1 00:00:01,160 --> 00:00:04,439 Speaker 1: If you went into the Gucci store and bought a handbag, 2 00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:08,080 Speaker 1: you wouldn't ask the salesperson is this a real Gucci? 3 00:00:08,240 --> 00:00:09,720 Speaker 1: You know, you would take that as a sort of 4 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:13,480 Speaker 1: given fact. So the fact that Noodler, you know, was 5 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:15,920 Speaker 1: the oldest gallery in the city. It was a hundred 6 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:19,239 Speaker 1: and sixty five years old. It had worked with these 7 00:00:19,360 --> 00:00:21,919 Speaker 1: artists in their lifetimes, and if you wanted to buy 8 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:25,279 Speaker 1: an abstract expressionist painting, that's kind of the place you 9 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:28,960 Speaker 1: would go to do that. By the mid two thousand's, 10 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:33,640 Speaker 1: Carlos and Glyphs forgery scheme was raking in enormous profits, 11 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:40,440 Speaker 1: and yet Glyphra was miserable. Later, she told a federal 12 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:44,480 Speaker 1: judge that Carlos beat her frequently, once going so far 13 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:48,120 Speaker 1: as to break her nose. The beatings, she claimed, were 14 00:00:48,159 --> 00:00:51,279 Speaker 1: to keep her from bailing out of the family art business. 15 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:56,240 Speaker 1: Quitting wasn't an option. Carlos warned that if she left, 16 00:00:56,760 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 1: he would kidnap their daughters solely and take her to Spain, 17 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:07,959 Speaker 1: and glyph Era would never see her again. Ironically, GPS 18 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:14,920 Speaker 1: relationship with Ann Friedman was blossoming. Rosalies demanded and received 19 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:18,640 Speaker 1: higher fees from Ndler as the fake paintings continued to 20 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:24,360 Speaker 1: sell for exorbitant prices. Ultimately, Gla would rake in more 21 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:28,160 Speaker 1: than twenty million dollars in her fourteen year forgery career. 22 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:35,240 Speaker 1: With that money came a commensurate lifestyle. In two thousand five, 23 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:40,319 Speaker 1: Carlos and A bought an enormous square foot house in 24 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:43,600 Speaker 1: the North Shore neighborhood of Sam's Point on Long Island's 25 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:47,800 Speaker 1: Gold Coast. The Mediterranean style home came with a two 26 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:51,400 Speaker 1: point three million dollar price tag, quite a property for 27 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 1: a local art dealer and her seemingly unemployed partner. Friends 28 00:01:56,880 --> 00:02:00,880 Speaker 1: and neighbors found the home beautiful and impressively furnished, but 29 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:04,400 Speaker 1: not without its quirks. The odd thing about it was 30 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:07,720 Speaker 1: they were paintings everywhere, and not just hung on the 31 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:11,160 Speaker 1: walls either. One time we went over to pick up 32 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:13,560 Speaker 1: the kids, my wife and I were in the house 33 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:16,720 Speaker 1: and we were kind of blown away by the art 34 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:19,880 Speaker 1: that we saw in the house, because, you know, Glaire 35 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:23,200 Speaker 1: always had the appearance of being successful. My name is 36 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:26,640 Speaker 1: Brian Scarlatto's I'm an attorney with Costellans and Fink in 37 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:31,079 Speaker 1: New York City, and I specialized in criminal texts, investigations 38 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:35,320 Speaker 1: and prosecutions. Brian was a family friend of Cfia and 39 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 1: Carlos and Sand's point, their children attended the same school. Later, 40 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:44,160 Speaker 1: when Cpia's legal troubles began, she retained Brian as her attorney. 41 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:47,520 Speaker 1: We knew she had a gallery in New York, but 42 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:50,119 Speaker 1: when we went into the house, you know, we recognized 43 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:53,680 Speaker 1: several pieces that we knew there were war holes. I 44 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:56,440 Speaker 1: believe there was a Picasso, there was a Rothco, and 45 00:02:56,520 --> 00:02:59,600 Speaker 1: others like that. And as I said, there was also 46 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:02,960 Speaker 1: very interesting furniture, and there was just so much art 47 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:05,440 Speaker 1: that some of it was leaned up against the wall 48 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:08,440 Speaker 1: because there wasn't enough room to hang it all on 49 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:11,000 Speaker 1: the walls. And you know, my wife and I think 50 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:13,840 Speaker 1: just assumed that they were using their art as storage 51 00:03:13,840 --> 00:03:16,440 Speaker 1: for their gallery. But when you go into somebody's house 52 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:18,560 Speaker 1: and you see warholes in a Picasso and a Rothco 53 00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:21,120 Speaker 1: and other things that you recognize, it's it's sort of, 54 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:25,040 Speaker 1: you know, overwhelming. You know, it was also casual. I 55 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:27,320 Speaker 1: remember remarking to my wife on the way out that 56 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:30,320 Speaker 1: you know, oh my god, they have this this little dog, Rocky, 57 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:32,720 Speaker 1: who was running around embarking. And I remember saying to 58 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:35,280 Speaker 1: my wife, what if Rocky were to pee on a Picasso. 59 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:39,120 Speaker 1: I mean it just and it seemed like it could happen, because, 60 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:41,640 Speaker 1: as I say, things were just stacked up against the wall. 61 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:44,720 Speaker 1: They were always very elegantly dressed, you know, had nice 62 00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:46,840 Speaker 1: cars in a very nice house, and they seemed to 63 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:50,280 Speaker 1: travel the world, and they also knew a lot about art. 64 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:52,680 Speaker 1: And so they were my friends who were the art 65 00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:59,240 Speaker 1: dealers and had a gallery. And Friedman was also living 66 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 1: the good life. Ndler was trafficking almost exclusively in the 67 00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:07,920 Speaker 1: David Herbert collection of fake Rothko's, de coonings and pollocks. 