Fooled

For once, something that usually lives in the shadows will be in the spotlight: art forgery. Beginning June 17, the Courtauld Institute of Art in London will present the copies in its collection. The exhibition Art and Artifice: Fakes from the Collection aims to show that it's not always the original that demonstrates sophistication. The Courtauld tells the story behind the works: how they were made and where they were discovered. Some of the works, it says, were known to be fakes from the start, while others were only revealed by proud collectors after they were donated. Still others served as textbooks for students.

The existence of such plagiarism is nothing new, as forgeries appeared as early as the Renaissance – by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, for example. The Courtauld also tells the story of a supposed Botticelli work that was eventually debunked because of the resemblance between the woman depicted and a 1930s movie star. The exhibition also includes a drawing by famed art forger Eric Hebborn and a painting by Han van Meegeren that the Courtauld professor himself once brought back from World War II. The exhibition runs through October 8 and is included in the price of admission to the gallery.