We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. But the fact is he gave it to the museum for free.". Landis grew up in Europe in the 1960s. showFooter: data.footer.showFooter, beforeAfterContainer.BeforeAfter(options); Art fraud investigator Colette Loll believes making fakes was the way he managed his mental illness. According to John Gapper, who investigated Landis for the Financial Times article, Landis explained his preferred method as follows: he would go to Home Depot, spend approximately $6 on three boards cut to the desired size, and paste digital reproductions of the works he planned to copy onto the boards. It seemed that Landis was still operating but now under another alias. Landis did not use sophisticated techniques to fool experts. He's compiled a four-inch-thick dossier that includes photos of framed fakes hanging in. He ended the meeting with a request; See if you can smooth things over for me. leftImage: data.images.left.leftImage, showFooter: data.footer.showFooter, "Mark is one of those people that are so unusual that you kind of don't know what to make of when you meet him," says Cullman. Arthur Landis, Jr. and even closer his late mother Jonita Joyce Brantley as she did remarry when Landis' father passed. Landis is a wisp of a man. Sam Cullman/Courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community. When, in 2011, the Times first told the story of Mark Landis the prolific art forger That would be a crime. leftButtonText: data.footer.button.leftButtonText, analyse how our Sites are used. Sam Cullman/Courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories. Landis himself stated to me that his rationale for perpetrating this unusual scheme was that Everyone likes to be treated nice.. Later, Landis learns about Trina's past and turns her in to the authorities, planning to clear her name. [2] The Art Newspaper was the first of many media outlets to contact me about this case. We support credit card, debit card and PayPal payments. He looks like he's about 70, except at the time of the film, he was 59. Mother of Max Landis Mother of Rachel Landis. . } caption: data.footer.caption, at right). Numerous attempts to contact Mr. Landis at phone numbers listed for him in public records and at numbers he provided to museums were unsuccessful. It is the confidence of gifting his forgeries gaining no financial advantage in addition to playing on the reliance of museums on donations that makes the trick so successful. Mark Landis may be the most infamous and prolific art forger who has never committed a crime. And then there is a more practical side to his art. "The setup as we were introduced to the story was these people were on opposing sides," says Cullman. He fought the disease much like he lived his life - with . His last known attempt to pass off a forgery occurred in mid-November, when he presented himself, again as Father Arthur Scott, at the Ackland Art Museum at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, bearing a French Academic drawing. They include "magic markers and pens and Wal-Mart frames raw materials that proper forgers might not use," says Cullman. Mark Landis has been a member of Actors' Equity Association since 1978, and his work in the professional theatre took him to a number of different parts of the U.S. where he worked as an actor, a director, and a stage manager. caption: data.footer.caption, FAUX Real or should I say FOR Real? Landis Sims, a 10-year-old boy born with no hands or lower legs, joined Alex Rodriguez and the Yankees for a day of baseball. leftButtonText: data.footer.button.leftButtonText, var options = { Jordan Kushins. I think he blessed everyone (here)., Im kind of like a method actor, Landis told the BBC earlier this year. His only prize was personal enjoyment in being catered to by the art world, that his own works were being accepted into established collections and lauded as originals, gifted in his parents memories. Mark Landis Photo by Joseph Dalton Twelve years ago, The Art Newspaper broke a story about a prolificand somewhat eccentricart forger, who had been placing his work in the collections of. rightImage: data.images.right.rightImage, OBITUARIES. Before monetary profit enters the thoughts of a forger for their gain, the only benefit for the professional in the collecting field is disproving the discovery of a new, potentially valuable work that comes on the market. As a distant family member (Mark's mother & my father were brother and sister) I sat mesmerized . rightButtonText: data.footer.button.rightButtonText I did not seek the media; they sought me and this story as a social interest piece to help me educate the public, which has been my mission with Landis. 2013 International Arts & Artists. