(Roughly) Daily

German artist Edgar Mrugalla was incredibly prolific in his lifetime, having painted more than 3,500 pieces by the time he was 65. And yet, not one of those was an original work. Mrugalla was an expert art forger, copying the works of Rembrandt, Picasso, Renoir and many other masters. His self-taught skill even earned him two years in prison, only to be released by working with authorities to uncover which artworks might be forgeries, including his own.

Though none were original, some of Mrugalla’s works are now on display in a museum: the Museum of Art Fakes in Vienna. Diane Grobe, co-owner and founder of the museum that opened in 2005, credits Mrugalla with the inspiration for the opening. “[I was inspired by] his exciting stories,” Grobe told Smithsonian.com via email. “He gave [the museum] our first forgeries —​ [paintings copying] Rembrandt, Müller [and] Picasso. After this meeting, we [looked] for other counterfeiters with similar exciting lives, [including Thomas​] Keating, [Eric] Hebborn [and Han van] ​Meegeren, and then we began to collect their forgeries.” Now, the museum holds a collection of more than 80 forged works…

Forged Matisse

Begin your visit (if only, for a start, virtually) at: “Everything in This Museum Is Fake“; browse the collection here.

* James Fenton

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As we ruminate on the real, we might wish feliz cumpleaños to Pablo Picasso; he was born on this date in 1881.  So prolific in so many forms that he (almost) outran forgers of his work, he was also so impactful– he is probably the best-known artist of the 2oth century– that he attracted them like flies.

Picasso in 1908

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