An untitled work by the Brazilian artist and trailblazer of the modernist movement in the country, Tarsila do Amaral, was up for sale at this year's iteration of the SP Arte art fair in São Paulo last week.
However, according to Jones Bergamin, the director and president of Bolsa de Arte, one of the preeminent auction houses and secondary-market galleries in Brazil, this particular piece was a forgery.
The Allegation Made by Bolsa de Arte's Founder
Bergamin told the Brazilian news outlet Folha de S.Paulo of this revelation last April 4, despite not having examined the piece up close even once, telling the publication that "it is not an authentic work, I don't need to see it up close to be sure of that."
"If you show me the image of a three-dollar bill I won't need to hold it in my hand to say that it is not real," he continued.
Bergamin also said that another tell is the price that the auction house is valuing the piece at, which is 16 million Brazilian Real ($3.15 million) when it should be worth around 25 million to 30 million Brazilian Real ($5.92 million) at least.
This confidence in accurately estimating the price of a work by Do Amaral comes from his auction house's 2020 sale of the artist's "A Caipirinha" (1923) painting, which fetched a record-breaking 57.5 million Brazilian Real ($11.2 million).
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The Response to the Forgery Allegations
Thomaz Pacheco, owner of the gallery selling the alleged copy of Do Amaral's work, OMA Galeria, denied the claims and said that it is virtually impossible to accurately judge the authenticity of a piece without seeing it in person first.
"The people who have spoken out so far in the press, questioning the veracity of the work, none of them have seen the painting, no one," he said.
As per The Art Newspaper, however, the work in question was purportedly not part of the gallery's presentation at the event and was shown privately to prospective buyers.
Eventually, SP Arte released its own statement regarding the contentions about the piece's authenticity in a public release dated April 4, saying that the fair strictly follows international standards with the presentation of the exhibitors' projects, wherein "analysis is carried out by a selection committee."
"Regarding the work itself, it was not displayed on the walls of the stand nor was it included in the approved project," the art fair explained.
