A convincing fake is admired while experts believe it; once exposed, the same surface collapses in value. Since the image has not changed, what failed is not aesthetics but provenance. The market purchases contact with an artist’s hand, a place in history and promised scarcity.nnForgery is therefore more than crime; it stress-tests value. Science dates pigments and archives test documents, yet the desire to believe can override both.
The useful question is not ‘how were experts foolish?’ but which institutional expectations silenced doubt.
