WEBVTT - Introducing Art Fraud - Episode 6: The $17 Million Jackson Pollock 0:00:01.560 --> 0:00:04.560 We've all felt left out, and for people who moved 0:00:04.600 --> 0:00:07.120 to this country, that feeling last more than a moment. 0:00:07.880 --> 0:00:11.000 We can change that. Learn how it Belonging begins with 0:00:11.080 --> 0:00:15.880 us dot org. Brought to you by the AD Council. Hey, Hey, 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:19.120 this is John O'Bryant, entrepreneur and a fellow builder just 0:00:19.239 --> 0:00:21.240 like you. Thanks to the help of I Heart Radio 0:00:21.320 --> 0:00:23.639 and Prudential Financial, I'd like to present to you my 0:00:23.800 --> 0:00:26.920 brand new podcast is called Building the Good Life, where 0:00:26.920 --> 0:00:29.840 each week a special friend and I will unpack and 0:00:29.920 --> 0:00:33.720 talk in detail about financial literal building, generational well building, 0:00:33.760 --> 0:00:37.559 that community building the best version of you. Make sure 0:00:37.600 --> 0:00:39.640 to listen to Building a Good Life on the I 0:00:39.800 --> 0:00:44.040 Heart Radio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast. 0:00:45.840 --> 0:00:49.279 I'm time onto you and I'm the host of Calling BS, 0:00:49.320 --> 0:00:52.800 the first podcast about purpose washing. In this show, we 0:00:52.920 --> 0:00:56.440 dig into the difference between what organizations say they stand 0:00:56.480 --> 0:00:59.800 for and the actions they are actually taking. Let's call 0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:03.080 BS on the businesses that deserve it and also make 0:01:03.160 --> 0:01:07.280 some concrete suggestions for cleaning that BS up. Listen to 0:01:07.440 --> 0:01:11.399 Calling BS every Wednesday on the I Heart Radio app, 0:01:11.560 --> 0:01:17.080 Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. If you 0:01:17.120 --> 0:01:20.840 went into the Gucci store and bought a handbag. You 0:01:20.840 --> 0:01:24.039 wouldn't ask the salesperson is this a real Gucci? You know, 0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:26.280 you would take that as a sort of given fact. 0:01:26.840 --> 0:01:29.800 So the fact that Nodler, you know, was the oldest 0:01:29.840 --> 0:01:32.080 gallery in the city. It was a hundred and sixty 0:01:32.120 --> 0:01:35.520 five years old. It had worked with these artists in 0:01:35.560 --> 0:01:38.399 their lifetimes, and if you wanted to buy an abstract 0:01:38.400 --> 0:01:41.400 expressionist painting, that's kind of the place you would go 0:01:41.680 --> 0:01:45.200 to do that. By the mid two thousand's, Carlos and 0:01:45.720 --> 0:01:50.200 as forgery scheme was raking in enormous profits, and yet 0:01:50.640 --> 0:01:56.640 Era was miserable. Later, she told a federal judge that 0:01:56.720 --> 0:02:00.520 Carlos beat her frequently, once going so are as to 0:02:00.560 --> 0:02:04.160 break her nose. The beatings, she claimed, were to keep 0:02:04.160 --> 0:02:08.080 her from bailing out of the family art business. Quitting 0:02:08.440 --> 0:02:12.480 wasn't an option. Carlos warned that if she left, he 0:02:12.520 --> 0:02:15.480 would kidnap their daughters solely and take her to Spain, 0:02:15.960 --> 0:02:24.239 and Glyphra would never see her again. Ironically, gas relationship 0:02:24.280 --> 0:02:31.520 with Ann Friedman was blossoming. Rosalees demanded and received higher 0:02:31.600 --> 0:02:34.640 fees from Knobler as the fake paintings continued to sell 0:02:35.000 --> 0:02:40.160 for exorbitant prices. Ultimately, GPA would rake in more than 0:02:40.200 --> 0:02:46.520 twenty million dollars in her fourteen year forgery career. With 0:02:46.680 --> 0:02:50.880 that money came a commensurate lifestyle. In two thousand five, 0:02:51.320 --> 0:02:56.000 Carlos and Gpa bought an enormous square foot house in 0:02:56.040 --> 0:02:59.200 the North Shore neighborhood of Sam's Point on Long Island's 0:02:59.280 --> 0:03:03.440 Gold Coast. The Mediterranean style home came with a two 0:03:03.480 --> 0:03:07.040 point three million dollar price tag, quite a property for 0:03:07.120 --> 0:03:12.520 a local art dealer and her seemingly unemployed partner. Friends 0:03:12.520 --> 0:03:16.520 and neighbors found the home beautiful and impressively furnished, but 0:03:16.639 --> 0:03:20.040 not without its quirks. The odd thing about it was 