Mark Landis is a painter who lives in Louisiana.
He drives a big, red Cadillac.
He is a master art forger.
But he never makes a dime off his crimes.
He loves nothing more than donating his forgeries to museums across America.
He often does so in honor of relatives who have never existed.
More here.
Yes, I know he's not the country's most upstanding citizen. But Mr. Landis, you are my favorite person of the week.
9 comments:
I'm not a big fan of this sort of thing -- BUT you'd think "art experts" would be harder to fool.
Robert "I didn't know Titian worked with acrylic paint!" in San San Diego
I was thinking exactly the same thing Robert. Haha. But it's amazing how he is able to fool these people.
Cool. It's really cool how he donates the paintings instead of selling them. Maybe the Irregulars should discover one of his paintings...
i wanna be an artist or a writer and my favorite person of the week is sxott westerfeld ad last week was you kristen miller and the week befor that kristen miller!
This is when it's good to forge art :3 He sounds like a very eccentric person lol [but which genius isn't eccentric? rofl]
But it's nice of him to donate his art
I would like to meet this man and tell him what an inspiration to all humanity he is.
His sense of humor must be incredible.
Wait, so they're trying to sic the FBI on him? Since when is it illegal to give gifts? Didn't they ever listen when mommy told them not to check the price tag on their birthday presents?
@Robert: Is that a line from Vesper Holly? It sounds like something in...er...the one with the exploding sausages? The Drackenberg Adventure.
Dear EQ:
The "Titian/acrylic paint" is my vague recollection of No. 14 from Catherine Prezzano's The Don't List: (Things to avoid if you don't want to be the next victim) from Murder Ink, published in 1977.
I think the justification for the Federal involvement in le affair Landis is that a) it's fraud, and forgery, even if he's not really gaining from it and b) he's doing it across state lines. If he's making the arrangements over the phone, or by email, I think that's "wire fraud."
Robert "I am SO not a lawyer" in San Diego
Moral: Folks expert on the meaning and history of art are not necessarily good forensic experts. I could tell a few stories....
Robert in San Diego
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