http://www.theartnewspaper.com/article.asp?id=7105 "Revealed: Art Institute of Chicago Gauguin sculpture is fake"] , "The Art Newspaper", December 12, 2007. Accessed December, 13, 2007.] Even after it was exposed as a forgery James Cuno, the director of the Art Institute could still describe it as "good sculpture." [Vogel, Carol. [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/13/arts/13gauguin.html?_r=2&ref=arts&oref=slogin&oref=slogin "Work Believed a Gauguin Turns Out to Be a Forgery"] , "New York Times", December 13, 2007. Accessed December 14, 2007.]

The extraordinary exhibition

On September 21, 2001 "The Faun" became part of a major exhibition , "Van Gogh and Gauguin: The Studio of the South." Organised as a joint venture between The Art Institute of Chicago and the van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam the event ran for four months in Chicago before shifting to Amsterdam. Funding was unprecedented, with support from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities and a $1.5 million grant from the Ameritech Foundation [PR Newswire, (no byline). [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-54078668.html "Art Institute announces unprecedented support from Ameritech for Van Gogh-Gauguin exhibtion"] , "PR Newswire", March 11, 1999. Accessed December 24, 2007.] The exhibition brought together works from "63 public and private collections around the world, including the U.S., Canada, Europe, Israel, Japan and Russia." [Ameritech, (no byline). [http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=4800&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=3061 "Ameritech offers a unique canvas to bring works of van Gogh and Gauguin to Chicago's sidewalks"] , "AT&T Corporate", August 21, 2001. Accessed December 24, 2007.] It took years to prepare. [Kimmelman, Michael. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06E2DE1E3DF937A35753C1A9679C8B63 "Critic's notebook: irritation as inspiration"] , "New York Times", October 4, 2001. Accessed December 24, 2007.] Joseph Harriss wrote in the "Smithsonian": Promoters described the exhibition as extraordinary [Ameritech, (no byline). [http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=4800&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=3061 "Ameritech offers a unique canvas to bring works of van Gogh and Gauguin to Chicago's sidewalks"] , "AT&T Corporate", August 21, 2001. Accessed December 24, 2007.] and a "serious and very beautiful show." [Kimmelman, Michael. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06E2DE1E3DF937A35753C1A9679C8B63 "Critic's notebook: irritation as inspiration"] , "New York Times", October 4, 2001. Accessed December 24, 2007.] Critic Suzanne Hoefaerkamp felt viewers were "unified by their experience of great art." [Hoefaerkamp, Suzanne. [http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-82479102.html "Studio of the South"] , "The Christian Century", January 16, 2001. Accessed December 24, 2007.]

Of the 134 items on display, most were paintings, plus three Japanese prints by Hokusai, Hiroshige and Korin. [Art Institute of Chicago, (no byline). [http://www.artic.edu/aic/exhibitions/vangogh/vg_list.html "List of works in the exhibition"] , Art Institute of Chicago, September 22, 2007. Accessed December 24, 2007. Unspecified update with removal of [http://www.artic.edu/aic/exhibitions/vangogh/slideshow/slide_work02.html "The Faun", Slide 02"] .] The focus of the exhibition, and the critics, was very much on the interplay between the paintings. [Kimmelman, Michael. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06E2DE1E3DF937A35753C1A9679C8B63 "Critic's notebook: irritation as inspiration"] , "New York Times", October 4, 2001. Accessed December 24, 2007.] [Hoefaerkamp, Suzanne. [http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-82479102.html "Studio of the South"] , "The Christian Century", January 16, 2001. Accessed December 24, 2007.] In fact there were only seven sculptures, all by Gauguin. The others were "Portrait Vase of Jeanne Schuffenecker", "Cleopatra Pot", "Leda and the Swan", "Self-portrait Jug", "Self-portrait Jar", and "Female Nude with Flower (known as Lust)". The slideshow for the exhibition was arranged chronologically, so that "The Faun" (slide 02) could be clearly seen as Gauguin's first ceramic. Equally self-evident is how well the forgery fitted in thematically. [Art Institute of Chicago, (no byline). [http://www.artic.edu/aic/exhibitions/vangogh/slideshow/slide_work18.html "Slideshow"] , Art Institute of Chicago, September 22, 2007. Accessed December 24, 2007. Unspecified update with removal of [http://www.artic.edu/aic/exhibitions/vangogh/slideshow/slide_work02.html "The Faun", Slide 02"] .]

