By Kwon Mee-yoo
Another group of forgers who produced and distributed counterfeits of top Korean artist Lee U-fan's paintings were arrested, fueling the forgery scandal that swept the Korean art world this year.
These forgers are separate from the ones currently on trial including gallery owner Hyeon and his accomplices.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced Monday it caught a painter, identified only by his surname Park, and husband-and-wife dealers Kim, 58 and Ku, 44, for producing and distributing forgeries of Lee's works.
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Intellectual Crime Investigation Squad, the painter was asked to counterfeit Lee's works and produced some 40 copies of Lee's works including his "From Point" and "From Line" series from November 2012 to November 2014. Park combined stone dust and blue dye to create paint similar to what Lee used. He also practiced Lee's autograph before signing the canvas.
Kim and Ku purchased the fake paintings from Park for around 300 million won ($260,000) and resold those to a gallery owner for 2.9 billion won.
The police found out the canvas was produced after 2005 and painter Park admitted his forgery.
Another group of forgers who produced and distributed counterfeits of top Korean artist Lee U-fan's paintings were arrested, fueling the forgery scandal that swept the Korean art world this year.
These forgers are separate from the ones currently on trial including gallery owner Hyeon and his accomplices.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced Monday it caught a painter, identified only by his surname Park, and husband-and-wife dealers Kim, 58 and Ku, 44, for producing and distributing forgeries of Lee's works.
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Intellectual Crime Investigation Squad, the painter was asked to counterfeit Lee's works and produced some 40 copies of Lee's works including his "From Point" and "From Line" series from November 2012 to November 2014. Park combined stone dust and blue dye to create paint similar to what Lee used. He also practiced Lee's autograph before signing the canvas.
Kim and Ku purchased the fake paintings from Park for around 300 million won ($260,000) and resold those to a gallery owner for 2.9 billion won.
The police found out the canvas was produced after 2005 and painter Park admitted his forgery.
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