Orlando Art Museum Accused of Exhibiting Fake Paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat

The Orlando Museum of Art was accused of exhibiting more than two dozen counterfeit paintings which they claim were created by acclaimed artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.
The New York Times reported over the weekend that the FBI is investigating 25 paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat that have been uncovered in Florida for about three months.
The investigation began after The Times reported on questions raised about the authenticity of the paintings a week after the exhibition opened. The works in question are valued at approximately $100 million.
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According to the museum, the pieces are genuine and genuine from the late American Neo-Expressionist painter who rose to fame in the 1980s.
Aaron De Groft, director and general manager of the museum, claims Basquiat’s works were sold directly by himself to Hollywood screenwriter Thad Mumford for a whopping $5,000 in cash. Said to have been created in 1982 while living and working in a studio in Venice, California.
According The New York TimesThe FBI’s Art Crime team is interested in ‘Untitled’ (Self-Portrait or Crown Face II), a particular piece (pictured below) that Basquiat allegedly painted on a FedEx cardboard box that wasn’t even used by the company until 1994, six years after the famous painter died of a drug overdose.
According to Brooklyn Museum, before his death in 1988, Basquiat is said to have created approximately 2,100 works of art. The exhibition lasts for another month before the paintings are exhibited in Italy.
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