In September 2010, Mark Landis went to the Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum, under the identity of a jesuit priest, Father Arthur Scott. To be charged with fraud, a victim has to suffer a loss. We use It looks like a million dollars. On the below images, click and drag the slider to compare Landiss versions (at left) to the original masterpieces (which can be uncovered leftCredit: data.images.left.leftCredit, } He reveals, "I was never good at making friends, so I drew. The collective wishful thinking of the art world unconsciously conspires to affirm the authenticity of newly-discovered works. Leininger spent five years tracking Landis, and shared his findings with the public in 2010, resulting in media attention from The Art Newspaper, The Guardian (London), The New York Times, Financial Times, Maxim, CBS Sunday Morning, in addition to other international social media outlets and publications. This was also the case with the other forgeries that the Oklahoma City Museum of Art had been gifted that I also found in other museums while doing my research. Vintage Roots, Modern Enhancements Erin and Ben made thoughtful modifications that took this 1920s cottage from plain-vanilla to sharp and stylish with interiors defined by functional design and a modern-masculine aesthetic. I had poor self-esteem and then all of a sudden Id get treated like royalty, said Landis, explaining one of his motivations. through it. At Wavelength Capital, we strive to make life better: We seek to save people time and money and empower them to reach their important goals faster. Certainly, the case of Mark Landis is a curious one. Someone asked what artists he admired. Mark Landis is an odd person with ears that stick out. rightImage: data.images.right.rightImage, It gave me something to live for.. showButton: data.footer.button.showButton, Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Mark Landis is a freelance writer for The. Institutions provide lunch or carte blanche in their stores, but the story is the same. (function($) { I have tracked Landis travels through 20 states thus far and have linked him to over 50 institutions including the prestigious School of the Art Institute of Chicago. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. One Landis version of an Alfred Jacob Miller painting made it into "six or seven museums.". She's organized a touring exhibition of works by five notorious forgers, including Landis. Landis, Carolyn Press was born on March 24, 1943 in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Landis is an only child. He was a small and sickly child who spent most of his time indoors and had an eye for drawing at a young age. at right). He told the audience at the Omnova Theater Thursday evening he had nothing. university Premium access for businesses and educational institutions. Leininger lives in Cincinnati, Ohio and uses his acquired knowledge of fakes and to help stop other forgers. Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum. IE 11 is not supported. "I mean, these are no small potatoes," Leininger says in the film. His conversation is peppered with quotes from old TV shows and movies. Associated Addresses 5001 Kingsley Dr, Cincinnati, OH 45227 4407 State Route 37 W # 37, Delaware, OH 43015 4407 State Route 37 W, Delaware, OH 43015Show More (+) Associated Phone Numbers (740) 363-3284 (740) 362-7178 (740) 363-5070 (419) 674-4225 (740) 363-4012 The painting was Three Women (Fig. According to John Gapper, who investigated Landis for the Financial Times article, Landis explained his preferred method as follows: he would go to Home Depot, spend approximately $6 on three boards cut to the desired size, and paste digital reproductions of the works he planned to copy onto the boards. Landis fooled museums around the country for years with his convincing copies of Picasso, Signac and Watteau works. I used watercolors and black crayon because thats what they said he used in the catalog. But Mr. Wittman has been unable to find him. (She died last April.) For an optimal experience visit our site on . Howard Kelly Landis III passed away peacefully at his home on January 2, 2021 following a heroic two-year battle with cancer. Landis is an internationally-known art forger who fooled multiple museums across the U.S., the story of which is told in the 2014 documentary "Art and Craft.". Frankly, there are only two things we know for sure about Landis' birth. He used detail elements, like the worn label on the back of the fake Curran, to pass initial examination, but not close scrutiny. Then I run them off on my computer and go over them with some chalk and colored pencils and stuff. You had to rely on him stopping by the museum, without an appointment. After dropping out of the Art Institute of Chicago and failing to open . A slight 59-year-old man with Alfred E. Newman ears and an unprepossessing mien, Landis crisscrossed the country presenting counterfeit art to museums not to enrich himself . Some known art forgers have turned to forgery for psychological and financial reasons. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Cadillac that had belonged to his mother, Jonita Joyce Brantley, formerly of Laurel, Miss., he introduced himself as Father Arthur Scott. I flipped back and forth and would remember it just long enough to get it down. Its the most bizarre thing Ive ever come across, said Matthew Leininger, the director of museum services at the Cincinnati Art Museum, who first met Mr. Landis in 2007 when Mr. Leininger was the registrar at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, and Mr. Landis offered to donate several works under his own name. Hes copied 19th century bank notes from the Republic of Texas. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. His impressive body of work spans thirty years, covering a wide range of painting styles and periods that includes 15th Century Icons, Picasso, and even Walt Disney. Mark Landis visited the Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum in Lafayette, Louisiana, dressed as Father Arthur Scott and claiming he wished to donate a painting in honor of his deceased mother. startPoint: data.images.startPoint, All rights reserved. Simply log into Settings & Account and select "Cancel" on the right-hand side. As one museum director explains in the documentary, Landis would imply he had more paintings he might donate "and possible endowments from the family's estate." hide caption. FUNERAL HOMES. But the fact is he gave it to the museum for free.". This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Mark Landis passed away in Camdenton, Missouri. Why was he doing this? Hi everyone. Leininger quickly found that James Brantley was the name of Mark Landis' step-father, and all signs suggested that the painting was a forgery. They include "magic markers and pens and Wal-Mart frames raw materials that proper forgers might not use," says Cullman. He told the audience at the Omnova Theater Thursday evening he had nothing with making the movie, but