The Mind Creative March 2014
notoriety to ridicule the art world. In his autobiography Drawn to
Trouble (1991), he continued his attack on art critics and dealers;
boasting about his aptitudes to fool the best of experts. In January
1986, just after the publication of the Italian edition of his book,
Hebborn was found lying dead in a street in Rome, his head crushed
in by a blunt instrument. The origin of many paintings connected to
Hebborn, some of which hang in renowned collections, continues to
be debated.
He claimed to have created over
1000 forgeries based on the works
of masters like Picasso, Modigliani,
Matisse, and Renoir. Having failed
in his quest to sell his original
works, de Hory turned to art
forgery when his friends mistook
his copies of famous paintings as
originals. His strength was in
creating original works based on
the styles of masters rather than
copying their paintings. While his
forgeries found a big market, he
was constantly cheated by his
partners and associates. After he
committed suicide in 1976, his
paintings soared in value so much
so that his works have themselves
been forged by other painters! The
remarkable story of his life has
been immortalised by Clifford
Irving in the book Fake! and by
Orson Welles in the movie F For
Fake. Many consider de Hory to be
the greatest master forger of all
time.
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