68 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:11,440 Speaker 1: Anne had a knack for reaching out to buyers that 69 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:16,839 Speaker 1: were exceedingly wealthy but not necessarily well informed. Domenico and 70 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:19,800 Speaker 1: Eleanor de Sole walked into the Knodler in late two 71 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:24,000 Speaker 1: thousand four in search of a Shawn Scully painting. Scully 72 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 1: was a contemporary abstract artist. The De Soules were fond of. 73 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:31,560 Speaker 1: Domenico De Sole was just stepping down as president and 74 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:36,120 Speaker 1: CEO of Gucci and was becoming designer Tom Ford's partner 75 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:39,920 Speaker 1: in a new fashion company. The Desules had an ocean 76 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:43,320 Speaker 1: front home in Hilton Head, South Carolina, and needed art 77 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:46,880 Speaker 1: to hang on its walls, and didn't have a Shawn 78 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:50,320 Speaker 1: Scully painting to sell them. She did, however, have an 79 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:55,599 Speaker 1: amazing Mark Rothko, as she had done so many times before, 80 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:59,000 Speaker 1: an enchanted her prospective buyers with the story of the 81 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:03,359 Speaker 1: ex family, David Herbert and the marvelous downtown art world 82 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:06,479 Speaker 1: of the nineteen fifties where artists sold works out of 83 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:11,080 Speaker 1: the back of their studios for cash. The Desoles glowed 84 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:14,920 Speaker 1: with excitement. They had never paid anywhere close to eight 85 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:18,240 Speaker 1: point four million dollars for a painting before, but it 86 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:22,200 Speaker 1: was a Rothco. The very name of the painting, untitled 87 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:26,320 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty six, evoked images of the troubled artist in 88 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:29,800 Speaker 1: his upper east Side carriage house, working late into the night. 89 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:34,039 Speaker 1: Like so many other paintings in the David Herbert collection, 90 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:38,280 Speaker 1: the work was notably smaller than a typical Rothco. Larger 91 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:41,679 Speaker 1: ones went for tens of millions of dollars. Once again, 92 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:45,040 Speaker 1: the painting had no real provenance, nor was it in 93 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:48,880 Speaker 1: the Rothco catalog resume, but Anne said she had no 94 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:52,039 Speaker 1: doubt the magnificent painting they were gazing at, which soar 95 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:55,160 Speaker 1: in value once it was placed in a future supplement 96 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:59,480 Speaker 1: to the catalog resume. The eight point four million dollar 97 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:03,039 Speaker 1: rothco was sold and hung in the Dosoles hilton Head 98 00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:07,480 Speaker 1: family home. Eleanor later testified that friends would stop by 99 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:14,039 Speaker 1: just who and a over it. But what was a 100 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:17,160 Speaker 1: roth Cooke compared to a top of the market Pollock. 101 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:21,440 Speaker 1: Ever since Anne had hit a wall with the Leavy Pollock, 102 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:25,440 Speaker 1: she had pressed life for another. By two thousand seven 103 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:28,919 Speaker 1: she had it in hand, a classic drip painting with 104 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:33,320 Speaker 1: a silvery cast. Fully deserving, Anne thought of the seventeen 105 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:37,440 Speaker 1: million dollar price tag she attached to it. Through a 106 00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:42,080 Speaker 1: pair of middleman dealers, a transparency of the painting found 107 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:46,000 Speaker 1: its way to a Belgian born financier named Pierre Lagrange. 108 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:49,640 Speaker 1: The Grange was a hedge fund manager, one of the 109 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:53,359 Speaker 1: richest men in London. He was drawn to the Pollock, but, 110 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:59,800 Speaker 1: like Jack Levy, he wanted assurances that the painting was authentic. Fortunately, 111 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:03,560 Speaker 1: Lagrange wasn't asking for an official eye far evaluation of 112 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:05,880 Speaker 1: the painting. He did want to be sure that the 113 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:09,880 Speaker 1: Pollock Krasner Foundation would authenticate the work. This was a 114 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:13,880 Speaker 1: problem for Anne. The Pollock Foundation had stopped authenticating any 115 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:17,200 Speaker 1: new works purporting to be Pollocks. As for the Pollock 116 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:21,280 Speaker 1: Catalog Resume, its last and final supplement, had been released 117 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:25,120 Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety four. Anne had the clout to arrange 118 00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:28,600 Speaker 1: a meeting with the Pollock Krausner Foundation lawyers, in part 119 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:32,000 Speaker 1: because one of the lawyers was also her lawyer. She 120 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:35,280 Speaker 1: talked up the painting and stressed the importance of updating 121 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:39,040 Speaker 1: the entire catalog resume to be reprinted in full color. 122 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:42,800 Speaker 1: It was our only shot to have the painting added. Officially, 123 00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:47,080 Speaker 1: the lawyers murmured and hummed, but the word authentication never 124 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:50,680 Speaker 1: quite entered the room. Anne had to think fast or 125 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:57,160 Speaker 1: risk losing the biggest sale of her career. On March eighteenth, 126 00:07:57,200 --> 00:08:01,160 Speaker 1: two thousand seven, Anne rode to Lagrangees camp and told 127 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:03,640 Speaker 1: them exactly what she thought the English collector wanted to 128 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:07,520 Speaker 1: hear quote. The Pollock Krasner Foundation has stated that they 129 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:11,280 Speaker 1: are intending to update and republish the catalog resume in 130 00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:15,480 Speaker 1: full color and also in an online version. Every detail 131 00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:20,880 Speaker 1: of the email was a lie. Lagrange and his chief lawyer, 132 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:25,560 Speaker 1: Matthew Johnson found the email less than persuasive. They wanted 133 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:29,160 Speaker 1: reps and warranties, as Donson later put it, which was 134 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:32,080 Speaker 1: to say legally binding language that the painting would be 135 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:35,360 Speaker 1: authenticated and that it would appear in the next catalog. 136 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:42,560 Speaker 1: Resume Friedman turned indignant. Quote. The distrusting and demanding language 137 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:45,000 Speaker 1: in this agreement of sale is not in keeping with 138 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:48,640 Speaker 1: the familiar and widely accepted standards and practices in the 139 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:52,960 Speaker 1: art business, she huffed. In her written response, it veers 140 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:56,920 Speaker 1: far from the spirit and understanding of our original agreement. 141 00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:00,120 Speaker 1: I have not been confronted by anything like this in 142 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:03,080 Speaker 1: my thirty four years of experience as an art dealer. 143 00:09:04,679 --> 00:09:07,760 Speaker 1: We have given you our word. Our invoice is always 144 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:11,640 Speaker 1: our legal guarantee, and has previously stated if this painting 145 00:09:11,679 --> 00:09:13,640 Speaker 1: has proved not to be by the hand of Pollock, 146 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:17,240 Speaker 1: the sale would be canceled, to painting return to Knodler 147 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:21,520 Speaker 1: and the full purchase refunded to you end quote. The 148 00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:25,600 Speaker 1: hypocrisy of the letter was breathtaking, but Ann's huffing and 149 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:29,719 Speaker 1: puffing seemed to do the trick. On November six, two 150 00:09:29,760 --> 00:09:34,560 Speaker 1: thousand seven, Pierre Lagrange completed his purchase of the silvery Pollock. 