Forensics

In bid to fight art fraud, Sotheby’s acquires forensics lab

 In bid to fight art fraud, Sotheby’s has announced that it has purchased a forensics firm whose founder once helped the auction house belatedly identify a $10 million painting as a fake. Sotheby’s said that Orion Analytical, based in Williamstown, Massachusetts, will be folded into the company and its founder, the artist, conservator and forensic scientist James Martin, will lead a new scientific research department charged with making sure the works the auction house deals with are authentic.

The purchase comes amid a number of recent art forgeries in the art world, including a supposed Old Master painting that was sold by Sotheby’s to an art collector for $10 million in a private sale in 2011.

In March of this year, Sotheby’s declared “Portrait of a Man” by Frans Hals a fake after questions arose about its authenticity. An in-depth technical analysis by Orion, reviewed by another conservation scientist, confirmed the suspicion. The forger remains unknown.