0:03:20.080 --> 0:03:23.360 they were paintings everywhere, and not just hung on the 0:03:23.400 --> 0:03:26.840 walls either. One time we went over to pick up 0:03:26.840 --> 0:03:29.200 the kids, my wife and I were in the house 0:03:30.080 --> 0:03:32.360 and we were kind of blown away by the art 0:03:32.440 --> 0:03:35.520 that we saw in the house, because, you know, Glafire 0:03:35.560 --> 0:03:38.880 always had the appearance of being successful. My name is 0:03:38.880 --> 0:03:42.280 Brian Scarlatto's I'm an attorney with Costellans and Fink in 0:03:42.320 --> 0:03:46.760 New York City, and I specialized in criminal tax investigations 0:03:46.760 --> 0:03:50.960 and prosecutions. Brian was a family friend of Cfia and 0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:55.480 Carlos and Sam's point, their children attended the same school. Later, 0:03:55.600 --> 0:03:59.800 when Golf's legal troubles began, she retained Brian as her attorney. 0:04:00.960 --> 0:04:03.200 We knew she had a gallery in New York, but 0:04:03.280 --> 0:04:05.760 when we went into the house, you know, we recognized 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:09.320 several pieces that that we knew. There were warholes. I 0:04:09.360 --> 0:04:12.120 believe there was a Picasso, there was a Rothco, and 0:04:12.200 --> 0:04:15.280 others like that. And as I said, there was also 0:04:15.440 --> 0:04:18.640 very interesting furniture, and there was just so much art 0:04:18.760 --> 0:04:21.080 that some of it was leaned up against the wall 0:04:21.600 --> 0:04:24.080 because there wasn't enough room to hang it all on 0:04:24.120 --> 0:04:26.640 the walls. And you know, my wife and I think 0:04:26.680 --> 0:04:29.479 just assumed that they were using their art as storage 0:04:29.520 --> 0:04:32.080 for their gallery. But when you go into somebody's house 0:04:32.080 --> 0:04:34.200 and you see warholes in a Picasso and a Rothco 0:04:34.279 --> 0:04:36.760 and other things that you recognize, it's it's sort of, 0:04:37.080 --> 0:04:40.680 you know, overwhelming. You know, it was also casual. I 0:04:40.720 --> 0:04:42.960 remember remarking to my wife on the way out that 0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:46.120 you know, oh my god, they have this this little dog, Rocky, 0:04:46.160 --> 0:04:48.359 who was running around embarking. And I remember saying to 0:04:48.400 --> 0:04:50.960 my wife, what if Rocky were to pee on a Picasso. 0:04:51.160 --> 0:04:54.760 I mean it just and it seemed like it could happen, because, 0:04:54.920 --> 0:04:57.280 as I say, things were just stacked up against the wall. 0:04:57.560 --> 0:05:00.719 They were always very elegantly dressed, you know, nice cars, 0:05:00.760 --> 0:05:02.880 in a very nice house, and they seemed to travel 0:05:02.920 --> 0:05:05.920 the world, and they also knew a lot about art. 0:05:06.120 --> 0:05:08.320 And so they were my friends who were the art 0:05:08.360 --> 0:05:14.920 dealers and had a gallery. And Friedman was also living 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:19.800 the good life. Ndler was trafficking almost exclusively in the 0:05:19.880 --> 0:05:23.560 David Herbert collection of fake Rothko's, to Coonings and pollocks, 0:05:24.400 --> 0:05:27.080 and had a knack for reaching out to buyers that 0:05:27.200 --> 0:05:32.479 were exceedingly wealthy but not necessarily well informed. Domenico and 0:05:32.560 --> 0:05:35.400 Eleanor de Sole walked into the Ndler in late two 0:05:35.440 --> 0:05:39.640 thousand four in search of a Shawn Scully painting. Scully 0:05:39.720 --> 0:05:44.880 was a contemporary abstract artist. The Soules, profond of Domenico Disle, 0:05:45.160 --> 0:05:48.920 was just stepping down as president and CEO of Gucci 0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:52.520 and was becoming designer Tom Ford's partner in a new 0:05:52.560 --> 0:05:56.200 fashion company. The Soles had an ocean front home in 0:05:56.320 --> 0:05:59.600 Hilton Head, South Carolina, and needed art to hang on 0:05:59.640 --> 0:06:03.480 its walls and didn't have a Shawn Scully painting to 0:06:03.520 --> 0:06:07.560 sell them. She did, however, have an amazing Mark Rothko, 0:06:09.160 --> 0:06:12.640 as she had done so many times before, and enchanted 0:06:12.640 --> 0:06:15.360 her prospective buyers with the story of the ex family, 0:06:15.800 --> 0:06:19.160 David Herbert and the marvelous downtown art world of the 0:06:19.240 --> 0:06:22.480 nineteen fifties where artists sold works out of the back 0:06:22.520 --> 0:06:27.520 of their studios for cash. The Desoles glowed with excitement. 