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Landis's career as an art forger began in the mid-1980s, when he gave some pictures to a California museum, saying they were by the American 20th Century artist Maynard Dixon. All rights reserved. Or half a million, I suppose., A scene from the documentary film, Art and Craft., Milan Fashion Week: Dsquared Spring/Summer 2015. He donated a painting said to be by Charles Courtney Curran, under the pretext of the loss of his mother. There are 90+ professionals named "Mark Landis", who use LinkedIn to exchange information, ideas, and opportunities. "He remembers not only names and titles and actors but lines from all of these movies which do make their way into his vernacular.". beforeAfterContainer.BeforeAfter(options); (She died last April.) Mark sometimes has difficult days, but through his art he finds purpose and . His, or should I say mothers, red Cadillac was parked outside, and Gapper heard music coming from inside the apartment. In Art & Craft, we also learn that Landis is a. [3] He studied photography in Chicago before becoming an art dealer in San Francisco. It does not store any personal data. cookies Mark Augustus Landis (born 1955) is an American painter who lives in Laurel, Mississippi. It is also quite possible that he is one of the greatest artists of our age. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of art history, and is capable of copying great works of art in a matter of minutes. Article topics. Before he left, he blessed me, said Gibson. But when he paid a visit to the Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum in Lafayette, La., last. After donating a painting to a museum, he showed his mother a letter of appreciation from the museum, which impressed his mother and thus fueled his actions even more. leftCredit: data.images.left.leftCredit, Next Page. Our soft spot: art and money," says one museum director featured in the documentary. Of course it undermines the experts privatelyuntil the fake is revealed, in which case even the capture of the forger can underscore the mind behind the scheme and make them feel a victor. The American authorities then tell Joe that "Kamikazi," his Japanese pilot, is an American agent who has learned that Kimura plans to smuggle Japanese war criminals back into the country to organize an anti-American Communist movement. you stain the paper first, otherwise the ink will bleed. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. For the documentary filmmakers, that gave the story some great tension, says Cullman. After completing his AA degree at Normandale College, he worked in security, started his own business, Phoenix Taxi, and . His real name is Mark A. Landis, and he is a lifelong painter and former gallery owner. Here, exclusively for T, Landis talks about some of his most successful forgeries. Mark Landis No Crime Committed For thirty years, Mark Landis (b. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. 1955) approached dozens of museums and university galleries claiming to be a wealthy philanthropist with a collection he wished to donate in honor of his deceased parents. As Landis told me personally after this was all brought to light to the public, he was never in it to hurt anyone or reputations, but enjoyed being treated nice and catered to as a philanthropist of art. Thats why I did so many of these, because you can do them like an assembly line. Mr. Leininger circulates by e-mail a picture taken of Mr. Landis in 2008 by the Louisiana State University Museum of Art, and he uses a dry-erase marker to update a laminated map in his office. ", Cullman believes it was an obsession not only for art and forgeries, but also for finding a "place for themselves in the world." Mark Tullos Jr., the museums director, remembers that he was dressed in black slacks, a black jacket, a black shirt with the clerical collar and he was wearing a Jesuit pin on his lapel. Partly because he was a man of the cloth and partly because he was bearing a generous gift a small painting by the American Impressionist Charles Courtney Curran, which he said he wanted to donate in memory of his mother, a Lafayette native it was difficult not to take him at his word, Mr. Tullos said. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Mark Landis has been called one of the most prolific art forgers in US history. He admits he has always had a mischievous streak. His lack of concern with details shows his disinterest in the lasting effect of his fraud. Landis did not respond, but the Father James Brantley sightings abruptly ceased until February of 2012, when he came out under his fourth alias, Marc Lanois. It looks like a million dollars. By creating a work of your own which exhibits your artistic skill to have it mistaken for the work of an acknowledged master, the revenge is two-fold. "It was an impulse. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Mark Landis, in the guise of Father Scott, among others, has spent decades creating forgeries and gifting . A funny, fascinating, too-good-to-be-true documentary about Mark Landis, one of the world's most prolific art forgers, who for over 30 years has duped museums across the country--until one determined registrar sets out to stop him. His goal was only to gift his creations in his parents honor and institutions accepted the work into their collections. Home Depot, and you do the sky first because thats the furthest thing back, and then you go forward. Then Landis promises more gifts of art and money to care for the collections but will get in touch when he recovers from heart surgery. I still cultivate a dossier of Landis contacts, sightings, and forged works. var options = { hide