Watching the Detectives

Crime may be an art at Chicago’s Kass/Meridian gallery. The Chicago Tribune reports that U.S. postal inspectors and FBI agents stormed and raided the gallery on Thursday. No, they weren’t look for drugs and guns– as per usual in Chicago. They were searching for something much more dangerous– at least to the art collector– forgeries.

 
There’s no news yet on the specifics of the investigation, but the whole situation calls to mind previous master con artists. Take George Greenhalgh, 84. He and his family were charged in 2002 with laundering money from selling forged artwork. Among these fakes was a Gauguin statue that once graced the collection at the Art Institute.
 
Then there’s James Kennedy of Northbook, Ill., who was found guilty in 2004 after attempting to sell fake Picassos, Chagalls and Matisses.
 
But all these fakers pale when compared to Elmyr de Hory, who flawlessly forged the work of masters like Picasso, Monet, Matisse and Modigliani. Orson Welles even immortalized him in his 1975 film “F is For Fake.”
 
Now, his pieces are worth almost as much as the originals.
 
I guess, at least sometimes, crime pays.