151 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:40,120 Speaker 1: The Knodler provided a written guarantee that Lagrange's pollock was 152 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:42,560 Speaker 1: from a quote private collection of the heir to a 153 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:46,640 Speaker 1: collector who had obtained it directly from Jackson Pollock. End quote. 154 00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:52,760 Speaker 1: The air insisted on anonymity. With seventeen million dollars rendered, 155 00:09:53,240 --> 00:09:56,280 Speaker 1: Pierre Lagrange gave his new painting a place of honor 156 00:09:56,600 --> 00:10:00,439 Speaker 1: in his London penthouse, unaware that its true value it 157 00:10:00,559 --> 00:10:03,079 Speaker 1: was little more than the canvas it was painted on. 158 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:21,960 Speaker 1: More art fraud in a minute. Around the same time 159 00:10:22,040 --> 00:10:26,560 Speaker 1: Pierre Lagrange was acquiring his seven figure Pollock Glafia, Rosalie's 160 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:30,800 Speaker 1: success was perhaps going to her head. An opportunity for 161 00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:34,480 Speaker 1: new business came up when her old friend Heimi Andrade 162 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:39,439 Speaker 1: introduced Gfia to an ex notler dealer named Julian Weissman. 163 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:44,600 Speaker 1: Rosale spoke to Weiseman about potentially cutting ties with ann Friedman. 164 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:48,040 Speaker 1: She wanted a new start, she said. As a show 165 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:51,679 Speaker 1: of good faith, she consigned three Robert Motherwell paintings to 166 00:10:51,760 --> 00:10:55,160 Speaker 1: Wiseman's gallery, who works were said to be from Motherwell's 167 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:59,160 Speaker 1: Elegy to the Spanish Republic series. The third painting from 168 00:10:59,160 --> 00:11:02,320 Speaker 1: the series ultimately sold by Wiseman for six hundred and 169 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:06,400 Speaker 1: fifty thousand dollars to Mark Blondo, director of the Irish 170 00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:12,600 Speaker 1: Kalila Gallery. Blondeau like Lagrange wanted authentication and he got it. 171 00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:16,600 Speaker 1: Jack Flam and Morgan Spangler, co directors of the Motherwell 172 00:11:16,679 --> 00:11:20,600 Speaker 1: Foundation known as the Dadalist, spent hours poring over the 173 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:24,959 Speaker 1: Blonde Motherwell. Its lack of provenance bothered them, but they 174 00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:28,720 Speaker 1: felt obligated to authenticate it. The painting was just that good. 175 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:35,800 Speaker 1: Flam and Spangler spent the rest of two thousand seven 176 00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:40,880 Speaker 1: finishing Motherwell's catalog resid A. As they did, they noticed 177 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:47,240 Speaker 1: a troubling trend more Spanish elegy paintings without provenance. There 178 00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:50,160 Speaker 1: were seven in all, including the one now owned by 179 00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:54,400 Speaker 1: the Khalila Gallery. To the foundation's dismay, four of the 180 00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:58,920 Speaker 1: seven paintings were being sold by the Knoedler Gallery. Jack 181 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:02,920 Speaker 1: Flam insisted at all seven Spanish elegy paintings be shown 182 00:12:02,960 --> 00:12:06,720 Speaker 1: together at the Knoedler and resisted as long as she could, 183 00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:12,640 Speaker 1: but ultimately she caved and agreed. The Spanish elegies were spectacular, 184 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:16,679 Speaker 1: but curiously, they were all signed exactly the same way. 185 00:12:17,720 --> 00:12:20,240 Speaker 1: This was strange for a painter who was known to 186 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:24,400 Speaker 1: vary his signature from picture to picture. Three of the 187 00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:28,480 Speaker 1: paintings had gone from Gera to Weissman, indicating that Rosalis 188 00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:31,880 Speaker 1: had played her side game, likely to ann Friedman's surprise 189 00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:36,960 Speaker 1: now and admitted the obvious. All seven paintings had come 190 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:40,240 Speaker 1: from the same source for the moment, she refused to 191 00:12:40,280 --> 00:12:49,000 Speaker 1: say who that source. Was Alarmed, the Dadalus Foundation demanded 192 00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:53,680 Speaker 1: Knoedler higher, a widely respected forensic art expert named Jamie Martin, 193 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:58,520 Speaker 1: to test two of the disputed Spanish Elegy paintings. Martin 194 00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:04,240 Speaker 1: also tested genuine when Motherwell paintings for comparison's sake. What 195 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:06,760 Speaker 1: Jamie Martin would do is he will take a painting 196 00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:10,679 Speaker 1: and he will investigate all the aspects of the pain 197 00:13:10,880 --> 00:13:13,720 Speaker 1: from the frame to the paints that are used. That's 198 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:17,760 Speaker 1: Jason Hernandez, Assistant District Attorney to New York Second District, 199 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:21,240 Speaker 1: and the course of his criminal investigation, Jason gleaned a 200 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:25,560 Speaker 1: wealth of knowledge about the forensic testing process. He'll take 201 00:13:25,720 --> 00:13:28,600 Speaker 1: an incredibly small slice of the paint. He will investigate 202 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:30,720 Speaker 1: the dust that's in the crevices and the cracks of 203 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:33,800 Speaker 1: the paint, and he will determine, you know, what the 204 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:37,360 Speaker 1: composition of those materials are. He will look for what 205 00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:40,840 Speaker 1: he calls anomalies, meaning things that shouldn't be there. And 206 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:43,760 Speaker 1: I'll give you a very very simple example. I think 207 00:13:43,800 --> 00:13:47,960 Speaker 1: it was the DuPont Corporation at some point patented titanium dioxide, 208 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:51,959 Speaker 1: which really makes whites really white. It was patented sometime 209 00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:53,880 Speaker 1: and I don't know the seventies I'm going to call it. 210 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:57,040 Speaker 1: But what that means is that if I present to 211 00:13:57,080 --> 00:14:00,040 Speaker 1: you a Pollock painting and it has titanium diox, I 212 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:03,319 Speaker 1: didn't we have a problem because Jackson Pollock was dead 213 00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:13,239 Speaker 1: before titanium dioxide was discovered. And Jamie Martin's report was devastating. 214 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:17,760 Speaker 1: He found that a red pigment in one of these 215 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:21,880 Speaker 1: Spanish elegies hadn't existed until years after the paintings were 216 00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:26,280 Speaker 1: said to be made. All seven of the Spanish elegies 217 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:31,800 Speaker 1: were immediately scrapped from the upcoming Motherwell catalog Resone. The 218 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:36,160 Speaker 1: Kalila Gallerbay sued the Dadalists. The Dadalist sued Weissman, the dealer. 219 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:40,160 Speaker 1: In the end, all parties settled, with money changing hands 220 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:45,400 Speaker 1: and the Kalila's painting branded on its verso as a forgery. 221 00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:50,800 Speaker 1: One day, while Jamie Martin was studying the Spanish elegies, 222 00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:55,040 Speaker 1: Jack Flam had a memorable talk with Ann Friedman. She said, 223 00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:57,280 Speaker 1: I don't want to get Michael Hammer involved in this. 224 00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:03,120 Speaker 1: He's very lititious, Flam later recalled. Despite her wish to 225 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:07,280 Speaker 1: keep the Spanish Elegy debacle off her boss's desk, Friedman 226 00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:09,640 Speaker 1: and Hammer had forged an alliance right from the start, 227 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:13,960 Speaker 1: As a lawsuit would later allege, Anne had kept her 228 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:16,680 Speaker 1: boss in the loop on the sales of Rosales's paintings 229 00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:19,880 Speaker 1: from the beginning. She sent Hammer short write ups of 230 00:15:19,920 --> 00:15:22,920 Speaker 1: every new painting that came in. The writeups detailed how 231 00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:26,520 Speaker 1: much the gallery paid Glofere for each picture wholesale and 232 00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:29,640 Speaker 1: how much Nodler had sold them for retail to its customers. 