Real Fake: The Art, Life & Crimes of Elmyr De Hory

source: Real Fake: The Art, Life & Crimes of Elmyr De Hory

Moviecut—Real Fake: The Art, Life & Crimes of Elmyr De Hory

If you love movies about art forgery, please look somewhere else because this is not it. A trainwreck of bad sound, editing, and terrible narration by a very unpleasant looking old white guy. Takes a compelling story and utterly ruins it. Very dissapointing.

I love good documentaries about art forgery and theft! So I was eager to watch this film after I stumbled upon it on Amazon. But as interesting as Elmyr De Hory's long, lurid career as a top art forger was it was nearly immediately dulled by the choppy editing, the terrible amateurish sound and the thick accents of the people interviewed. I managed to last 20 minutes before I gave up of this mostly incoherent documentary, Very disappointing.

There has been a rash of recent films about art forgers, so I have been watching all of them because the topic intrigues me. The stories all have interesting parallels but are distinguished by the particular artist´s own eccentricities. Elmyr De Hory´s story is truly fascinating. He was quite the playboy (albeit gay) and was hanging out in Ibiza with all sorts of outcasts during the height of his success. Like Beltracchi, Ribes, and Landis, De Hory created fakes, not exact copies of existent works. So he, too, knew a lot about the history of art and had a lot of technical savvy. Unlike the others, De Hory does not seem ever to have developed his own style, and sadly he committed suicide when he came to believe (erroneously) that he was about to be extradited for his crimes. Apparently many of his works are lurking still in great museums and private collections, with people too terrified to subject their possessions to rigorous analysis for fear that they may prove to have been among the dupes. Eventually the truth will emerge, when someone tries to sell the works, as usually happens, sooner or later. Like Beltracchi, De Hory was ultimately caught because he used a titanium white paint not available at the opening of the twentieth century and so which could not have been used by the French painters he regularly faked. I enjoyed this film. There was very little time spent with De Hory himself, who comes off as an elusive character, which seems fitting since he lived a double life, in the shadows...

I recently watch Real Fake, Jeff Oppenheim's fascinating documentary on the art, life, and crimes of Elmyr de Hory. It not only immerses the viewer in the runaway and unregulated art market, but the film also takes you on a journey of the expert's world and the reliance on "provenance" "connoisseurship" as well as the fascinating new science of "art forensics." The film features many global art experts that are as accessible and knowledge as they are charming and even funny. The filmmaker's down to earth approach to art, and his playful narrative (and sometimes appearance) guide the viewer on an incredible and complex journey to better understand Elmyr de Hory. Ultimately the film stirs a deep conversation that continues well past the film about beauty, truth, and value in something so subjective as art.

What is art, what is authenticity? These are just a few of the questions that you find yourself immersed in while watching Real Fake. What is the value of art when even the experts can't tell what's real and what's fake. If the art is beautiful does it matter that Renoir didn't really paint it? de Hory created the most puzzling paradox the art world ever saw. Decades after his desk art experts are still struggling to separate the masterpieces he created from the ones created by the actual masters. I doubt even Sherlock Holmes could solve this one.

source: Real Fake: The Art, Life & Crimes of Elmyr De Hory

What is art, what is authenticity? These are just a few of the questions that you find yourself immersed in while watching Real Fake. What is the value of art when even the experts can't tell what's real and what's fake. If the art is beautiful does it matter that Renoir didn't really paint it? de Hory created the most puzzling paradox the art world ever saw. Decades after his desk art experts are still struggling to separate the masterpieces he created from the ones created by the actual masters. I doubt even Sherlock Holmes could solve this one.