China’s art market has rapidly risen, now ranking as the second-largest in the world. The booming auction industry has made the art market highly lucrative, attracting counterfeit art syndicates looking to cash in.

These groups often produce high-quality forgeries of paintings and other artworks, presenting them as genuine pieces—even auction houses themselves can sometimes be deceived.

Professor Ye Guo-Shin, a doctor in art authentication and former appraiser for 12 global auction houses, states that even the world’s top auction companies cannot guarantee that 100% of their listings are free from counterfeits.

Ye Guo-Shin: “Counterfeit syndicates are far more professional than you might think. Some even employ trained artists who specialize in replicating masterpieces. For the average buyer, distinguishing real from fake is extremely difficult.”

For example, two seemingly identical paintings could have drastically different values. A genuine piece by artist Liu Wenxi may be worth 3 million yuan, while a forgery could cost less than 30 yuan to produce.

Ye Guo-Shin’s Simple Methods to Identify Fake Artworks:

1. Use a Magnifying Glass to Spot Primary Colors:
   • Many counterfeiters use digital inkjet printing, a low-cost and fast reproduction method. If you look closely and see primary color dots (cyan, magenta, yellow), the artwork was likely printed rather than painted.
2. Examine the Signature and Seal:
   • Check if the seal’s imprint and the signature’s ink consistency match the artist’s authentic works. Even the color of the seal ink can help determine authenticity.

Counterfeiters Exploit Buyers’ Greed for Bargains

Ye Guo-Shin warns that scammers often play on human greed by claiming they urgently need money and selling at a low price. Buyers may believe they’re getting a great deal, but in reality, a forgery has zero value.

He recalls a friend who spent 1 million yuan on a Zhang Daqian painting, thinking it was a bargain—only to later discover it was fake and completely worthless.

For high-value artworks worth millions, counterfeiters may spend just a few hundred yuan to create a forgery, reaping staggering profits. This high-reward, low-risk dynamic has led to an ongoing flood of fake artworks in the market.

(TVBS News | Reporter: Shi Yi / Cameraman: Lü Jia-Qing)

Original Source: Difficult to Distinguish Genuine from Fake: Counterfeit Art Syndicates Turn Hundreds into Millions