French museum discovers half of its collection are fakes
by David Chazan
Collioure in the Pyrenees by Étienne Terrus. The museum discovered half of the paintings it believed were by the artist were forgeries
A state-owned French art museum has discovered that more than half of its collection consists of worthless fakes and experts fear that other public galleries may also be stuffed with forgeries.
An art historian raised the alarm after noticing that paintings attributed to Etienne Terrus showed buildings that were only constructed after the artist’s death in 1922.
Experts confirmed that 82 of the 140 works displayed at the Terrus museum in Elne, the artist’s birthplace in southern France, were fakes.