French forger Guy Ribes became famous for successfully selling forged paintings to galleries as authentic artworks. He was very skilled at emulating a range of styles, the result of careful study of painters’ techniques. Ribes was eventually convicted for selling forged paintings in the style of Pablo Picasso, March Chagall, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and served a prison sentence of three years, ending in 2010. His career in copying continued as he was hired to paint fake Renoirs for a movie about the French impressionist. Ribes has given extensive interviews about his past and his process of copying various styles of painting, as seen in A Genuine Forger.
By Molly George
Sources:
Léon, Jean-Luc, dir. A Genuine Forger, 2016.
Anderson, John. “A Forger’s Impressions of Impressionism.” New York Times 22 March 2013.