Pei-Shen Qian, a Chinese immigrant based in Queens, was the painter behind one of the largest forgery scandals in recent years. Over the course of fourteen years, Qian worked alongside Glafira Rosales, Jose Carlos Bergantinos Diaz, and Jesus Bergantinos Diaz to create and sell over forty paintings under such names as Jackson Pollock and Rothko. Many of these works were sold through the prestigious Knoedler Gallery, which was under the direction of Anne Freedman. In 2009, it was discovered that a painting sold to a prominent couple in the fashion industry had been a fake, and the Knoedler was brought to court. It wasn’t until 2013, two years after the Knoedler closed because of the scandal, that Rosales was brought to court and admitted the work, painted by Qian, was a fake. Since then, Qian has returned to China, maintaining that he was unaware his works were being sold under the names of famous artists. This scandal, which ultimately led to the downfall of the Knoedler Gallery and Freedman’s career, was detailed in a recent Netflix documentary, Made You Look: A True Story About Fake Art.
By Whitney White
Sources:
Miller, M. H. “The Big Fake: Behind the Scenes of Knoedler Gallery’s Downfall,” ArtNews. (25 April 2016). https://www.artnews.com/art-news/artists/the-big-fake-behind-the-scenes-of-knoedler-gallerys-downfall-6179/. [accessed 4 May 2021]