Art Forger Elmyr de Hory on This Day in History

Watch: F for Fake

This Day In History: Art forger Elmyr de Hory died on this day in 1976. This artist is said to have sold over 1000 forgeries to reputable art galleries all over the world. He was so good at it that he became famous to the point that people wanted to buy his known forgeries. To this day, his forgeries still sell for a lot of money. In fact, there are now forgeries of Elmyr de Hory's forgeries. Orson Welles made a documentary on Elmyr de Hory that you can watch for free on Youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIVgUjj6RxU

Elmyr de Hory was imprisoned in Hungary for political dissidence, sent to concentration camps by the Germans for being both Jewish and gay (he was not Jewish), jailed in Mexico on suspicion of murder, and jailed again in Spain for "consorting with criminals" and homosexuality...however, he never did time for forgery. He committed suicide in 1976.

It is estimated that all de Hory forgeries were sold for more than $50 million in today's value. As Pablo Picasso once said, "Good artists copy but great artists steal." There is also Charles Caleb Colton remark: "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

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