BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA.- The National Museum of Fine Arts in Argentina, one of the most important I Latin America is surrounded in scandal after it’s having been discovered to possess fake works of art, informed the local press. The Museum’s crisis in credibility has reached such leaves that the Argentinean authorities have impeded its use of its cultural patrimony, for which it will not be able to either buy nor loan out any of the 13,000 works of art that comprise its collection.

 

Investigations began after an anonymous statement was received by the justice departments last December, during the management of the former museum director Jorge Glusberg. The statement assures that the Museum exhibits fake pieces and that the institution’s official inventories do not coincide with the number of pieces that make up the cultural center’s legacy.

 

Because of the statement, a judge ordered a lawful entry into the museum and confiscation of the inventory to put all of the works under the scrutiny of experts of the Supreme Court. During the last three months, the experts have analyzed 50 works of art and have discovered that t least 10 are fakes, the majority of which pertain to European authors, principally Spaniards from the 19th century.

 

The paintings “”Humoristic Street Scene”, by Jose Garcia y Ramos, “Northern Landscape”, by Joaquin Vaquero Palacios; “A Stop”, by Hans von Hayek; “Linde del Bosque”, by Willem Perels; “The Seamstress”, by Emilio Grau Sala; “Composition”, by Gustave de Barrier; “Gypsy”, by Emilio de Sala Frances; “Passegiata” by Emma Ciardi; and “Pears”, by Severo Rodriguez Etchart are just some of those that have been declared fake.

 

After the expert’s declaration, that detailed the analysis of the paintings, the authorities have decided to subject them to further studies.  Also, authorities have begun investigations to determine whether or not the originals are circulating on the black markets for stolen art.

 

The museum’s current director, Alberto Bellucci, has declared that the fake works of art where in storage areas and not on exhibition.