0:06:28.000 --> 0:06:31.160 They had never paid anywhere close to eight point four 0:06:31.200 --> 0:06:34.719 million dollars for a painting before, but it was a Rothco. 0:06:35.320 --> 0:06:39.080 The very name of the painting, untitled nineteen fifty six, 0:06:39.440 --> 0:06:42.680 evoked images of the troubled artist in his upper East 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:47.279 Side carriage house, working late into the night. Like so 0:06:47.360 --> 0:06:50.440 many other paintings in the David Herbert collection, the work 0:06:50.520 --> 0:06:54.440 was notably smaller than a typical Rothco. Larger ones went 0:06:54.480 --> 0:06:57.880 for tens of millions of dollars. Once again, the painting 0:06:57.920 --> 0:07:01.240 had no real provenance, nor was it in the Rothco 0:07:01.360 --> 0:07:05.000 catalog resume, but Anne said she had no doubt the 0:07:05.080 --> 0:07:08.360 magnificent painting they were gazing at would soar in value 0:07:08.720 --> 0:07:11.400 once it was placed in a future supplement to the 0:07:11.440 --> 0:07:15.920 catalog resume. The eight point four million dollar Rothko was 0:07:15.960 --> 0:07:19.360 sold and hung in the Dosoles hilton Head family home. 0:07:20.080 --> 0:07:23.960 Eleanor later testified that friends would stop by just who 0:07:23.960 --> 0:07:30.840 and ah over it? But what was a Rothko compared 0:07:31.200 --> 0:07:35.240 to a top of the market Pollock. Ever since Anne 0:07:35.240 --> 0:07:37.720 had hit a wall with the Leavey Pollock, she had 0:07:37.720 --> 0:07:41.520 pressed life for another. By two thousand seven she had 0:07:41.560 --> 0:07:45.680 it in hand, a classic drip painting with a silvery cast. 0:07:46.240 --> 0:07:50.040 Fully deserving, Anne thought of the seventeen million dollar price 0:07:50.120 --> 0:07:55.160 tag she attached to it. Through a pair of middleman dealers, 0:07:55.200 --> 0:07:58.440 a transparency of the painting found its way to a 0:07:58.480 --> 0:08:03.280 Belgian born financi or named Pierre Lagrange. La Grange was 0:08:03.320 --> 0:08:06.600 a hedge fund manager, one of the richest men in London. 0:08:07.240 --> 0:08:10.040 He was drawn to the Pollock, but, like Jack Levy, 0:08:10.080 --> 0:08:16.120 he wanted assurances that the painting was authentic. Fortunately, Lagrange 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:19.680 wasn't asking for an official eye far evaluation of the painting. 0:08:20.280 --> 0:08:22.440 He did want to be sure that the Pollock Krasner 0:08:22.520 --> 0:08:26.560 Foundation would authenticate the work. This was a problem for Anne. 0:08:26.760 --> 0:08:30.560 The Pollock Foundation had stopped authenticating any new works purporting 0:08:30.600 --> 0:08:34.720 to be Pollocks. As for the Pollock catalog, resume, its 0:08:34.800 --> 0:08:38.440 last and final supplement, had been released in nineteen ninety four, 0:08:39.280 --> 0:08:41.400 and had the clout to arrange a meeting with the 0:08:41.440 --> 0:08:44.920 Pollock Krausner Foundation lawyers, in part because one of the 0:08:44.960 --> 0:08:48.720 lawyers was also her lawyer. She talked up the painting 0:08:49.120 --> 0:08:53.000 and stressed the importance of updating the entire catalog resumee 0:08:53.120 --> 0:08:56.160 to be reprinted in full color. It was our only 0:08:56.240 --> 0:08:59.959 shot to have the painting added. Officially, the lawyers murmur 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:04.599 and hummed, but the word authentication never quite entered the room. 0:09:04.640 --> 0:09:07.760 Anne had to think fast or risk losing the biggest 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:13.880 sale of her career. On March eighteenth, two thousand seven, 0:09:14.240 --> 0:09:17.480 Anne wrote to Lagranges Camp and told them exactly what 0:09:17.640 --> 0:09:20.520 she thought the English collector wanted to hear. Quote. The 0:09:20.600 --> 0:09:23.960 Poblock Krasner Foundation has stated that they are intending to 0:09:24.080 --> 0:09:28.000 update and republish the catalog resume in full color and 0:09:28.040 --> 0:09:31.920 also in an online version. Every detail of the email 0:09:32.520 --> 0:09:37.720 was a lie. Lagrange and his chief lawyer, Matthew Johnson 0:09:38.040 --> 0:09:42.440 found the email less than persuasive. They wanted reps and warranties, 0:09:42.720 --> 0:09:45.640 as Donson later put it, which was to say legally 0:09:45.679 --> 0:09:49.160 binding language that the painting would be authenticated, and that 0:09:49.280 --> 0:09:55.559 it would appear in the next catalog. Resume Friedman turned indignant. Quote. 