Mark Landis
Mark A. Landis | |
|---|---|
| Born | Mark Augustus Landis April 1955 |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Art Institute of Chicago |
| Known for | Painting, forgery |
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Mark A. Landis, born in Laurel, Mississippi, april 1955, is an american painter and forger. He has painted a large number of faux, which he successfully donated to american art museums.
Biography
His grandfather, Arthur Landis, was a director at the now defunct Auburn Automobile company.[1] His father, an officer of the US Navy, was assigned to NATO in Europe, and lived with his family in London, Paris and Brussels. At 17, Mark Landis is deeply struck by the loss of his father. He is cured for 18 months in a Kansas hospital; he is diagnosed as schizophrenic. He attends art courses at the Art Institute of Chicago then in San Francisco, where he subsequently works in the commerce of art; among other things, he works for the maintainance of damaged paintings.[2] · [3] He buys an art gallery, but it is not successful. Broke at 30, he decides to return and live with his mother. Beforehand, he wishes to make a gesture that would please his mother and honour the memory of his father : donate a copy of a Maynard Dixon to a California museum; this first successful attempt will convince him to repeat the feat.[4]. For more than 20 years, he will donate all kinds of faux pieces of art to institutions in the US, among which more than 50 museums.[5] He chooses preferably small sized-museums, which do not have the powerful means of analysis of the larger ones. While all institutions were not duped, the whole process went fairly unnoticed, and unstopped, for more than 20 years, in spite of the large number of dispersed forgeries. Landis even donated several times the faux or a same work to different museums.
During this period, he also produces original work; some are sold through Narsad Artworks. In 2012, it still is possible to buy stationery bearing the Magnolias' by Landis.[6] He often moves, staying at more than 15 different addresses between 1985 and 2000. Patsy Hollister, Narsad co-founder, believes Landis probably is more bipolar than schizophrenic, with an ability to paint extremely fast. Says Landis, talking about icons: "I gave to hundreds of churches."[4]. Landis also is said to have worked in animation and advertisement.[7]
His success derives not so much from the perfection of his faux (sometimes a basic test exposes the forgery) than from his ability to copy all kinds of styles, helped by a strong sense of deception and a strange and soft approach which obfuscates specialists.
Investigation
In 2007, Landis offers several works to the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, among wich a watercolour by Louis Valtat, a harbor scene by Paul Signac, a self-portrait by Marie Laurencin, an oil painting by Stanislas Lépine, a nude and a drawing by Daumier.[8] The registrar, Matthew Leininger, has the pieces investigated by his team. They discover a very similar Signac has been offered to the SCAD Museum of Art. A press release even signals the donation of the same Signac, Avery and Laurencin.[9] It also provides Mark Landis real name. Leininger investigates further, and discovers Landis tripped more than 45 museums in 19 different cities. He warns museums, providing available photos of Landis. At this stage, the investigation remains confidential.
In September 2010, Landis goes to the Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum in Lafayette, Louisiana, under the identity of a jesuit priest, Father Arthur Scott. He donates a painting by Charles Courtney Curran, under the pretext of the loss of his mother. The director Mark Tullos asks registrar Joyce Penn to check the painting out. Penn checks the painting under blacklight, and the colors glow suspiciously. Then a microscope observation shows a dot-matrix pattern, hinting that a mere photocopy of the original has been projected on the board and then painted over. Joyce Penn digs deeper and links up with Leininger's investigation. In November 2010, The Art Newspaper publishes a complete paper on the matter,[8] inspiring other publishers such as FT.[2] The last known attempt by Landis took place in November 2010, again under the Father Arthur Scott identity, at the Ackland Art Museum, with a French academy drawing.[10]
Law infrigement
Exhibition
Painters and authors copied
- Daumier
- Walt Disney
- Maynard Dixon[3]
- Thomas Jefferson (letter)
- John Hancock (letter) [2]
- Marie Laurencin
- Stanislas Lépine (Terrassiers au Trocadero)[12] · [13]
- Abraham Lincoln (electoral tract)
- Alfred Jacob Miller (Head of a Sioux)[2]
- Paul Signac (Le Trieux) [12] · [13]
- Louis Valtat
- Watteau
- icons
Works
- Pastoral peace [14]
- Woman and boys on beach[15]
- Young girl[16]
- Sisters[17]
- Woman and children in water [18]
- Ride in the park [19]
- Tree alone [20]
- Autumn scene [21]
- Blue dress [22]
- Magnolias [23]
- Pink dress [24]
- Tropical scene [25]
- Vase of flowers [26]
- White dress [27]
See also
Notes
- ^ Schenectady Gazette, 3 janvier 1934
- ^ a b c d The forger’s story , Financial Times
- ^ a b Art Forger Mark Landis, Maxim
- ^ a b Template:FrMoi, Mark Landis, peintre, faussaire et philanthrope, Le Point
- ^ REAL: A Forgers Story, Art Hopper
- ^ Magnolias, stationery, Narsad Artworks
- ^ Meet the Artists, Narsad
- ^ a b “Jesuit priest” donates fraudulent works, The Art Newspaper
- ^ SCAD Museum of Art Announces Significant New Donations From Mark Landis, Design Taxi
- ^ Elusive Forger, Giving but Never Stealing, New York Times
- ^ a b Museum plays April Fools' joke on prolific forger The Wichita Eagle
- ^ a b Newspaper: Forger gave paintings to SLU art museum, St Louis today
- ^ a b Selected recent acquisitions, St Louis University
- ^ https://www.narsadartworks.org/artauction/images/36_PastoralPeace_ML.jpg Pastoral peace
- ^ Woman and boys on beach
- ^ Young girl
- ^ Sisters
- ^ Woman and children in water
- ^ Ride in the park
- ^ Tree alone
- ^ Autumn scene
- ^ Blue dress
- ^ Magnolias
- ^ Pink dress
- ^ Tropical scene
- ^ Vase of flowers
- ^ White dress
