“This criminal practice favors a devaluation of our creators and, in this case, of great plastic artists of our history,” said the Minister of Justice, Interior and Public Administration of the Valencian Community.
The Historical Heritage group of the Valencian Community Police has recovered five false works attributed to the famous Spanish artists Francisco de Goya and Diego Velazquez, which were allegedly going to be sold as authentic for 76 million euros (almost 83 million dollars), communicate authorities this Tuesday on Twitter.
During a press conference, the Minister of Justice, Interior and Public Administration of the Valencian Community, Gabriela Bravo, declared that the pieces were going to be sold in the Spanish provinces of Valencia and of Castellon. However, the Police, which began the investigation at the beginning of this year, managed to intervene after detecting that the paintings had gone on the market.
They are reportedly investigating 4 people for the alleged crime of fraud. Bravo pointed out that “the counterfeit art It is a crime that hardly generates social alarm in Spain and is one of those that more irregular capital generated behind only drugs, weapons and prostitution. Beyond the economic value, the most important thing is that this criminal practice favors a devaluation of our creators and, in this case, of the great visual artists of our history,” local media reported.
On the other hand, the authorities announced that the works can be seen in the temporary exhibition ‘False: The art of deception or art deception’ at the Valencian Museum of Illustration and Modernity (MuVIM) until September.
Source: RT
