In this photo taken on March 15, 2017, a woman puts the finishing touches on the painting Ritratto di Chaim Soutine ' (Portrait of Chaim Soutine), attributed in the exhibit to the Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani, on display at the Ducal Palace in Genoa, Italy. Consumer advocates are demanding refunds after an expert ruled that a Genoa exhibit was full of Modigliani fakes. The Italian news agency ANSA reported Tuesday that the expert, appointed by a Genoa court during a prosecutorâs probe, concluded that at least 20 of 21 paintings displayed in 2017 during the Ducal Palace exhibit were clearly fakes. (Luca Zennaro/ANSA via AP)
The Associated Press
ROME (AP) - Consumer advocates in Italy are demanding refunds after an expert ruled that almost all the paintings featured in a Genoa art exhibition devoted to Amedeo Modigliani were fakes.
The Italian news agency ANSA reported Tuesday that the expert, appointed by a Genoa court during a prosecutor's probe, concluded that at least 20 of 21 paintings displayed during the 2017 Ducal Palace exhibit were clearly forged.
Consumer advocate Furio Truzzi on Wednesday urged ticket-buyers to seek refunds based on fraud.
The palace shuttered the show in July, three days before its scheduled closing, after prosecutors began investigating doubts art experts had expressed about the authenticity of the paintings.
Modigliani died in poverty in 1920, but the elongated necks and faces of his portraits have made him one of the most recognized artists of the early 20th century.
In this photo taken on March 15, 2017, a view of the painting ' Cariatide Rossa ' (Red Caryatid), attributed in a exhibit at the Ducal Palace in Genoa, Italy, to the Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani. Consumer advocates are demanding refunds after an expert ruled that a Genoa exhibit was full of Modigliani fakes. The Italian news agency ANSA reported Tuesday that the expert, appointed by a Genoa court during a prosecutorâs probe, concluded that at least 20 of 21 paintings displayed in 2017 during the Ducal Palace exhibit were clearly fakes. (Luca Zennaro/ANSA via AP)
The Associated Press
In this photo taken on June 5, 2017, Rudy Chiappini, art critic and curator of a Modigliani exhibition poses at the Ducal Palace in Genoa, Italy. Consumer advocates in Italy are demanding refunds after an expert ruled that almost all the paintings featured in a Genoa art exhibition on Amedeo Modigliani were fakes. The Italian news agency ANSA reported Tuesday that the expert, appointed by a Genoa court during a prosecutorâs probe, concluded that at least 20 of 21 paintings displayed during the Ducal Palace exhibit in 2017 were clearly fakes. (Luca Zennaro/ANSA via AP)
The Associated Press