The Art of Deception

Abstract

Preserving history is at stake with the ceaseless threat of theft and forgery, which causes our world’s cultural artifacts to be in dire danger. Art and cultural property crime is the top third illicit industry in the world causing billions of dollars lost annually. Museums do not have the incentive to transparently publicize discovered forgery or theft cases within their own collection, because of the severe social, economic and political consequences that are commonly experienced once known by society. These institutions are repeatedly careless when authenticating artwork and they are also negligent with properly preventing pieces from being stolen. Only 5-10% of stolen art is ever recovered. Every museum visitor is viewed as a possible perpetrator of theft. Visual security technologies enhance the artwork’s perceived value, transforming the visitor’s museum experience. Unfortunately, some security technologies within museums are just inoperative facades, giving the mere illusion of safety for artwork. To combat the rise of art theft, security measures and tactics need to be exponentially heightened. The history of ownership of an artwork, otherwise known as ‘provenance’, usually is in the form of a verifiable document of authentication, determining the ranking of value of the piece. There are many known cases of forgers creating false provenance stories, which often permanently alters museum archives. The lines are frequently indistinguishable of what is fictional and accurate within museum spaces.