233 00:15:30,560 --> 00:15:34,160 Speaker 1: And yet years later, Anne felt afraid of Michael Hammer 234 00:15:34,760 --> 00:15:37,800 Speaker 1: enough to worry he might sue her. It seemed as 235 00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:40,240 Speaker 1: if each partner still kept some secrets from the other. 236 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:45,560 Speaker 1: From the start, Knoedler's owner, Michael Hammer had kept all 237 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:49,920 Speaker 1: but invisible in his spacious office at the gallery. Staffers 238 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:53,040 Speaker 1: rarely saw him, and when they did, it was hard 239 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:56,240 Speaker 1: not to be distracted by his artificial tan and a 240 00:15:56,280 --> 00:16:01,800 Speaker 1: wardrobe that could charitably be described as extravagance. Hammers roughly 241 00:16:01,880 --> 00:16:05,840 Speaker 1: two dozen vintage cars, some worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, 242 00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:08,720 Speaker 1: only underscore the sense that here was a man of 243 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:15,840 Speaker 1: almost unimaginable wealth, free to do as he wished. By 244 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:18,720 Speaker 1: the fall of two thousand nine, news of the fake 245 00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:22,440 Speaker 1: Spanish elegy paintings had reached the Prosecutor's office in the 246 00:16:22,480 --> 00:16:27,760 Speaker 1: Second District of New York. Investigators were now sifting through 247 00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:32,240 Speaker 1: and Friedman's seventeen years as head of the Ndler Gallery. 248 00:16:33,560 --> 00:16:36,520 Speaker 1: Any hopes and had of keeping Michael Hammer out of 249 00:16:36,520 --> 00:16:40,840 Speaker 1: the loop were dashed. Seeing law enforcement walked through the 250 00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:45,800 Speaker 1: doors had jolted Hammer to his core. That October, he 251 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:51,160 Speaker 1: terminated and Freedman's employment from the Ndler Gallery. Her feet 252 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:54,920 Speaker 1: barely touched the floor as security guards swept her through 253 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:57,840 Speaker 1: the gallery and out the front doors under the Royal 254 00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:10,760 Speaker 1: blue awning and was finished. We'll be back after this. 255 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:16,200 Speaker 1: Back in London, Pierre Lagrange was having trouble of his own. 256 00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:20,320 Speaker 1: Just two years after buying his seventeen million dollar pollock, 257 00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:23,679 Speaker 1: he was embarking on a divorce. He was advised to 258 00:17:23,680 --> 00:17:26,600 Speaker 1: sell his recently acquired pollock and split the proceeds with 259 00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:29,840 Speaker 1: his soon to be ex wife Lagrange was shocked to 260 00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:33,680 Speaker 1: discover that neither Southnbies nor Christie's would accept the work. 261 00:17:34,119 --> 00:17:37,560 Speaker 1: After all, the Pollock had no provenance, and its surfaced 262 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:41,600 Speaker 1: only a few years before. David and Pham, one of 263 00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:45,199 Speaker 1: the world's most respected authorities on modern American art, was 264 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:48,159 Speaker 1: just as skeptical when he personally viewed the painting in 265 00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:53,680 Speaker 1: Pierre Lagrange's London home. It was the ninth of April 266 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:58,440 Speaker 1: two thousand and eight when I paid a visit and 267 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:01,080 Speaker 1: I saw the whole collection of the and suddenly we 268 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:05,879 Speaker 1: got to the Pollock. Pierre looked at me. I looked 269 00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:10,080 Speaker 1: at Pierre's advisor, and I think I said, what do 270 00:18:10,119 --> 00:18:15,680 Speaker 1: you think? And I wouldcall very clearly, saying well, that 271 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:20,359 Speaker 1: has a history. And they were hoping for some more words. 272 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:25,120 Speaker 1: But I never said the west was silence. They were 273 00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:29,080 Speaker 1: hoping that you would say the painting was right. Yes, 274 00:18:30,520 --> 00:18:37,480 Speaker 1: that's exactly what I did not say. La Grange had 275 00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:40,520 Speaker 1: the distinct feeling he was being toyed with, and he 276 00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:46,000 Speaker 1: was angry. Where was Ann Friedman anyway? News of her 277 00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:49,080 Speaker 1: firing hadn't yet made its way to La Grange. The 278 00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:52,760 Speaker 1: Knoedler was playing a vanishing game of its own. The 279 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:56,640 Speaker 1: gallery flat out refused to take back Lagrange's Pollock, nor 280 00:18:56,720 --> 00:19:00,119 Speaker 1: would it be fund his seventeen million dollars. After all, 281 00:19:00,119 --> 00:19:04,960 Speaker 1: the gallery insisted the painting was genuine. Lagrange was seeing 282 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:09,600 Speaker 1: read he wanted his money, and surfaced in November two 283 00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:14,000 Speaker 1: with an email meant to lower the temperature. Once again, 284 00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:17,639 Speaker 1: she insisted politely but firmly, that Lagrange's Pollock was one 285 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:20,639 Speaker 1: of several newly discovered works that would be added to 286 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:26,760 Speaker 1: a revised Pollock catalog. Resimee Ann's timing couldn't have been worse. 287 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:29,720 Speaker 1: Just one month after her attempt to band aid the 288 00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:34,560 Speaker 1: Lagrange situation with yet another lie, Jackson, Pollock expert Eugene 289 00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:39,080 Speaker 1: Thaw shocked the art world with a declaration of seismic proportions. 290 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:45,280 Speaker 1: Thaw declared that Legrange's silvery Pollock looked not right to him. 291 00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:47,439 Speaker 1: Thaw was in poor health and he wanted to be 292 00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:50,600 Speaker 1: sure his judgment was made clear, so in early two 293 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:54,600 Speaker 1: thousand eleven, he repeated his claim in a videotaped Affidavid 294 00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:59,040 Speaker 1: the painting looked fake to him, Thal said, AND's email 295 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:06,440 Speaker 1: was immediately and entirely invalidated. It was now February two eleven. 296 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:10,080 Speaker 1: Pierre Lagrange still had no interest in meeting Ann Friedman, 297 00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:13,280 Speaker 1: but word was that a grand jury was convening to 298 00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:17,719 Speaker 1: consider charges stemming from the fake Spanish elegies, and Anne 299 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:23,400 Speaker 1: was said to be a subject of interest. Lagrange decided 300 00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:27,080 Speaker 1: he would meet with her after all, and suggested the 301 00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:30,960 Speaker 1: lounge of the Carlisle Hotel with its serpentine rooms of 302 00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:36,720 Speaker 1: overstuffed chairs. Anne arrived early to the Carlyle on a 303 00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:39,920 Speaker 1: wintry day and shows a small table in a cozy 304 00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:45,360 Speaker 1: lowlit corner. She recognized Lagrange from his long gray hair 305 00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:49,040 Speaker 1: and angular face as soon as he walked in, and 306 00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:52,160 Speaker 1: stood up to greet him and his attorney, Matthew Donson. 