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Ken Perenyi: Notorious Art Forger Now Sells Artwork As Fake Reproductions

Posted: July 22, 2012
Ken Perenyi: Notorious Art Forger Now Sells Artwork As Fake Reproductions

Ken Perenyi Forger

Ken Perenyi spent almost 30 years making a small fortune out of forging works by popular 18th- and 19th-century artists, including Martin Johnson Heade, Gilbert Stuart, and Charles Bird King — until the FBI came knocking in 1998.

Having realized they had caught on to his meticulous forgery business, Perenyi lived for the next few years under the watchful eye of the U.S. government, who kept tabs on him, as well as where his works were being sold. They also spoke with friends and associates, reports The New York Times.

While they never ended up charging him, the FBI’s close watch caused Perenyi to change the way he did business. Now, instead of pushing his paintings as real, the notorious forger openly sells his faked oils as reproductions in what he calls “a new business model.”

Newser reports that Ken Perenyi’s upcoming memoir, Caveat Emptor: the Secret Life of an American Art Forger, will talk about his exploits, which allowed him to hang out with the jet setting crowd, while earning the ire of art experts and mob enforcers.

He has also gone from earning $700,000 for a piece to a mere $5,000, and the known buyers he sells to are required to sign a form confirming the piece is a forgery. Perenyi stated, “I miss the addictive thrill of fooling the experts. It was great sport for me.”

Gallerist NY also notes that, while the art forger claims to have sold works at Christie’s and Sotheby’s, they both deny the claim. From the memoir, Pereny stated:

“I’m convinced that if these artists were alive today, they would thank me,” he said. “I’m somebody that understands and appreciates their work.”

While standing over the reproduction of a Herrings painting, Ken Perenyi commented, “I don’t wish to flatter myself…but I’m sure Herring himself would be proud to put his name on this painting.”

 Ken Perenyi Forferies



Comments


2 Archived Responses to “ Ken Perenyi: Notorious Art Forger Now Sells Artwork As Fake Reproductions ”

  1. Egg Man
    Aug 3, 2012

    Could this book turn out to be another James Frey incident? I hope the Lawyers vetted it well and I hope PEgasus knows what it is doing.

    August 2, 2012 9:46 PM.
    Anonymous said…
    How did this NYT story come about? Readers wanted to know. The reporter, Ms Cohen, being in the NYT culture beat department, gets scores of books from publishers and she also regularly scans book catalogues looking for titles that look interesting and that she might want to write about one day. Lately, she's been writing a lot about art forgery and one day she saw a book galley — ARC? — of Ken Perenyi’s book “Caveat Emptor,” which mentioned he was now selling “genuine fakes.” Patti noticed a few other references to similar practices and she proabably thought it would make a good news story, so she most likely discussed it with her NYT editor. Reporters in culture, as well as other sections like style and science, frequently travel to other places to do stories that are on their beat. That is why the fashion writers cover the catwalks in Paris even though the NYT has a bureau there, and NYT art writers go to Basel, Miami and Swtizerland, and their music reporter went with the Philharmonic to North Korea and so on. So this forger story was her beat, so she was the one to cover the story. The UK Guardian beat her to the scoop a full 10 days earlier, by the way. Yes, the same story appeared in the UK on July 7. Patti most likely did what all good reporters do and called Pegasus Books to inquire, for her story, what kind of fact-checking measures their lawyers took to verify the author’s account. As in vetting. As for the timing of the story, a month before pub date, which means the PR coup by having a pre-publication story in the NYT about an upcoming book a full 30 days before pub date is priceless in terms of PR and book publicity, mind you. But bear in mind that stories about the book were beginning to appear in the British press, a good piece in the Guardian among others, and if Cohen waited any longer, until the real official pub date, August 20, the Times would have been late with the story instead of first. Well, the first in the USA. In fact, the Guardian did the story first, got the scoop, and it appeared online for worldwide readers a full 2 weeks before the Times late entry.
    And now you know…the rest of the story!

    August 2, 2012 9:56 PM.
    dan said…
    Perhaps I should be asking who is putting you, Mr BLoom, up to this, and why the cover-up?

    ***(said someone to me the other day, and for reasons I cannot fathom. Putting me up to what? I am just a mere blogger with good radar. Sometimes I am right, sometimes I am wrong. Cover up? WTF? Who is covering anything up? If anything, this blog is exposing something.)

  2. Danny Bloom
    Aug 3, 2012

    contact@rachelcotterill.com contact@rachelcotterill.com

    Unconvicted because never charged yet fully admitting his past,
    American art forger Ken Perenyi's ghostwritten "memoir" (scare quotes.
    intended) titled "CAVEAT EMPTOR: The Secret Life of an American Art.
    Forger", the ghostwritten confessional tell-all of how a "tune in,
    turn on, drop out" high school kid from 1960s New Jersey learned to.
    forge the great 19th century American artists and dupe the biggest.
    auction houses and galleries in New York and London for 30 years.
    without getting caught, was edited by Claiborne Hancock at Pegasus.
    Books and agented by Don Fehr at Trident Media Group.

    Perenyi, a Hungarian-American most likely, given his noble surname,
    barely finished ninth grade, but his ghostwriter (name withheld but.
    mentioned in the book's acknowledgements page) illustrates how he.
    became one of America’s top unethical dishonest art forgers. Why the
    culture that spawned him in now celebrating him as culture hero and.
    celebrity, with a movie option on the table as well, is beyond words.
    But this is America, and "catch me if you can" is the going motto,
    Madoff to Perenyi. Thing is Madoff got caught and charged (and.
    sentenced), while Perenyi walked scot free.

    SNYNOPSIS: When Perenyi met Tony Masaccio, who lived in a building.
    called the “Castle” near the author’s hometown of Fort Lee, N.J., he.
    was a young uneducated and untutored guy, a blank slate just waiting.
    for someone with chalk. The Castle was a center of cosmic energy where.
    dozens of people showed up for Masaccio’s parties and long, lost.
    weekends in the 1960s. When he discovered his talent for art, Tom.
    Daly, a local artist, took Perenyi under his wing, sharing his.
    artistic knowledge and encouraging his eager student to learn by.
    copying great works. A book about Han van Meegeren, a Dutch art.
    forger, taught the author the basic principles of forgery, and a job.
    working for a conservator allowed him to hone his talents. Visits with
    Daly and Masaccio to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the auction.
    rooms of New York City gave Perenyi all he needed to begin producing.
    his “Flemish” paintings. He began with Dutch paintings and moved on to.
    American art and then British sporting pictures. He never copied known.
    works, but he developed an eye for what inspired the artists and.
    created paintings that they could very well have done, always using.
    authentic materials. His eager buyers ranged from local shops to the.
    great auction houses of New York and London.
    Some readers who don't care about ethics or honesty in America might.
    be be captivated as they follow the development of this remarkable yet.
    flawed talent over a 40-year career. Ghostwtitten by Allan Smithee.