'The sophisticated answer': a recent display of forgeries held at the Victoria and Albert Museum

• Autores: Tom Hardwick
• Localización: Burlington magazine, ISSN 0007-6287, Vol. 152, Nº 1287, 2010, págs. 406-408
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • From January 23 to February 21, 2010, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, held an exhibition initiated and curated by the Arts and Antiques unit at Scotland Yard, entitled “The Metropolitan Police Service's Investigation of Fakes and Forgeries.” Given pride of place in the exhibition was the “Amarna Princess,” a fragmentary alabaster statue acquired by Bolton Museum, England, for £440,000 in 2003, as a representation of one of the daughters of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten. This item went on to form the centerpiece of an investigation that saw George Greenhalgh and his wife and son convicted on charges of fraud stretching back over 17 years. While Greenhalgh's atelier featured prominently in the exhibition, a number of other recent British forgeries were also included. The straightforward views manifest throughout this unrepentantly dogmatic exhibition contrasted with the more discursive approach now adopted by most museum curators.