“C” is for Pollock! (screenshot via YouTube)
The Knoedler & Company scandal — the blue-chip gallery is being sued by collectors for selling about $63 million worth of fake work by major names in 20th-century art — has been filled with intrigue all along: lawsuits upon lawsuits, a president who calls herself “the central victim,” a master Chinese forger, and a dealer with $12.5 million in secret income. But the latest twist involves something far more basic: spelling. Yes, it turns out that one of the forgeries attributed to Jackson Pollock was in fact signed “Pollok.” Oops.
This is the most basic of errors, and it’s made all the more frustrating by the fact that it could have been caught and fixed in time! Don’t the good people responsible for this massive forgery scam know there are hundreds of hungry copy editors out there looking for work? In the meantime, we look forward to seeing all the Moterwells, de Kooings, Rothos that have yet to come out of the woodwork in this case.
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I got first dibs on the Piasso.