307 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:55,720 Speaker 1: Pierre Lagrange, I'm Ann Friedman. It's nice to meet you, 308 00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:59,800 Speaker 1: she said, don't be so sure, Lagrange seethed in his 309 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:04,600 Speaker 1: eligian accent. Lagrange ordered a cocktail, the lawyer a coke. 310 00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:08,560 Speaker 1: I've been looking forward to meeting you and discussing the painting, 311 00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:11,560 Speaker 1: and said, cheerfully, let's talk about how I can be helpful. 312 00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:15,479 Speaker 1: I want my money, the groans said, his voice rising 313 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:20,560 Speaker 1: with each word. That's all, and tried to stay calm, 314 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:24,359 Speaker 1: She leaned forward a bit. It's hard to predict the market, 315 00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:26,720 Speaker 1: she noted. She said they might have to wait a 316 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:30,000 Speaker 1: while before selling the painting, but she and La Grange 317 00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:32,639 Speaker 1: would be able to help each other out of this fix, 318 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:39,760 Speaker 1: and said assuredly. That was when Lagrange lashed out quote. 319 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:43,120 Speaker 1: He started screaming at the top of his lungs. I'm 320 00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:46,160 Speaker 1: going to set you on fire. Do you understand that 321 00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:48,800 Speaker 1: I'm going to set you on fire? And you will 322 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:51,760 Speaker 1: have no life. It will be over, and it will 323 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:57,640 Speaker 1: hit the press and you will be done. And tried 324 00:21:57,680 --> 00:22:00,760 Speaker 1: to reason with the Belgian financier in a calm voice, 325 00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:05,080 Speaker 1: as if talking to an unruly child. Taking the painting 326 00:22:05,119 --> 00:22:09,359 Speaker 1: back simply wasn't an option. She said all the experts 327 00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:12,480 Speaker 1: agreed it was real, and so did she, and said 328 00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:16,120 Speaker 1: she offered to take the painting on consignment and try 329 00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:22,840 Speaker 1: to sell it to someone else. Lagrange was astounded. Anne's 330 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:25,960 Speaker 1: solution was to find some other sap to unload the 331 00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:30,240 Speaker 1: painting on. Not only was that wildly irresponsible, but surely 332 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:33,560 Speaker 1: illegal as well. The two of them would be selling 333 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:38,360 Speaker 1: a painting Lagrange now believed was a fake. If Noodler 334 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:42,280 Speaker 1: didn't immediately return his money and take back the painting. 335 00:22:42,400 --> 00:22:47,159 Speaker 1: Lagrange railed, he would destroy her reputation. He was furious. 336 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:51,960 Speaker 1: Lagrange and Johnson stood up. The meeting was clearly over. 337 00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:55,760 Speaker 1: Everyone by now at the Carlysle was staring. This was 338 00:22:55,800 --> 00:22:59,320 Speaker 1: a real scene, and recounted. The waiter came over and 339 00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:02,960 Speaker 1: asked if she is all right. Later, Lagrange would deny 340 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:06,399 Speaker 1: A's account of the meeting. He hadn't raised his voice, 341 00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:15,320 Speaker 1: he said. The calamity at the Carlisle merely confirmed Lagrange's 342 00:23:15,359 --> 00:23:18,359 Speaker 1: worst fears. He was sure his Pollock was a fake, 343 00:23:19,040 --> 00:23:22,000 Speaker 1: and Friedman persona non grata. At the n Nodler could 344 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:25,000 Speaker 1: do nothing to get him his money back. Lagrange's only 345 00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:28,639 Speaker 1: move was to squeeze the reclusive Michael Hammer, Noodler's chairman, 346 00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:31,959 Speaker 1: in whatever way he could to recover his seventeen million. 347 00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:37,320 Speaker 1: Lagrange had no idea how utterly dependent the gallery was 348 00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:41,200 Speaker 1: on the sales of Ga Feara Rosales's paintings. He did 349 00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:43,679 Speaker 1: note with interest that Hammer had put one of the 350 00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:47,479 Speaker 1: galleries two adjoining mansions up for sale for more than 351 00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:51,760 Speaker 1: a year, The seventeen thousand square foot Italian Renaissance building 352 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:56,320 Speaker 1: at nineteen seventy Street had been quietly shopped around town 353 00:23:56,600 --> 00:24:00,159 Speaker 1: for fifty nine point nine million dollars. That is a 354 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:03,320 Speaker 1: high price in a bear market. It remained for sale 355 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:06,840 Speaker 1: until February two thousand eleven, when it sold for thirty 356 00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:12,439 Speaker 1: one million dollars, half its original asking price. As it 357 00:24:12,480 --> 00:24:16,480 Speaker 1: turned out, the sale came shortly before the disastrous Carlisle 358 00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:20,480 Speaker 1: Hotel meeting. Lagrange knew exactly where seventeen million of the 359 00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:24,000 Speaker 1: mansions proceeds should go, but Nodler had no interest in 360 00:24:24,040 --> 00:24:26,639 Speaker 1: giving any of that money back to the London hedge funder. 361 00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:30,480 Speaker 1: The standoff with Lagrange remained a secret through much of 362 00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:34,359 Speaker 1: two thousand eleven as lawyers attempted to resolve the situation. 363 00:24:35,359 --> 00:24:43,040 Speaker 1: Then in October came news of the Motherwell Spanish elegy settlement. Hi. 364 00:24:43,119 --> 00:24:45,600 Speaker 1: I'm Patricia Cohen, and I'm a reporter for the New 365 00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:50,840 Speaker 1: York Times. Patricia's first scoop about the Noodler saga was 366 00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:55,880 Speaker 1: dated October eleventh, two thousand eleven. I had no idea 367 00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:59,680 Speaker 1: at that point that that story was going to kind 368 00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:04,359 Speaker 1: of splode into one of the biggest art frauds of 369 00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:09,240 Speaker 1: the last hundred years. I just started digging around, and 370 00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:13,760 Speaker 1: even though that story was relatively short, I quickly realized 371 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:17,919 Speaker 1: that there was a much bigger story buried beneath this 372 00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:20,639 Speaker 1: with with a lot more questions that came up, and 373 00:25:20,920 --> 00:25:27,200 Speaker 1: then I started digging. Cohen's story in the Times prompted 374 00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:30,000 Speaker 1: Lagrange to do something he should have done far earlier. 375 00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:33,960 Speaker 1: He called Jamie Martin, the forensic expert who had analyzed 376 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:36,920 Speaker 1: the motherwells, and requested a test on the polit no 377 00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:42,880 Speaker 1: auction house would touch. The tests confirmed Lagrange's worst fears. 