Inside the Weird World of Art Forgery

Ken Perenyi knows a thing or two about forging art. He did it for almost 30 years. But now he's gone legit.

Two FBI agents knocked on the door of his Florida home and began a five-year investigation into Perenyi’s production and sale of fraudulent paintings. He'd passed off forgeries of primarily 19th-century artists, like James E. Buttersworth, in major international auction houses.

"Imitation is the greatest form of flattery. The artists that I targeted in 99% of all cases were long dead, but I feel that I paid a tribute to them," Perenyi told VICE News.

Though the investigation eventually stalled and Perenyi was never charged with a crime, he decided to take his business aboveboard. Today, instead of selling his work under some high-profile artist’s name, he legally sells authentic reproductions to clients who want to look like they own high art, without paying the high prices.

VICE News visited Perenyi in his home to reflect on art crime, his new business, and recent concerns that forgers have found a new target: black American artists.

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[jeditor]

He wrote an excellent memoir called Caveat Emptor. The most interesting part of his story was something he did not say here. The FBI told the auction houses they could press charges, but none did because they didn’t want to look like fools who sold fakes to millionaires. The auction houses didn’t even want to know which paintings were fakes.

[scrublord]

I’m a painter and honestly I love this guy. It’s hard out here to make a living and he’s taking advantage of the elite class of idiots. I love it

[MMORPGmusic]

That Leonardo painting went missing for awhile, it was actually in a Yacht of a Saudi royal. The guy is so rich that he simply forgot about it

[DegreesOfThree]

VICE should have done 30 minutes on this guy instead of the 8 chan troll.

[krabkrusttv]

Honestly, they guy is probably an incredible painter after studying and reproducing the greats.

[marcklopez]

his fakes are so valuable that they have now become “fake masterpieces“, the irony of being a clever artist. kudos to this man for crossing the boundaries of art and redirecting them.

[tigressor]

this guy is a legend
"I liked money, I spent a lot of money."

[mwlobbyfree]

This guy is great at speaking. His manner, charisma and the style he gives off is awesome. What a character.

[laurellogan]

She seemed to judge him too much. I respect this dude, he's a legend

[TheDiabethick]

I love how honest he is.

- Why did you do it?

- I liked the money.

[sgm]

This man needs a Netflix doc he’s so talented wth

[rustcohle]

She really wanted to talk about race at the end lmao he ain't budging

[Blaqk_]

3:43 "It would compromise the integrity of the fake."

[DursunX]

i love this.
art is all about perception and demand.
if a forgery can become a masterpiece, then a masterpiece can oneday be worthless too.
the lines are blurred, pardon the pun

[LavendrHoney]

This man is a genius. A man of taste he not only steals from the elites who have money to spend idiotically. But the irony he creates in making high class fakes themselves become masterpieces of deception. That in itself is art at its highest form. If you can be so skilled to go under the radar that the FBI comes knocking on your door you have a talent. Imitation is the highest form of flattery. Picasso once said "Good artist copy great artist steal" Tarantino said 'Great artist steal they don't do homages' good for him not to put his name on this oxymoron of skill.

[babery]

I hate that this journalist smirks at him when he talks about how important these pieces are to him. he's dedicated to the perfect recreation of these works, no shit he's going to care about them deeply. how could he possibly make such impressively accurate "fakes" if he only cared about the exploitative part of it?

[cmdtuts]

I have no problem with forged artworks.
It's a work of art in itself.

Studies and copies are different, a forgery is meant to pass a test.

[GiGiGiWest]

I never knew that art criminal could be the aspirational goal

[alexvineyard]

oh my god who could have guessed this was gonna end up being about race

[jagotiberan]

I honestly liked the fact that he said he wouldn’t forge artists who were just starting to build a legacy, especially African American artists. He’s a forger, but he’s got a code. Love it.