An art dealer in Florida has pleaded guilty to the sale of counterfeit artwork, including pieces he claimed were by pop artist Andy Warhol.
An art dealer in South Florida has pleaded guilty in federal court to charges related to the sale of counterfeit artwork, including pieces he claimed were the work of famed 1960s pop artist Andy Warhol.
Daniel Elie Bouaziz, 69, is the owner of multiple galleries in Palm Beach county.
Bouaziz reportedly charged between $75,000 and $240,000 USD for the fraudulent artwork, which he claimed were originals – including some which featured fraudulent artist signatures.
The customer paid Bouaziz a $200,000 down payment for the works which he believed were genuine, officials said.
The comingled funds were then wired to other accounts.
Bouaziz pleaded guilty to a single count of money laundering and will face a sentencing hearing in Fort Pierce district court.
While $200,000 is a high price for a forgery, it’s a mere fraction of the price of an authentic Warhol original.
Andy Warhol was an American visual artist, film director and producer who is best known as a leader in the pop art movement in the 1960s.
He was particularly famed for his works created using silk screen printing, a technique where images are made with the use of mesh, inks and stencils.
Last year, Warhol’s painting Shot Sage Blue Marilyn (1964) sold for US$195,040,000, making it the most expensive piece of 20th-century art ever sold.
Bouaziz’s forgery case coincides with a similar case in Madrid, as Spanish collector Guillermo Chamorro, 67, now faces four years in prison for attempting to sell 16 artworks at a Madrid auction house, 15 of which were forgeries.
Chamorro’s forgeries included a copy of Roy Lichtenstein’s Whaam!. The original piece currently resides in the Tate Modern art galley in London.
All 16 artworks were recovered by police, including the one authentic piece by English artist David Hockney.
Daniel Elie Bouaziz faces up to 10 years of prison at a sentencing on May 30th.
