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Quoted By:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/02/14/monet.fake.ap/index.html
BERLIN, Germany (AP) -- -- A German museum has discovered that a painting believed to be by French impressionist Claude Monet is a forgery, an official said Thursday.
The painting, believed to be Monet's "On the Banks of the Seine by Port Villez," was unmasked as a fake when restorers prepared it for an exhibition on the Impressionist period, said Stefan Swertz, a spokesman for the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne.
"We are laughing and crying at the same time," Swertz said, adding that there had long been suspicions about the origins of the picture, acquired by the museum in 1954.
The painting will nevertheless remain on display at the museum, Swertz said, showcasing the capabilities of modern technology in examining paintings.
"We will use this as a learning process, to show how to recognize forged art," he said.
BERLIN, Germany (AP) -- -- A German museum has discovered that a painting believed to be by French impressionist Claude Monet is a forgery, an official said Thursday.
The painting, believed to be Monet's "On the Banks of the Seine by Port Villez," was unmasked as a fake when restorers prepared it for an exhibition on the Impressionist period, said Stefan Swertz, a spokesman for the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne.
"We are laughing and crying at the same time," Swertz said, adding that there had long been suspicions about the origins of the picture, acquired by the museum in 1954.
The painting will nevertheless remain on display at the museum, Swertz said, showcasing the capabilities of modern technology in examining paintings.
"We will use this as a learning process, to show how to recognize forged art," he said.