0:09:55.800 --> 0:09:59.320 The distrusting and demanding language in this agreement of sale 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:02.880 is not and keeping with the familiar and widely accepted 0:10:02.920 --> 0:10:06.240 standards and practices in the art business, she huffed. In 0:10:06.320 --> 0:10:10.160 her written response, it veers far from the spirit and 0:10:10.280 --> 0:10:14.599 understanding of our original agreement. I have not been confronted 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:17.000 by anything like this in my thirty four years of 0:10:17.040 --> 0:10:21.840 experience as an art dealer. We have given you our word. 0:10:21.960 --> 0:10:26.040 Our invoice is always our legal guarantee, and has previously 0:10:26.120 --> 0:10:28.440 stated if this painting has proved not to be by 0:10:28.440 --> 0:10:31.480 the hand of Pollock, the sale would be canceled, the 0:10:31.520 --> 0:10:34.720 painting return to Ndler, and the full purchase refunded to 0:10:34.840 --> 0:10:39.559 you end quote. The hypocrisy of the letter was breathtaking, 0:10:40.080 --> 0:10:42.880 but Ann's huffing and puffing seemed to do the trick. 0:10:44.080 --> 0:10:48.160 On November six, two thousand seven, Pierre Lagrange completed his 0:10:48.240 --> 0:10:53.400 purchase of the silvery Pollock. The Knodler provided a written 0:10:53.440 --> 0:10:57.360 guarantee that Lagrange's pollock was from a quote private collection 0:10:57.400 --> 0:10:59.880 of the heir to a collector who had obtained it 0:11:00.000 --> 0:11:05.360 directly from Jackson Pollock end quote. The air insisted on anonymity. 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:10.559 With seventeen million dollars rendered, Pierre Lagrange gave his new 0:11:10.600 --> 0:11:14.600 painting a place of honor in his London penthouse, unaware 0:11:14.679 --> 0:11:17.720 that its true value was little more than the canvas 0:11:17.960 --> 0:11:36.839 it was painted on. More art fraud in a minute. Hi, 0:11:36.960 --> 0:11:38.960 this is Bill Clinton, and I hope you'll join us 0:11:39.000 --> 0:11:40.880 on why am I telling you this? And Why am 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:42.560 I telling you this? Why am I telling you this? 0:11:42.640 --> 0:11:45.480 And why am I telling you this? Because it is 0:11:45.559 --> 0:11:49.079 your future on the line, where we'll talk about ideas 0:11:49.080 --> 0:11:52.840 that are improving our world and deserve more attention. After 0:11:52.960 --> 0:11:55.320 years of being interviewed, I'm looking forward to doing the 0:11:55.400 --> 0:11:59.320 interviewing to celebrate people's unique gifts that make life more 0:11:59.400 --> 0:12:04.640 interesting and affirm that our common humanity matters more. Please 0:12:04.720 --> 0:12:06.680 join me on who Am I telling you this? For 0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:09.280 conversations with some of the most fascinating people I know. 0:12:10.360 --> 0:12:13.080 We'll share stories and talk about ideas that deserve more 0:12:13.120 --> 0:12:16.680 attention and why we should be hopeful and optimistic about 0:12:16.679 --> 0:12:19.960 our future. Listen to Why Am I telling You This? 0:12:20.120 --> 0:12:23.360 On the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcasts or wherever 0:12:23.440 --> 0:12:39.160 you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Elizabeth Dutton and I'm 0:12:39.200 --> 0:12:42.720 Elizabeth Dutton. Wait sorry, do you want to see your name? 0:12:42.880 --> 0:12:45.480 I'm good, good, go ahead. We're the hosts of Ridiculous Crime. 