Woody Allen liked it, so I hope you all do as well. Photo by: Luisa Porter/ Dispatch Staff. He's thin, pale and bald and looks a little like Truman Capote. He was a diffident, artistic child who was diagnosed at age 17 with schizophrenia and institutionalized for eighteen months. [2] The Art Newspaper was the first of many media outlets to contact me about this case. Landis is a paradox. George Bassi, the director of the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art in Laurel, Miss., where Mr. Landis, 55, has lived off and on for years, said he first encountered him eight years ago, after Mr. Landis moved back to the South from San Francisco, where he is believed to have owned a small art gallery. var data = chameleonData[0]; He has been plying art museums with fakes since the mid-1980s, giving imitations to dozens of U.S. institutions, from Washington to San Francisco. But on the twenty fifth of July 2011 I received an email from the principal of Cabrini High School in New Orleans. leftCredit: data.images.left.leftCredit, It wasn't like Landis went in and said, 'Here, I want to give you this fabulous painting by Picasso and you need to pay me $100,000 for the painting.' ), He also seems unaware of his own artistic gifts. Mr. Tullos of the Hilliard said his museum would like to find a way to stop him in case Mr. Landis decided to adopt another identity and keep up his campaign. He now works with nationally respected NAVIS Pack and Ship. He ended the meeting with a request; See if you can smooth things over for me. When, in 2011, the Times first told the story of Mark Landis the prolific art forger In the film, Landis quotes from, among other old gems, Outer Limits ("Those who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear") and talks about how he and his late father "lived by the code of The Saint," as in the Roger Moore character Simon Templar from the 1960s TV show. He would paint directly onto the digital reproductions and give the works the appearance of age by scuffing the surfaces slightly, distress the paper and boards and in some instances stain them with coffee. And then there is a more practical side to his art. (function($) { The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. Mark is 59 years old. Mr. For three decades Landis created museum-quality forgeries of artworks and donated them to institutions around the country. As far as I know, he last tried to donate a painting in November 2010, when he presented himself, and a forged drawing, to the Ackland Art Museum in North Carolina, again in the guise of Father Scott. Its fake, he said. (function($) { When contacting museums, he would often use aliases and dress like a Jesuit priest. For decades, Mark Landis went about donating his fakes to museums under various names, and sometimes disguised himself as a faux Jesuit priest named Father Arthur Scott. Once I was there, I was able to convince myself I really was a wealthy benefactor. It looks like something an untalented eighth or ninth grader would do. leftButtonText: data.footer.button.leftButtonText, Scholars are privy to a new object to study, adding to their body of extant works and the knowledge amassed from them. An Emmy and Oscar-nominated film company has interviewed Leininger for an exclusive documentary regarding the case. var options = { So in creating these fakes he thought he was making pretty pictures to impress his mom and gifting them to institutions in her name and his fathers name. var beforeAfterContainer = $('#nytmm_beforeAfter_wrapper347 .nytmm_beforeAfter_container'); Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. Search. Before you run them through the computer, But money was not a factor in the scheme of Mark Landis, aka Steven Gardiner, aka Father Arthur Scott, aka Father James Brantley and aka Marc Lanois, when he showed up at Loyola University in New Orleans in February of 2012. Sam Cullman/Courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories Art and Craft has brought his way even if he long ago stopped being able to fool the countrys top museums. [1] The best four summaries of the case appear in The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/12/arts/design/12fraud.html?pagewanted=all), The Art Newspaper (http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/%E2%80%9CJesuit-priest-donates-fraudulent-works/21787), the Financial Times (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/5905c640-2359-11e0-8389-00144feab49a.html#axzz1iaLh3QxA), and Maxim (http://www.maxim.com/amg/STUFF/Articles/Art+Forger+Mark+Landis), and it is largely on these articles that this section is drawn. Pierce contextualised Landis in relation to Honor de Balzac's character, Lucien Chardon, who struggled to read and . He had a connection to Laurel and he knew of the museum, he said, and you just assume good intentions.. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. After a short driving tour of Columbus, as we were looking for a parking spot near the arts center, I asked Landis if he (I was driving his car) had a handicap sticker. His father was a naval officer in NATO and his parents liked to travel. Our soft spot: art and money," says one museum director featured in the documentary. But the fact is he gave it to the museum for free. That would be a crime. He maintains a database of all known contacts with Mr. Landis, sightings of him and works he has copied. Landis, now in his fifties, is a painter and former supposed gallery owner, and a most unusual type of personone who has yet to break a law, and as I mentioned, gained financially. You may also opt to downgrade to Standard Digital, a robust journalistic offering that fulfils many users needs. [1] He is best known for "donating" large numbers of forged paintings and drawings to American art museums. "Mark is one of those people that are so unusual that you kind of don't know what to make of when you meet him," says Cullman. He donated a painting said to be by Charles Courtney Curran, under the pretext of the loss of his mother. His stunts made headlines around the world. Includes Address (11) Phone (7) Email (10) See Results. personalising content and ads, providing social media features and to The art community, its scholars, collectors, curators, and salesmen, have proven themselves a forgers best ally and worst enemy as the professionals do not want to admit they have been duped. Matthew C. Leininger, a museum professional with over 15 years of experience as a registrar, singlehandedly investigated and solved the strange case of Mark Augustus Landisuncovering his art forgeries, multiple identities, and national donations of fake masterpieces. Later, I found this same watercolor in other museums. During a tour of the department Landis told Gibson though his sister had never gone to The W, she thought highly of the school. cookies It would shatter the delicate reliance museums have on donors and supporters if they were to look too closely and, heaven forbid, discover something wrong with the gift offered and accepted.