Fakes and the Art World

In a world where a single painting can equal the gross national product of a small country, Alice Beckett reveals the new context of faking and fakery. On her mission to explore this arena of greed and rivalry she meets Tom Keating - self-confessed faker - rich kings, buyers, copyists and even the man who fooled Anthony Blunt after going to bed with him, Eric Hebborn. The mass of forgeries entering the art market has changed its face, developing another facet of art - unmasked forgeries are now worth thousands and a museum filled with copies has opened in Tokyo. The Impressionist boom has made legitimate copying a trend. Alice Beckett's stories tell of the myriad kinds of fakery which fill a ruthless marketplace.