0:12:45.760 --> 0:12:49.040 People love true crime, right, the mystery, the intrigue, the 0:12:49.120 --> 0:12:52.000 human frailty totally. But what a lot of us don't 0:12:52.000 --> 0:12:54.880 like is the blood and the guts and the mayheman Wait, wait, wait, wait, 0:12:54.960 --> 0:12:57.840 some of us do like the mayhem. Okay, let's be real, 0:12:58.040 --> 0:13:01.319 there's nothing funny about murder. Okay, that's our show gives 0:13:01.320 --> 0:13:04.600 you stories like the kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Jr. And 0:13:04.600 --> 0:13:07.960 the Max Headrooms signal hijacking. Oh so you mean ridiculous 0:13:08.040 --> 0:13:12.920 stories like the UK cat Shaver and Pablo Escobar's cocaine hippos. Yeah, 0:13:13.040 --> 0:13:15.960 stories like the dudes who stole Buzzy, the animatronic whatever 0:13:15.960 --> 0:13:18.319 he was from Disney World, and the woman whose husband 0:13:18.360 --> 0:13:19.960 tried to kill her but came back from the dead 0:13:20.040 --> 0:13:22.600 and surprised him at her own funeral. Yeah, that does 0:13:22.640 --> 0:13:25.760 sound good. You can find this new podcast, Ridiculous Crime 0:13:26.040 --> 0:13:28.560 all over the place, the I Heart Radio app, the 0:13:28.600 --> 0:13:31.480 Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. I don't 0:13:31.480 --> 0:13:36.440 know how you live ridiculous crime. What grows in the 0:13:36.520 --> 0:13:40.280 forest trees? Sure? No? What else grows in the forest, 0:13:40.520 --> 0:13:44.440 Our imagination, our sense of wonder, and our family bonds 0:13:44.520 --> 0:13:50.040 grow too, because when we disconnect from this and connect 0:13:50.080 --> 0:13:54.720 with this, we reconnect with each other. The forest is 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:57.760 closer than you think. Find a forest near you and 0:13:57.800 --> 0:14:01.120 start exploring. I discover the forest. Do orc Brought to 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:04.200 you by the United States Fourth Therapist and the AD Council. 0:14:05.800 --> 0:14:09.160 Around the same time, Pierre Lagrange was acquiring his seven 0:14:09.200 --> 0:14:13.679 figure Pollock Glafia, Rosalie's success was perhaps going to her head. 0:14:14.840 --> 0:14:17.840 An opportunity for new business came up when her old 0:14:17.960 --> 0:14:22.840 friend Heimi Andrade introduced Cfia to an ex notler dealer 0:14:23.040 --> 0:14:28.080 named Julian Weissman. Rosalez spoke to Wiseman about potentially cutting 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:32.040 ties with Ann Friedman. She wanted a new start, she said. 0:14:32.560 --> 0:14:35.760 As a show of good faith, she consigned three Robert 0:14:35.800 --> 0:14:39.200 Motherwell paintings to Wiseman's gallery, who works were said to 0:14:39.200 --> 0:14:43.240 be from Motherwell's Elegy to the Spanish Republic series. The 0:14:43.320 --> 0:14:46.480 third painting from the series was ultimately sold by Wiseman 0:14:46.560 --> 0:14:49.640 for six hundred and fifty thousand dollars to Mark blonde, 0:14:50.160 --> 0:14:55.400 director of the Irish Kalila Gallery. Blondeau, like Lagrange, wanted 0:14:55.440 --> 0:14:59.920 authentication and he got it. Jack Flamm and Morgan Spangler, 0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:03.520 co directors of the Motherwell Foundation known as the Dadalus, 0:15:04.120 --> 0:15:07.960 spent hours poring over the Blondo Motherwell. Its lack of 0:15:07.960 --> 0:15:11.720 provenance bothered them, but they fell obligated to authenticate it. 0:15:12.200 --> 0:15:19.280 The painting was just that good. Flam and Spangler spent 0:15:19.360 --> 0:15:23.760 the rest of two thousand seven finishing Motherwell's catalog Resimee. 0:15:24.600 --> 0:15:28.720 As they did, they noticed a troubling trend more Spanish 0:15:28.760 --> 0:15:34.200 elegy paintings without provenance. There were seven in all, including 0:15:34.200 --> 0:15:37.200 the one now owned by the Khalila Gallery. To the 0:15:37.240 --> 0:15:41.400 foundation's dismay, four of the seven paintings were being sold 0:15:41.400 --> 0:15:45.800 by the Knodler Gallery. Jack Flam insisted that all seven 0:15:45.840 --> 0:15:49.960 Spanish elegy paintings be shown together at the Knodler and 0:15:50.280 --> 0:15:53.360 resisted as long as she could, but ultimately she caved 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:59.360 and agreed. The Spanish elegies were spectacular, but curiously, they 0:15:59.360 --> 0:16:03.680 were all mind exactly the same way. This was strange 0:16:04.040 --> 0:16:06.440 for a painter who was known to vary his signature. 