Na senda do autêntico: a falsificação artística em Portugal e a sua relação com os métodos laboratoriais

Abstract

The framing of the phenomenon of art forgery, with reference to the recourse of art and forensic laboratories as means of mitigation and control in various areas of society, is essential for a better understanding of its impact. With this goal in mind, this study conducts a critical and systematic investigation of various sources, starting from 1936 to the present day, a period during which significant apprehension of forgeries occurred in Portugal. Starting from the analysis of the different national operative contexts related to the laboratory expertise process of the artwork (the criminal/police context, the museological context, and the analytical/laboratory context), the approaches to production, criminalization, and police response are herein focused on, as well as their expositive presentation and heritage management. Subsequently, the various methodologies currently available for criminal, artistic, and analytical investigation of forgery are explored in depth. The results of the investigation, carried out in archives of institutions involved in the identification process of forgeries in Portugal, have led to new conclusions regarding the phenomenon, as well as the creation of a database of laboratory expertise processes, henceforth available for future cases of art authentication. Additionally, the enhancement of protocol work in network between different national institutions and foundations is described, aiming at the creation of tools and methodologies that can aid in the identification of forgeries. This multidisciplinary collaboration resulted in the development of a real-time case study, which contributed to dismantling a network of organized crime responsible for introducing several forgeries imitating the artist Malangatana into the market. The survey and treatment of unprecedented criminal, museological, and laboratory data have corroborated, from a historical-artistic point of view, the key role played by the Laboratory in the battle against art forgery, as a transversal and consistent issue in Portuguese society.