378 00:25:43,560 --> 00:25:47,080 Speaker 1: Various pigments in the painting had not existed in nine 379 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:51,200 Speaker 1: when the painting was supposedly made. It was forensically impossible 380 00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:56,800 Speaker 1: for the work to be legitimate. The report Lagrange received 381 00:25:56,800 --> 00:26:00,520 Speaker 1: in late November of two thousand eleven brought full throated 382 00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:05,400 Speaker 1: legal action. In a searing letter to Michael Hammer, Lagrange 383 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:09,919 Speaker 1: demanded that Knodler refund his seventeen million dollars in forty 384 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:14,400 Speaker 1: eight hours or face a lawsuit. The letter would ultimately 385 00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:19,680 Speaker 1: be the last straw from Michael Hammer to Lagrange's astonishment. 386 00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:25,119 Speaker 1: Hammer responded by closing the Knoedler's brass doors permanently on 387 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:31,480 Speaker 1: November eleven, sixty five years after it first opened for business. 388 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:42,720 Speaker 1: Gafara wasn't actually named, but New York Times readers learned 389 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:45,840 Speaker 1: the name of Ann Friedman and learned too that she 390 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:48,480 Speaker 1: had been accused of selling fake Motherwell's while she was 391 00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:52,560 Speaker 1: president of Nodler. Was there a sense of starting to 392 00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:55,680 Speaker 1: connect the dots sort of? I remember that day very 393 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:58,879 Speaker 1: well because it was a big scandal. There was an 394 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:02,639 Speaker 1: FBI investigate issue. We were talking about, you know, many 395 00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:06,280 Speaker 1: paintings in many millions of dollars, and I knew about 396 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:11,080 Speaker 1: the Pierre Lagrange lawsuit, and so I had basically been 397 00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:14,959 Speaker 1: planning within the next week to have this you know, 398 00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:19,399 Speaker 1: big expose about this, and then when the gallery closed, 399 00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:24,240 Speaker 1: it was like, oh shit, we have to cover this, 400 00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:27,439 Speaker 1: but you know, we've got this really other, big story, 401 00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:30,040 Speaker 1: but I can't get into all of that yet because 402 00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:33,760 Speaker 1: not every single piece had turned down. So essentially I 403 00:27:33,920 --> 00:27:38,800 Speaker 1: covered that as a new story, um, giving enough detail 404 00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:41,280 Speaker 1: that we knew something was going on, but also not 405 00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:46,840 Speaker 1: essentially wanting to kind of expose what we knew was 406 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:53,800 Speaker 1: going to be part of this really big takedown. Incredibly, 407 00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:57,600 Speaker 1: just two days before Noodler closed its doors and two 408 00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:01,200 Speaker 1: years since she'd been fired, and placed a very strange 409 00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:05,119 Speaker 1: phone call who noted Clifford Steel expert David and Fam, 410 00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:08,119 Speaker 1: the same expert who had viewed Pierre Lagrange's fake Pollock 411 00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:14,960 Speaker 1: in London, and telephone me on the November twenty eleven. 412 00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:19,159 Speaker 1: The game was up. By then, basically we knew that 413 00:28:19,880 --> 00:28:24,159 Speaker 1: it was all hopes since things were fakes in a 414 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:28,280 Speaker 1: truly baffling move, and was lobbying an Fham to have 415 00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:32,439 Speaker 1: the burned fragment of a fake Clifford Steel painting added 416 00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:36,120 Speaker 1: officially to the Clifford Steel Museum. This was the very 417 00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:40,520 Speaker 1: same painting Carlos Bergantino's had burned with a hair dryer 418 00:28:40,960 --> 00:28:44,000 Speaker 1: and told GA to say had caught fire in a car. 419 00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:50,520 Speaker 1: I was absolutely astonished that Ann wanted me to write 420 00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:53,520 Speaker 1: some kind of a letter about the Clifford Store Museum 421 00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:58,240 Speaker 1: accepting this flagmant of the painting, and I told him 422 00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:00,479 Speaker 1: point blank is not up to me to do it, 423 00:29:00,720 --> 00:29:02,720 Speaker 1: so if anyone is going to do it, it would 424 00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:05,400 Speaker 1: have to be approved by director, by the Bold and 425 00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:11,040 Speaker 1: so forth. So it was to me um a phone 426 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:15,520 Speaker 1: call that left me spaceless. Even at the time when 427 00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:19,920 Speaker 1: I wrote it, I bore exclamation marks after that note 428 00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:28,320 Speaker 1: because of extraordinary On the morning of December two, two 429 00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:32,800 Speaker 1: tho high pitched scream could be heard from the bedroom 430 00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:37,240 Speaker 1: of a hotel suite in Miami, Florida. The annual Art 431 00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:41,240 Speaker 1: Bosl Fair was about to begin, and Domenico and Eleanor 432 00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:46,160 Speaker 1: Desole had arrived early to get premium tickets. Eleanor was 433 00:29:46,200 --> 00:29:48,720 Speaker 1: scrolling through The New York Times on her iPad when 434 00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:53,000 Speaker 1: a story jumped out. Domenico rushed from the shower to 435 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:56,880 Speaker 1: see what was wrong. Too shocked to speak, Eleanor handed 436 00:29:56,960 --> 00:30:03,280 Speaker 1: him the iPad, her hands shaking. Patricia Cohen's first story 437 00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:06,320 Speaker 1: in the New York Times had mentioned the Knoedler and 438 00:30:06,440 --> 00:30:10,520 Speaker 1: publicly identified Glefara Rosales for the first time, but it 439 00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:13,120 Speaker 1: was a short piece and the Disules may not have 440 00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:17,480 Speaker 1: noticed it. That morning's follow up about Pierre Lagrange and 441 00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:22,120 Speaker 1: his fake Pollock made the news all too clear. One 442 00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:25,200 Speaker 1: of the soules first calls that morning was to Ann 443 00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:29,880 Speaker 1: Friedman and swore to the Dosilas that the Lagrange Pollock 444 00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:33,160 Speaker 1: described in the New York Times was real. So were 445 00:30:33,160 --> 00:30:35,480 Speaker 1: the rest of the works in the David Herbert collection, 446 00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:41,280 Speaker 1: including the Desuls, Rothko, the Dosilas demanded evidence who was 447 00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:44,760 Speaker 1: this mysterious Mr x Jr. Through whom all these paintings 448 00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:49,480 Speaker 1: had flowed, who was glefi Rosales, for that matter, and 449 00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:52,720 Speaker 1: promised she would soon be learning the identity of the 450 00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:59,200 Speaker 1: mysterious collector herself. The Soles were incredulous, and had previously 451 00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:02,240 Speaker 1: told them she know the collector. As one of the 452 00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:06,200 Speaker 1: Dess lawyers later put it, the most basic tenet of 453 00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:10,920 Speaker 1: authenticity for the Rothco was a lie. Neither Anne Freedman 454 00:31:11,040 --> 00:31:14,440 Speaker 1: nor the n Noodler Gallery knew the true identity of 455 00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:21,479 Speaker 1: their supposed client. Among the dozen or so victims who 456 00:31:21,560 --> 00:31:24,720 Speaker 1: began peppering the now defunct k Noodler Gallery with legal 457 00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:29,280 Speaker 1: demands for their money back was Francis Beatty. To her 458 00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:32,920 Speaker 1: shock and horror, Francis discovered that a Clifford Steel painting 459 00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:36,120 Speaker 1: she had purchased from Anne in two thousand was likely 460 00:31:36,160 --> 00:31:40,440 Speaker 1: just another fake from the supposed David Herbert collection. Beatty 461 00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:44,840 Speaker 1: had loved Clifford Stills paintings from her earliest days. They're 462 00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:50,520 Speaker 1: incredibly exciting. They look like sort of lightning or jagged 463 00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:56,640 Speaker 1: cliffs in an abstract way. They have enormous electricity and sometimes. 