0:16:06.640 --> 0:16:10.440 From picture to picture, three of the paintings had gone 0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:14.080 from Glafira to Weissman, indicating that Rosalis had played her 0:16:14.120 --> 0:16:18.960 side game. Likely to ann Friedman's surprise, now and admitted 0:16:19.000 --> 0:16:22.600 the obvious. All seven paintings had come from the same 0:16:22.640 --> 0:16:26.600 source for the moment, she refused to say who that source. 0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:35.840 Was alarmed, the Dadalus Foundation demanded Ndler higher a widely 0:16:35.880 --> 0:16:39.880 respected forensic art expert named Jamie Martin, to test two 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:45.240 of the disputed Spanish Elegy paintings. Martin also tested genuine 0:16:45.280 --> 0:16:50.320 Motherwell paintings for comparison's sake. What Jamie Martin would do 0:16:50.440 --> 0:16:54.359 is he will take a painting and he will investigate 0:16:54.400 --> 0:16:56.720 all the aspects of the paint, from the frame to 0:16:56.840 --> 0:17:00.880 the paints that are used. That's Jason Hernandez, Assistant District 0:17:00.880 --> 0:17:03.720 Attorney to New York Second District, and the course of 0:17:03.800 --> 0:17:07.760 his criminal investigation, Jason gleaned a wealth of knowledge about 0:17:07.760 --> 0:17:12.040 the forensic testing process. He'll take an incredibly small slice 0:17:12.080 --> 0:17:14.560 of the paint. He'll investigate the dust that's in the 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:18.280 crevices and the cracks of the paint, and he will determine, 0:17:18.359 --> 0:17:21.600 you know what the composition of those materials are. He 0:17:21.640 --> 0:17:24.679 will look for what he calls anomalies, meaning things that 0:17:24.760 --> 0:17:27.000 shouldn't be there. And I'll give you a very very 0:17:27.040 --> 0:17:30.320 simple example. I think it was the DuPont Corporation at 0:17:30.359 --> 0:17:35.520 some point patented titanium dioxide, which really makes whites really white. 0:17:35.720 --> 0:17:38.200 It was patented sometime and I don't know the seventies 0:17:38.240 --> 0:17:40.320 I'm going to call it. But what that means is 0:17:40.400 --> 0:17:43.520 that if I present to you a Pollock painting and 0:17:43.520 --> 0:17:46.600 it has titanium dioxide in it, we have a problem, 0:17:46.680 --> 0:17:50.680 because Jackson Pollock was dead before titanium dioxide was discovered 0:17:50.680 --> 0:18:01.119 and patented. Jamie Martin's report was devastating if found that 0:18:01.240 --> 0:18:04.520 a red pigment in one of these Spanish elegies hadn't 0:18:04.560 --> 0:18:07.720 existed until years after the paintings were said to be made. 0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:13.200 All seven of the Spanish elegies were immediately scrapped from 0:18:13.200 --> 0:18:18.880 the upcoming Motherwell catalog Resone. The Kalila gallerby sued the Daedalist, 0:18:19.240 --> 0:18:22.840 The Dadalist sued Weissman, the dealer. In the end, all 0:18:22.960 --> 0:18:26.840 parties settled with money changing hands and the Kalila's painting 0:18:26.880 --> 0:18:33.440 branded on its verso as a forgery. One day, while 0:18:33.520 --> 0:18:37.119 Jamie Martin was studying the Spanish elegies, Jack Flam had 0:18:37.119 --> 0:18:40.600 a memorable talk with Ann Friedman. She said, I don't 0:18:40.600 --> 0:18:43.440 want to get Michael Hammer involved in this. He's very lititious. 0:18:43.560 --> 0:18:49.040 Flam later recalled, despite her wish to keep the Spanish 0:18:49.080 --> 0:18:52.959 elegy debacle off her boss's desk, Friedman and Hammer had 0:18:52.960 --> 0:18:56.920 forged an alliance right from the start, As a lawsuit 0:18:56.920 --> 0:18:59.440 would later allege, Anne had kept her boss in the 0:18:59.480 --> 0:19:03.399 loop the sales of Rosales's paintings from the beginning. She 0:19:03.480 --> 0:19:05.800 sent Hammer short write ups of every new painting that 0:19:05.880 --> 0:19:09.040 came in. The writeups detailed how much the gallery paid 0:19:09.280 --> 0:19:12.600 fear for each picture wholesale and how much Ndler had 0:19:12.600 --> 0:19:16.560 sold them for retail to its customers. And yet years 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:20.480 later Anne felt afraid of Michael Hammer enough to worry 0:19:20.520 --> 0:19:23.560 he might sue her. It seemed as if each partner 0:19:23.560 --> 0:19:27.639 still kept some secrets from the other. From the start, 0:19:28.080 --> 0:19:31.760 Knoedler's