caption. Where was Landis now? Cadillac that had belonged to his mother, Jonita Joyce Brantley, formerly of Laurel, Miss., he introduced himself as Father Arthur Scott. First, it demonstrates that the forgers ability level is comparable to that of the famous master whose work has been copied. Landis had trained at the . var beforeAfterContainer = $('#nytmm_beforeAfter_wrapper347 .nytmm_beforeAfter_container'); [1] He was carrying a painting that he intended to gift to the museum in memory of his mother, whom he told the staff was Helen Mitchell Scott, who he said was a Louisiana native. He has been telling the same story for a long time, until I made the discovery. On the below images, click and drag the slider to compare Landiss versions (at left) to the original masterpieces (which can be uncovered ---. But Mr. Wittman has been unable to find him. startPoint: data.images.startPoint, I flipped back and forth and would remember it just long enough to get it down. Diagnosed as schizophrenic and living more or less hermetically since his mother died in 2010, the soft-spoken Landis is engaging if remorseless about his deception, and more than happy to. But he accepted no money for these gifts, not even a tax break. Genealogy for Johannes Jacob Landis (1667 - 1730) family tree on Geni, with over 230 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. On the advice of lawyers, it did not explicitly warn other museums about its discoveries, Mr. Bassi said, but it tried to let them know to be wary of donations from a Mark Landis. Landis, who lived with his mother in Laurel until she died in 2010, characterizes himself as a lonely old shut-in.. You buy the same boards at Home Depot as the Curran, which are the exact right width, and you just measure out the length. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". This is how he does it, no and I dont mean making the forgeries but making others believe what they are gifted is authentic. 1) by 19th century artist Charles Courtney Curran. The director asked the museum registrar to verify the painting. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Art forger Mark Landis is the subject of the documentary " Art and Craft ," directed by Sam Cullman and Jennifer Grausman. But when he paid a visit to the Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum in Lafayette, La., last September, he seemed more like a character sprung from a Southern Gothic novel. and I do not know his wealth or how he could make his travels over the years. Howard Kelly Landis III passed away peacefully at his home on January 2, 2021 following a heroic two-year battle with cancer. (At one point, he I dont think his mother had even a clue that this was going on, he added. Landis, now in his fifties, is a painter and former supposed gallery owner, and a most unusual type of personone who has yet to break a law, and as I mentioned, gained financially. (function($) { The collective wishful thinking of the art world unconsciously conspires to affirm the authenticity of newly-discovered works. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. When I met Landis for the first time, not only did he show the love of art but the love of his family, mainly mother as he always referred. of Art, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, The Lepine I liked because its nice and small. The film stars David Naughton and Griffin Dunne as two college students that are attacked by a werewolf while touring Britain. The phrase dont look a gift horse in the mouth takes on a new meaning. It doesnt happen often, but every now and then the gods offer up someone who is doing something for which there is no precedent. })(jQuery || NYTD.jQuery); Stuart Davis, Houses Along A Canal (c. 1914-18) Offered to: Mississippi Museum of Art, The picture looks like it was done by a 6-year-old, so it took no particular effort. Some known art forgers have turned to forgery for psychological and financial reasons. Website designed and maintained by IA&As Design Studio. We use Meet Mark Landis, the Philanthropist Art Forger Who Duped More Than 60 Museums by Doris 8 years ago 2k Views Give a voice to the voiceless! The interesting thing with the now fourth alias at Loyola, is that Landis had presented himself as Landis at Loyola ten years earlier, and had gifted the institution ten forgeries: all paintings that he had created, and which he passed off as valuable originals. Check if your The crowd seemed charmed by the film, but more so, they were charmed by its subject, who fielded questions afterward. Landis's copy of Ren Magritte's drawing "La vocation" (1964) (courtesy Mark Landis) . It seemed that a Father James Brantley, who looked remarkably like Landis, had donated an oil-on-copper painting, Holy Family with Saint Anne ostensibly by 16th century painter Hans van Aachen. Leininger lives in Cincinnati, Ohio and uses his acquired knowledge of fakes and to help stop other forgers. A week later, Landis phoned Gapper and invited him to visit and Gapper returned to Louisiana to spend a day with Landis in his apartment. In September 2010, Mark Landis went to the Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum, under the identity of a jesuit priest, Father Arthur Scott.