464 00:31:56,720 --> 00:32:01,760 Speaker 1: The colors are very I would say, dance intense, and 465 00:32:02,080 --> 00:32:09,160 Speaker 1: they have a tremendous sense of movement, very dynamic. Finding 466 00:32:09,200 --> 00:32:13,680 Speaker 1: them was a challenge. Clifford stills are rare. You don't 467 00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:18,280 Speaker 1: know where in the current universe there's going to be 468 00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:22,600 Speaker 1: a Clifford still for sale and one that someone might 469 00:32:22,720 --> 00:32:25,040 Speaker 1: let you get your hands on. I mean, they're not 470 00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:30,640 Speaker 1: sitting there in people's inventory. I had a colleague who 471 00:32:30,760 --> 00:32:34,800 Speaker 1: came in and said to me, could you sell a 472 00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:38,320 Speaker 1: great Clifford still, a great early still? And I said, 473 00:32:38,600 --> 00:32:41,560 Speaker 1: you bet you I can, And he said, I know 474 00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:45,320 Speaker 1: where there is one. There's a beauty, and Ann Friedman 475 00:32:45,360 --> 00:32:50,400 Speaker 1: has it. Francis rushed over to the notler. She was stunned. 476 00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:55,160 Speaker 1: The painting was perfect, the Jagon mountains, the colors, perfect size. 477 00:32:56,320 --> 00:33:01,760 Speaker 1: I had sold to pictures of this pure so over 478 00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:05,120 Speaker 1: a period. It took me, you know, fifteen years to 479 00:33:05,120 --> 00:33:08,960 Speaker 1: find the first one, twenty years to find the second one. 480 00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:14,960 Speaker 1: But of course it had no provenance. Oh I remember 481 00:33:15,080 --> 00:33:22,080 Speaker 1: very specifically because I said, this has no provenance and 482 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:28,240 Speaker 1: it hasn't been exhibited anywhere. And so Anne wrote me 483 00:33:28,280 --> 00:33:35,960 Speaker 1: an email saying that it belonged to a Mexican who 484 00:33:36,040 --> 00:33:40,200 Speaker 1: had gotten it directly from Clifford Still and had been 485 00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:46,080 Speaker 1: in the same family that entire time to close the 486 00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:50,640 Speaker 1: deal and made an unusual promised to Francis. If we 487 00:33:50,720 --> 00:33:55,520 Speaker 1: did the deal, she would reveal the provenance to me. 488 00:33:56,800 --> 00:34:02,200 Speaker 1: I showed it to a wonderful restorer, very good friend 489 00:34:02,200 --> 00:34:07,080 Speaker 1: of mine, Alan goldrac who had been the restorer who 490 00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:13,240 Speaker 1: had unwrapped all the Clifford stills for the Metropolitan Museum's retrospective. 491 00:34:14,239 --> 00:34:17,440 Speaker 1: Francis also showed the painting to David an fhem as 492 00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:20,719 Speaker 1: much the Clifford still expert as the ultimate connoisseur for 493 00:34:20,800 --> 00:34:23,919 Speaker 1: Pollock and Rothcobe. He had liked the picture very much. 494 00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:30,560 Speaker 1: Despite the positive affirmations from experts, Francis remained wary. So 495 00:34:30,640 --> 00:34:35,120 Speaker 1: I said to Anne, I need a Nodler guarantee, and 496 00:34:35,200 --> 00:34:42,040 Speaker 1: you have to guarantee the authenticity of this picture with 497 00:34:42,920 --> 00:34:48,640 Speaker 1: Noler behind it, so if the authenticity is questioned, you 498 00:34:48,719 --> 00:34:52,400 Speaker 1: return the money to the client. And what did she 499 00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:57,320 Speaker 1: say to that? Fine? And I got her to write 500 00:34:57,840 --> 00:35:05,160 Speaker 1: a guarantee of authenticity on the Clifford still, and I 501 00:35:05,200 --> 00:35:08,600 Speaker 1: gave a copy of it to the client. And at 502 00:35:08,640 --> 00:35:13,480 Speaker 1: that point I thought you know what, We're safe if 503 00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:18,680 Speaker 1: the worst thing possibly happens and something goes wrong. It 504 00:35:18,840 --> 00:35:23,080 Speaker 1: is a Nodler guarantee, and no Ler is the last 505 00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:27,239 Speaker 1: place in the world that would renege on any kind 506 00:35:27,280 --> 00:35:36,399 Speaker 1: of guarantee. With that baby and two fellow dealers put 507 00:35:36,440 --> 00:35:40,000 Speaker 1: their money down about one million dollars. They sold it 508 00:35:40,080 --> 00:35:42,719 Speaker 1: for one point one million to the collector who had 509 00:35:42,719 --> 00:35:46,560 Speaker 1: pushed for the still in the first place. An entire 510 00:35:46,640 --> 00:35:52,080 Speaker 1: decade passed no issues with the painting. Popped up curiously, however, 511 00:35:52,600 --> 00:35:55,320 Speaker 1: and failed to keep her side of the bargain with Francis. 512 00:35:56,600 --> 00:36:00,160 Speaker 1: She didn't tell me who she got the picture phone. 513 00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:04,400 Speaker 1: I probably should have pressed her on that, but I 514 00:36:04,480 --> 00:36:09,880 Speaker 1: didn't because I think once I had obtained this Nodler 515 00:36:10,600 --> 00:36:14,880 Speaker 1: guarantee in writing, I thought that I had sort of 516 00:36:14,920 --> 00:36:22,520 Speaker 1: an impregnable defense. So fast forward to two thousand eleven, 517 00:36:22,760 --> 00:36:27,080 Speaker 1: Pierre Lagrange shouts it from the rooftops that he's paid 518 00:36:27,160 --> 00:36:31,480 Speaker 1: seventeen million dollars for a fake Pollock. What was your 519 00:36:31,480 --> 00:36:35,840 Speaker 1: reaction to that news. I'm not sure I want to 520 00:36:35,880 --> 00:36:42,160 Speaker 1: say it on air. I mean, holy moley, um, we 521 00:36:42,160 --> 00:36:48,280 Speaker 1: were absolutely stunned. We went and did the forensic testing 522 00:36:48,480 --> 00:36:51,359 Speaker 1: I think it had some kind of white in it 523 00:36:51,440 --> 00:36:55,840 Speaker 1: that hadn't been invented back then. And also the pigments 524 00:36:55,960 --> 00:37:01,320 Speaker 1: were of more recent vintage. God, so at that point 525 00:37:01,320 --> 00:37:05,319 Speaker 1: obviously you had to call your customer, who who bought 526 00:37:05,360 --> 00:37:09,600 Speaker 1: the painting. We said, we're going to give you back 527 00:37:09,640 --> 00:37:15,239 Speaker 1: your money and sue and I think we um We 528 00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:18,640 Speaker 1: sent him a check for one million, one thousand, but 529 00:37:19,480 --> 00:37:22,040 Speaker 1: he said to us that he thought the picture was 530 00:37:22,120 --> 00:37:24,959 Speaker 1: now worth three million and he was going to sue 531 00:37:25,040 --> 00:37:28,959 Speaker 1: us for that much money. I mean the suit must 532 00:37:28,960 --> 00:37:33,800 Speaker 1: have cost three yo dollars. And then we finally settled. 