owner, Michael Hammer had kept all but invisible in 0:19:31.840 --> 0:19:36.280 his spacious office at the gallery. Staffers rarely saw him, 0:19:36.320 --> 0:19:38.480 and when they did, it was hard not to be 0:19:38.560 --> 0:19:42.200 distracted by his artificial tan and a wardrobe that could 0:19:42.320 --> 0:19:48.360 charitably be described as extravagance. Hammers roughly two dozen vintage cars, 0:19:48.760 --> 0:19:52.480 some worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, only underscore the 0:19:52.520 --> 0:19:55.760 sense that here was a man of almost unimaginable wealth, 0:19:56.280 --> 0:20:01.399 free to do as he wished. By the fall of 0:20:01.400 --> 0:20:05.280 two thousand nine, news of the fake Spanish Elegy paintings 0:20:05.520 --> 0:20:08.399 had reached the prosecutor's office in the Second District of 0:20:08.440 --> 0:20:14.919 New York. Investigators were now sifting through Ann Friedman's seventeen 0:20:15.000 --> 0:20:19.440 years as head of the Ndler Gallery. Any hopes and 0:20:19.720 --> 0:20:23.040 had of keeping Michael Hammer out of the loop were dashed. 0:20:23.840 --> 0:20:27.679 Seeing law enforcement walk through the doors had jolted Hammer 0:20:27.720 --> 0:20:33.119 to his core. That October, he terminated Ann Friedman's employment 0:20:33.119 --> 0:20:37.480 from the Ndler Gallery. Her feet barely touched the floor 0:20:38.040 --> 0:20:41.080 as security guards swept her through the gallery and out 0:20:41.119 --> 0:20:47.880 the front doors under the Royal blue awning and was finished. 0:20:54.359 --> 0:20:59.280 We'll be back after this. Adoption of teams from Foster 0:20:59.320 --> 0:21:01.560 Care is a townfect not enough people know about, and 0:21:01.600 --> 0:21:04.280 we're here to change that. I'm April Dinuity, host of 0:21:04.320 --> 0:21:08.200 the new podcast Navigating Adoption, presented by adopt Us Kids. 0:21:08.320 --> 0:21:12.080 Each episode brings you compelling, real life adoption stories told 0:21:12.080 --> 0:21:14.640 by the families that lived them, with commentary from experts. 0:21:15.040 --> 0:21:18.720 Visit adopt us Kids dot org, slash podcast, or subscribe 0:21:18.760 --> 0:21:22.119 to Navigating Adoption, presented by adopt Us Kids, brought to 0:21:22.160 --> 0:21:24.200 you by the U S Department of Health and Human Services, 0:21:24.240 --> 0:21:27.920 Administration for Children and Families, and the ACT Council. If 0:21:27.960 --> 0:21:31.720 you love true crime podcasts, you need to check out 0:21:31.840 --> 0:21:37.080 True Crime Obsessed. Each week, hosts Patrick and Jillian recap 0:21:37.080 --> 0:21:40.479 a true crime documentary everyone is talking about, and they 0:21:40.520 --> 0:21:43.480 do it with humor, heart and just the right amount 0:21:43.520 --> 0:21:46.159 of sass. When you go camping, you either find the 0:21:46.200 --> 0:21:49.520 skull or you become the skull. That's the role. Patrick 0:21:49.560 --> 0:21:52.800 and Jillian have covered everything from the Ted Bundy tapes 0:21:52.880 --> 0:21:56.080 to Lula Rich, with plenty of art heists in between. 0:21:56.600 --> 0:22:00.800 With over one hundred million downloads and third prety thousand 0:22:00.880 --> 0:22:05.040 five star reviews on Apple Podcasts, true Crime Obsessed is 0:22:05.080 --> 0:22:08.480 one of the most popular true crime podcasts in the world. 0:22:09.040 --> 0:22:16.000 Find True Crime Obsessed wherever you listen. From Cavalry Audio, 0:22:16.440 --> 0:22:19.040 the studio that brought you The Devil Within and The 0:22:19.080 --> 0:22:23.760 Shadow Girls, comes a new true crime podcast, The Pink 0:22:23.880 --> 0:22:27.280 Moon murders. The local sheriff believes there may be more 0:22:27.480 --> 0:22:30.320 than one killery. It's been four days since those bodies 0:22:30.320 --> 0:22:32.840 were found and there's no arrest as it this morning. 