A former auctioneer has admitted he helped create and verify 25 fake Basquiat paintings that were seized from the Orlando Museum of Art last year
Michael Barzman, 45, admitted in court papers filed on Tuesday that he and another man -- known only as J.F. -- created the paintings that were passed off as undiscovered works of trailblazing artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, according to aThe fakes, some of which took just five minutes to create, were sold by the duo and made their way through the art market, authorities said.
Reaching a deal, he subsequently agreed to plead guilty to the felony offense and made a series of admissions about the scam, the release adds. "J.F. spent a maximum of 30 minutes on each image and as little as five minutes on others, and then gave them to [Barzman] to sell on eBay," the plea agreement detailed, according to the release."[Barzman] and J.F. agreed to split the money that they made from selling the fraudulent paintings. J.F. and [Barzman] created approximately 20-30 artworks by using various art materials to create colorful images on cardboard.
He continued to deny making the paintings, even after he was shown the back of one of the seized pieces which showed a mailing label that had been painted over -- with his name on it.
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