533 00:37:34,600 --> 00:37:38,440 Speaker 1: You settled with Ndler, which, of course, by now was 534 00:37:38,880 --> 00:37:41,480 Speaker 1: almost like a dead man walking, right. I mean it 535 00:37:41,520 --> 00:37:45,000 Speaker 1: had closed in officially, so you were you were negotiating 536 00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:48,399 Speaker 1: with a company that did it even exist. Right. We 537 00:37:48,400 --> 00:37:51,360 Speaker 1: were in the same boat as everybody else. Little by little, 538 00:37:51,480 --> 00:37:56,160 Speaker 1: lots of people were settling to get something. So we 539 00:37:56,160 --> 00:38:01,480 Speaker 1: were out the million dollars. We were out the cost 540 00:38:01,520 --> 00:38:04,480 Speaker 1: of the litigation a million four so maybe it was 541 00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:09,520 Speaker 1: more like a million plus. Well, that must have haunted 542 00:38:09,560 --> 00:38:12,719 Speaker 1: you for a long time. It was a terrible thing 543 00:38:12,920 --> 00:38:16,720 Speaker 1: for the profession. I'm the secretary of the Art Dealers 544 00:38:16,760 --> 00:38:22,080 Speaker 1: Association of America. And I'm an art historian and I 545 00:38:22,120 --> 00:38:27,800 Speaker 1: love the art dealing profession. It's full of wonderful, devoted 546 00:38:28,719 --> 00:38:32,680 Speaker 1: experts and people who love art. And this was just 547 00:38:33,000 --> 00:38:39,279 Speaker 1: a devastating blow. So it was on everybody's lips, and 548 00:38:39,320 --> 00:38:43,279 Speaker 1: it made you feel like you've gone from decades and 549 00:38:43,440 --> 00:38:48,120 Speaker 1: decades devoted to doing the right thing and suddenly you 550 00:38:48,200 --> 00:38:52,080 Speaker 1: were all like in cahoots with al Capone. Yeah, it 551 00:38:52,200 --> 00:38:59,160 Speaker 1: was hugely distressing. What happened to the painting. By the way, 552 00:38:59,600 --> 00:39:04,360 Speaker 1: it's because we got the painting back and it was 553 00:39:04,440 --> 00:39:09,840 Speaker 1: in our basement and I really wanted to take it out, 554 00:39:10,080 --> 00:39:13,239 Speaker 1: take it to, you know, the Clifford Still Museum, and 555 00:39:13,800 --> 00:39:17,960 Speaker 1: you know, stand it up and look at other pictures 556 00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:22,239 Speaker 1: of that vintage and figure out how why I had 557 00:39:22,280 --> 00:39:25,080 Speaker 1: how I had made this mistake. There's no question that 558 00:39:25,200 --> 00:39:28,719 Speaker 1: was a fake. But it was so damn good. It 559 00:39:28,800 --> 00:39:32,399 Speaker 1: was in the story to Richard Fannigan and Company. And 560 00:39:32,840 --> 00:39:36,759 Speaker 1: when we closed, when Richard left that building, I don't 561 00:39:36,840 --> 00:39:39,520 Speaker 1: know where it is and I kind of have a 562 00:39:39,600 --> 00:39:44,560 Speaker 1: mental note of trying to track it down and find 563 00:39:44,560 --> 00:39:52,319 Speaker 1: out where it is. By March two, twelves had a 564 00:39:52,360 --> 00:39:57,840 Speaker 1: team of lawyers harnessed up. Domenico Disle was a gentle 565 00:39:58,040 --> 00:40:01,719 Speaker 1: family man, but being cond out of eight point four 566 00:40:01,760 --> 00:40:05,560 Speaker 1: million dollars set of fire raging in his Italian soul. 567 00:40:06,280 --> 00:40:09,279 Speaker 1: He wasn't just set on getting his money back. He 568 00:40:09,400 --> 00:40:14,040 Speaker 1: wanted triple damages, a so called WECo penalty for what 569 00:40:14,120 --> 00:40:18,360 Speaker 1: amounted to a conspiracy among all of the defendants. A 570 00:40:18,440 --> 00:40:22,840 Speaker 1: trio of top art fraud lawyers began inundating the Knodler 571 00:40:23,480 --> 00:40:28,000 Speaker 1: with demands for documents. The number of artists, the number 572 00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:30,480 Speaker 1: of unknown works that cheap prices, know they're got them 573 00:40:30,520 --> 00:40:33,640 Speaker 1: for the incredible markups they sold them for. That's in 574 00:40:33,680 --> 00:40:37,439 Speaker 1: the papers we got in the first few months. Those 575 00:40:37,440 --> 00:40:42,080 Speaker 1: are just invoices from the nother gallery. I spoke with 576 00:40:42,120 --> 00:40:46,480 Speaker 1: the Disols attorneys, Aaron Crowle, Emily royce Baum and Gregory 577 00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:51,120 Speaker 1: Clark at their law offices, so we had discovery from 578 00:40:51,160 --> 00:40:55,880 Speaker 1: them relatively early on with those documents. So you know, 579 00:40:55,960 --> 00:40:58,000 Speaker 1: that's a big part of the case, right from the beginning, 580 00:40:58,200 --> 00:41:02,919 Speaker 1: right and also early on, before Jamie Martin had had 581 00:41:02,960 --> 00:41:06,239 Speaker 1: the opportunity to examine a number of different works like 582 00:41:06,560 --> 00:41:09,000 Speaker 1: he had looked at Pierre Le Grange's work. I think 583 00:41:09,120 --> 00:41:13,480 Speaker 1: he had looked at ours. We were telling the judge, 584 00:41:13,840 --> 00:41:15,680 Speaker 1: this is like you go to Canal Street and there's 585 00:41:15,680 --> 00:41:18,719 Speaker 1: a table. You don't have to one watches fake. They're 586 00:41:18,719 --> 00:41:20,480 Speaker 1: all fake. You don't have to test them all to 587 00:41:20,560 --> 00:41:24,760 Speaker 1: know that they're all fake. And sure enough, Jamie proved 588 00:41:24,920 --> 00:41:27,719 Speaker 1: that it was the same paint for the Pollock, for 589 00:41:27,760 --> 00:41:30,880 Speaker 1: the roth Cooe. You know that spread ten years apart. 590 00:41:31,800 --> 00:41:34,200 Speaker 1: Over the course of the two years between when we 591 00:41:34,239 --> 00:41:36,960 Speaker 1: filed the case and leading guilty. Over the course of 592 00:41:37,000 --> 00:41:40,360 Speaker 1: that time, Jamie Martin ultimately had access to eighteen works 593 00:41:40,360 --> 00:41:44,280 Speaker 1: out of the fort on the list, and he proved 594 00:41:44,600 --> 00:41:50,640 Speaker 1: every single one was a fake. What emerged was what 595 00:41:50,760 --> 00:41:54,640 Speaker 1: we showed that trial with the witness testimony, that there 596 00:41:54,680 --> 00:41:59,840 Speaker 1: were no experts who authenticated these paintings. For another it 597 00:42:00,040 --> 00:42:03,440 Speaker 1: just didn't happen. The lawyers came up with six red 598 00:42:03,520 --> 00:42:08,360 Speaker 1: flags clear indicators of a criminal enterprise. The one that 599 00:42:08,520 --> 00:42:11,880 Speaker 1: seems to interest people the most is the profits. And 600 00:42:12,040 --> 00:42:17,120 Speaker 1: you know, our expert testified that ordinarily in the secondary market, 601 00:42:17,320 --> 00:42:20,520 Speaker 1: the dealer will make twenty to thirty percent of a profit. 602 00:42:20,840 --> 00:42:22,560 Speaker 1: So they buy for a hundred dollars, they sell for 603 00:42:22,560 --> 00:42:26,920 Speaker 1: a hundred thirty dollars, they get to pocket thirty dollars. No, 604 00:42:27,120 --> 00:42:32,040 Speaker 1: there was making hundreds from the very beginning, making hundreds 605 00:42:32,080 --> 00:42:35,080 Speaker 1: of percent profits, and as the scheme went on, it 606 00:42:35,239 --> 00:42:39,440 Speaker 1: multiplied to six hundred, seven hundred, eight hundred percent. Now 607 00:42:39,520 --> 00:42:41,400 Speaker 1: instead of just a little deep in corn on paper, 608 00:42:41,440 --> 00:42:44,560 Speaker 1: you had a pollock, you had a bunch of them, 609 00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:46,680 Speaker 1: had a bunch of them, and so you know, and 610 00:42:46,920 --> 00:42:50,960 Speaker 1: the profits were a loan, a signal. And I think 611 00:42:51,040 --> 00:42:54,160 Speaker 1: this is that hit the jurors the most, that the 612 00:42:54,280 --> 00:42:57,520 Speaker 1: profits were a signal that, like, something was wrong here. 613 00:42:57,800 --> 00:43:02,680 Speaker 1: But the number of works was wildly off the charts. 614 00:43:05,800 --> 00:43:09,040 Speaker 1: By early two thousand thirteen, the lawyers for the Soles 615 00:43:09,480 --> 00:43:11,719 Speaker 1: had done enough discovery to feel they had a rock 616 00:43:11,800 --> 00:43:17,880 Speaker 1: solid case. Jason Hernandez wasn't so sure, and assistant district 617 00:43:17,920 --> 00:43:22,280 Speaker 1: attorney specializing in fraud cases in New York City's Second District, 618 00:43:22,640 --> 00:43:26,080 Speaker 1: Hernandez had come to be wary of fraud cases built 619 00:43:26,160 --> 00:43:29,840 Speaker 1: on the testimony of experts. That was testimony the defense 620 00:43:29,920 --> 00:43:33,640 Speaker 1: could easily counter with experts of their own. After all, 621 00:43:33,719 --> 00:43:36,879 Speaker 1: who was to say which expert would be right? Hernandez 622 00:43:36,960 --> 00:43:41,080 Speaker 1: knew the case would be an enormous challenge. There were 623 00:43:41,440 --> 00:43:46,000 Speaker 1: an unusually large number of prominent people who seemingly were 624 00:43:46,000 --> 00:43:48,000 Speaker 1: going to stand by the paintings and say that they 625 00:43:48,040 --> 00:43:53,000 Speaker 1: were real. That is uncommon, and I could see right away. Well, 626 00:43:53,680 --> 00:43:56,160 Speaker 1: you know, how do you get over that? Because if 627 00:43:56,200 --> 00:43:59,120 Speaker 1: the person selling them is showing them to all of 628 00:43:59,239 --> 00:44:02,920 Speaker 1: these steam people and they're saying, yep, looks right to me, 629 00:44:03,040 --> 00:44:05,680 Speaker 1: looks good to me, that's not a criminal case anymore. 630 00:44:07,440 --> 00:44:11,040 Speaker 1: Despite the mountain of lawsuits, only one case would go 631 00:44:11,120 --> 00:44:15,279 Speaker 1: to trial. Eleanor and Domenico de Soule versus the defendants 632 00:44:15,840 --> 00:44:22,600 Speaker 1: and friedmanfro Rosalee, carlos Bergantino's, Michael Hammer and the NLAR Gallery. 633 00:44:26,400 --> 00:44:33,040 Speaker 1: That's next time on art Fraud, Why looks so awflyet 634 00:44:33,120 --> 00:44:38,920 Speaker 1: tragic but on a happy face? Smiling can work like magic, 635 00:44:39,960 --> 00:44:45,040 Speaker 1: but on a happy face. Take off the gloomy mask, tragedy. 636 00:44:45,719 --> 00:44:49,640 Speaker 1: It's not your style. You look so good that you'll 637 00:44:49,680 --> 00:44:54,399 Speaker 1: be glad you decided to smile. Art Fraud is brought 638 00:44:54,480 --> 00:44:58,520 Speaker 1: to you by I Heart Radio and Cavalry Audio. Our 639 00:44:58,600 --> 00:45:02,840 Speaker 1: executive producers are Matt del Piano, Keegan Rosenberger, Andy Turner, 640 00:45:03,040 --> 00:45:07,560 Speaker 1: myself and Michael Schneyerson. We're produced by Brandon Morgan and 641 00:45:07,719 --> 00:45:12,400 Speaker 1: Zach McNeice. Zach also edited and mixed this episode. Lindsay 642 00:45:12,480 --> 00:45:17,120 Speaker 1: Hoffman is our managing producer. Our writer is Michael Schneyerson. 643 00:45:19,880 --> 00:45:26,439 Speaker 1: Blood on a happy face, on a happy face.