0:22:32.880 --> 0:22:34.840 They were afraid it's face it out in that area, 0:22:35.160 --> 0:22:37.359 what if they come back or whatever. It scared me 0:22:37.400 --> 0:22:39.880 to death, like it scared me, I was very, very 0:22:39.880 --> 0:22:42.600 intimidating to live here. Crazy to think you go to 0:22:42.640 --> 0:22:45.320 sleep one night, maybe snuggling with your loved one and 0:22:45.440 --> 0:22:47.359 never wake up, or maybe you wake up in a 0:22:47.400 --> 0:22:50.440 struggle for your life, which you lose. Joint host David 0:22:50.520 --> 0:22:54.040 Raderman as he explores one fateful night when evil descended 0:22:54.119 --> 0:22:57.760 upon small town, Ohio, killed eight members of an Ohio 0:22:57.880 --> 0:23:01.440 family in a pre planned execution. Family was targeted, most 0:23:01.480 --> 0:23:04.880 of them targeted while they were sleeping. Followed the Pink 0:23:04.920 --> 0:23:08.480 Moon murders on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts 0:23:08.960 --> 0:23:15.520 or wherever you get your podcasts. Back in London, Pierre 0:23:15.560 --> 0:23:19.080 Lagrange was having trouble of his own. Just two years 0:23:19.119 --> 0:23:22.560 after buying his seventeen million dollar pollock, he was embarking 0:23:22.560 --> 0:23:25.560 on a divorce. He was advised to sell his recently 0:23:25.560 --> 0:23:28.240 acquired pollock and split the proceeds with his soon to 0:23:28.320 --> 0:23:32.320 be ex wife. Lagrange was shocked to discover that neither 0:23:32.400 --> 0:23:35.840 Southbes nor Christie's would accept the work. After all, the 0:23:35.880 --> 0:23:39.120 Pollock had no provenance, and its surfaced only a few 0:23:39.200 --> 0:23:43.359 years before. David and Pham, one of the world's most 0:23:43.359 --> 0:23:47.200 respected authorities on modern American art, was just as skeptical 0:23:47.440 --> 0:23:50.920 when he personally viewed the painting in Pierre Lagrange's London home. 0:23:52.200 --> 0:23:56.040 It was the ninth of April two thousand and eight 0:23:56.760 --> 0:24:00.800 when I paid a visit and all the whole collection, 0:24:00.920 --> 0:24:05.600 but then suddenly we got to the Pollock. Pierre looked 0:24:05.640 --> 0:24:10.320 at me. I looked at Pierre's advisor, and I think 0:24:10.400 --> 0:24:14.040 I said, what do you think? And I wouldcall very clearly, 0:24:14.160 --> 0:24:20.360 saying well, that has a history. And they were hoping 0:24:20.359 --> 0:24:23.560 for some more words. But I never said the west 0:24:23.680 --> 0:24:28.480 was silence. They were hoping that you would say the 0:24:28.520 --> 0:24:33.600 painting was right. Yes, that's exactly what I did not say. 0:24:37.760 --> 0:24:40.680 La Grange had the distinct feeling he was being toyed with, 0:24:41.280 --> 0:24:46.679 and he was angry. Where was Ann Friedman anyway? News 0:24:46.760 --> 0:24:49.240 of her firing hadn't yet made its way to La Grange. 0:24:50.080 --> 0:24:52.840 The Knoedler was playing a vanishing game of its own. 0:24:53.720 --> 0:24:57.040 The gallery flat out refused to take back Lagrange's Pollock, 0:24:57.520 --> 0:25:01.040 nor would it be fund his seventeen million dollars. After all, 0:25:01.119 --> 0:25:06.000 the gallery insisted the painting was genuine. Lagrange was seeing 0:25:06.040 --> 0:25:10.639 read he wanted his money, and surfaced in November two 0:25:11.600 --> 0:25:15.040 with an email meant to lower the temperature. Once again, 0:25:15.119 --> 0:25:18.679 she insisted politely but firmly, that Lagrange's Pollock was one 0:25:18.680 --> 0:25:21.679 of several newly discovered works that would be added to 0:25:21.720 --> 0:25:27.800 a revised Pollock catalog. Resimee Ann's timing couldn't have been worse. 0:25:28.280 --> 0:25:30.760 Just one month after her attempt to band aid the 0:25:30.840 --> 0:25:35.600 Lagrange situation with yet another lie, Jackson, Pollock expert Eugene 0:25:35.640 --> 0:25:40.120 Thaw shocked the art world with a declaration of seismic proportions. 0:25:41.200 --> 0:25:46.320 Thaw declared that Legrange's silvery Pollock looked not right to him. 0:25:46.520 --> 0:25:48.480 Thaw was in poor health and he wanted to be 0:25:48.520 --> 0:25:51.640 sure his judgment was made clear, so in early two 0:25:51.640 --> 0:25:55.640 thousand eleven, he repeated his claim in a videotaped Affidavid. 0:25:56.240 --> 0:25:59.960 The painting looked fake to him, Thal said, AND's email 0:26:00.320 --> 0:26:07.360 was immediately and entirely invalidated. It was now February two eleven. 0:26:08.040 --> 0:26:11.120 Pierre Lagrange still had no interest in meeting Ann Friedman, 0:26:11.720 --> 0:26:14.320 but word was that a grand jury was convening to 0:26:14.359 --> 0:26:18.760 consider charges stemming from the fake Spanish elegies, and Anne 0:26:18.760 --> 0:26:24.440 was said to be a subject of interest. Lagrange decided 0:26:24.440 --> 0:26:28.119 he would meet with her after all, and suggested the 0:26:28.240 --> 0:26:32.000