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# Steve Martin Victim to German Art Forgery Ring
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/steve-martin-forgery-ring/
- Published: 2011-06-01T11:30:41.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T15:48:51.000Z
- Description: In a twist strangely echoed by the actor's recent art-world novel An Object of Beauty, Der Spiegel reports that Steve Martin is the victim of a German art forgery ring. Martin purchased what he thought was Heinrich Campendonk's “Landscape With Horses” (1915) for $850,000. Turns out, the painting was
- Author: Kyle Chayka
- Tags: Opinion, #image-position-hidden, Art Crime, Christie's, Steve Martin, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2025-11-17 09:23 (2009-2011)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2011/05/image-220292-galleryv9-tcjf.jpg)

The suspected forgery, Heinrich Campendonk's “Landscape With Horses” (1915) (image via spiegel.de)

In a twist strangely echoed by the actor’s recent art-world novel *An Object of Beauty*, [*Der Spiegel* reports](http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,765658,00.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) that Steve Martin is the victim of a German art forgery ring. Martin purchased what he thought was [Heinrich Campendonk](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich%5FCampendonk?ref=hyperallergic.com)‘s “Landscape With Horses” (1915) for $850,000\. Turns out, the painting was from the “Knops” or “Jägers” art collections devised by a group of German swindlers caught in 2010, the newspaper writes.

The painting in question (seen above) is a rather fanciful expressionist composition caught somewhere between Marc Chagall’s floaty surrealism and [Ernst Ludwig Kirchner](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst%5FLudwig%5FKirchner?ref=hyperallergic.com)‘s acid colors. I would say it looks kind of like a [Lisa Frank](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa%5FFrank?ref=hyperallergic.com) pastiche without the dolphins, but maybe that’s unfair to Martin’s artistic sensibilities. In any case, the suspected forgers are now in jail, without the ability to create any more day-glo horse pictures.

Though the painting was sold to another collector in 2006 through Christie’s, Martin isn’t accused of any wrongdoing, [notes the *New York Times*](http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/31/forged-painting-was-once-in-collection-of-steve-martin-german-police-say/?ref=hyperallergic.com). The actor has bought fakes in the past — “once or twice in my life,” he says, “and each time you become more and more cautious.” So lesson to all of you would-be art buyers out there: look twice before you leap. But if you happen to buy wrong, just pass it off to someone else before the scandal breaks.

Also, how awesome of a last name is Campendonk?