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L’affaire Ruffini
Enquête sur le plus grand mystère du monde de l'art
Vincent Noce

Giuliano Ruffini, his son Mathieu, and Lino Frongia, a painter, are suspected by a French judge of having forged and sold dozens of 'Old Masters' painting that have appeared over the past 30 years in Europe and America.

This book goes back over the 4-year-long investigation, describing the paintings’ adventures around the world, shedding light on both the forgers’ technical ingenuity and the experts’ conflicting statements, and describing the colorful characters involved in this lucrative business. It also exposes a worrisome side of the art world, hamstrung by crooked dealings in which millions of dollars change hands before disappearing without a trace.

Major institutions like New York’s Metropolitan Museum, the Getty, London’s National Gallery, the Louvre, Vienna’s Kunsthistoriches Museum and the National Gallery of Parma are all involved, albeit to different degrees. Sotheby’s, Christie’s in Paris, London and New York; prominent London-, Paris-, and Munich-based galleries; recognized experts throughout Europe and the USA are all embroiled in the largest scandal the art world has ever known.

The story of one of the largest art-market frauds in history, paired with a fascinating tour of the world of art experts and analytical laboratories. The case has already been tried in Great Britain and Italy and will soon get its day in court in France, too.

L’affaire Ruffini -
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  • Publication date : 11/02/2021
  • Size : 14 x 20,5 cm, 288 p., 20,00 EUR €
  • ISBN 978-2-283-03404-0
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