Police officers from Italy’s art theft squad crashed an exhibition dedicated to Salvador Dalí in Parma on Wednesday and seized 21 lithographs on suspicion that they were fakes.
The exhibition, “Salvador Dalí, Between Art and Myth,” opened at Palazzo Tarasconi last week, but the art squad had been on the case for months after the same exhibition drew suspicions at a venue in Rome.
“The exhibition appeared a little mediocre in the sense that there were no paintings, no important works by the author, but mostly objects, a few numbered sculptures,” said Lt. Col. Diego Polio, the head of Rome’s art theft squad, which executed the seizure.
Colonel Polio had contacted the Gala Salvador Dalí Foundation in Spain, which sent experts to the Rome exhibition. They raised concerns about the authenticity of the 21 lithographs after analyzing the show’s 200-some works. Prosecutors in Rome then ordered the works to be seized so they could be studied by experts.
The exhibition’s organizers were under investigation, while the curator was only a person of interest, Colonel Polio said. “It’s clear that as the curator he allowed the works to be exhibited but prosecutors still have to examine his position,” he said.
The exhibition’s organizers did not respond to interview requests.
But the curator, Vincenzo Sanfo, stood by the seized lithographs, saying he had “all the documentation” to support their authenticity.
He said that of the 21 confiscated works, 18 belonged to “Les Chevaux de Dalí,” a series of horse-themed lithographs that was published by Armand & Georges Israel in 1983. The series was printed with the consent of the Surrealist artist, and a portfolio was created with lithographs numbered from 3,001 to 4,980, a total of 1,980 copies.
Mr. Sanfo said that the series that was seized was numbered 3,680 and that his daughter had bought it for 1,500 euros. More expensive copies of the edition are available, he said, because they include one or two plates signed by Dalí.
The police raid surprised Mr. Sanfo because he said the works were “not so valuable.” He added, “It doesn’t justify all the ruckus.”
Colonel Polio said the Dalí exhibition in Parma had been on the authorities’ radar because a major exhibition organized by the Gala Salvador Dalí Foundation is set to open this month at a private museum in Rome.
“It was very strange that the first exhibit had not been vetted by the foundation, which authenticates everything that goes on exhibit,” he said.
In a statement, the Gala Salvador Dalí Foundation said the Parma exhibition did not have the collaboration of the foundation, which it said “safeguards the artist’s legacy.”
“From the moment the content of this exhibition — which began in Rome and has now moved to Parma — became known, the Dalí Foundation expressed its doubts” to investigators “regarding three drawings and a series of graphic works,” the organization said. The foundation declined to answer further questions.
The foundation is the principal lender of the exhibition “Dalí. Revolution and Tradition,” which opens in Rome at the Palazzo Cipolla on Oct. 17. It will feature authenticated artworks as well as documents and audiovisual materials.
Italy’s art squad is renowned for tracking down stolen art and antiquities, and it also handles a fair share of forgeries. Last year, it dismantled what it described as a Europe-wide network of forgers and dealers, seizing 450 works on exhibit at a historic palazzo in Pisa.
Elisabetta Povoledo is a Times reporter based in Rome, covering Italy, the Vatican and the culture of the region. She has been a journalist for 35 years.
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