A couple of interesting data points from The New York Times’s story about the sale of artworks on the internet:
- A recent study by statisticians at George Washington University and the University of California, Irvine, estimated that as many as 91 percent of the drawings and small sculptures sold online through eBay as the work of the artist Henry Moore were fake.
- Ms. Wiesinger said the Giacometti Foundation spent more than 40 percent of its operating budget in 2011 on tracking fakes, up from 25 percent in 2004. And the foundation last year began awarding 10,000 euros (about $12,000) to institutions or individuals who bring public attention to the prevalence of fakes and forgeries.
A Picasso Online for $450? Yes, It’s a Steal (The New York Times)