Exposure and reaction

In 2007 Shaun Greenhalgh was convicted for money laundering, predominately over the "Amarna Princess". However during the trial the variety and number of his other forgeries were widely noted. As was the admission by Scotland Yard that that many were likely to be still undetected. [See, for examples, Kelly, James. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7091435.stm "Fraudsters who resented the art market"] , "BBC News", November 16, 2007. Accessed November 17, 2007; 'Times Online", (no byline). [http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article2886205.ece "The £10m art collection that was forged by a family in their garden shed in Bolton"] , "Times Online", November,17 2007. Accessed November, 17 2007; Ward, David. [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/news/story/0,,2212590,00.html "How garden shed fakers fooled the art world"] , "The Guardian", November 17, 2007. Accessed November 17, 2007.] Picking up on references to the Gauguin faun "The Art Newspaper" launched its own investigation and tracked "The Faun" down to the Art Institute in Chicago. [Bailey, Martin. [http://www.theartnewspaper.com/article.asp?id=7105 "Revealed: Art Institute of Chicago Gauguin sculpture is fake"] , "The Art Newspaper", December 12, 2007. Accessed December, 13, 2007.]

The Art Institute was quick to leap to its own defense. In a statement on its website they emphasised how the sculpture came with provenance from respected sources, and how "The Faun" was "never a principal focus of the [Greenhalgh] investigation." [Art Institute of Chicago, (no byline). [http://www.artic.edu/aic/aboutus/press/Gauguin_Statement.pdf "Art Institute's statement regarding Paul Gauguin's "The Faun"] , Art Institute of Chicago, undated. Accessed December 24, 2007.] Douglas Druick, the chief curator, described "The Faun" as "creative [and] well-researched." For James Cuno, the director, it was "a crafty concept." [Bailey, Martin. [http://www.theartnewspaper.com/article.asp?id=7105 "Revealed: Art Institute of Chicago Gauguin sculpture is fake"] , "The Art Newspaper", December 12, 2007. Accessed December, 13, 2007.] According to Ian Wardropper then the sculpture curator, the provenance was "completely believeable." [Storch, Charles and Artner, Alan. [http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-gauguin21dec21,1,7635703.story?coll=la-headlines-calendar&ctrack=1&cset=true "Taken in by a complete fake"] , "Los Angeles Times", December 21, 2007. Accessed December 24, 2007.] Melaine Clore from Sotheby's described "The Faun" as a once-in-a-decade forgery. [Vogel, Carol. [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/13/arts/13gauguin.html?_r=2&ref=arts&oref=slogin&oref=slogin "Work Believed a Gauguin Turns Out to Be a Forgery"] , "New York Times", December 13, 2007. Accessed December 14, 2007.] On the process of obtaining artworks Cuno added "we make thousands of decisions like this annually. Once in a lifetime something like this happens." [Blakely, Derrik. [http://www.truveo.com/Art-Institute-Discovers-Gauguin-Sculpture-Is-Fake/id/815459081 "Art Institute discovers Gauguin sculpture is fake (video)"] , "CBS2", December 14, 2007. Accessed December 24, 2007. Quote at 1'40".] However, other commentators speculate that as much as half of the art market is made up of forgeries. [Sharp, Rob. [http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/article3237308.ece "The counterfeiters: Inside the world of art forgery"] , "The Independent", Dec 10, 2007. Accessed Dec 28, 2007.]

In October 2007 "The Faun" was removed from Art Institute where it had been on permanent display as part of its post-Impressionist collection. It remained on the website as part of the "Studio of the South" exhibition slideshow until mid December. Because Greenhalgh's trial finished before the sculpture was revealed as a forgery it was not impounded by police, but the Art Institute is in discussion about compensation with Sotheby's and the private dealer. So how this affects ownership and ultimately what happens to "The Faun" is undecided at this time.

Footnotes