Icelandic Art Forgeries Might Be On The Market

The Association of Icelandic Visual Artists (SÍM) is worried that a number of paintings on the market by Icelandic masters might be forgeries.

RÚV reports that police in Copenhagen are investigating two paintings of Svavar Guðnason that are suspected of being forgeries. The paintings were intended to go to auction earlier this week.

Jóna Hlíf Halldórsdóttir, the director of SÍM, says the matter is very serious, and potentially damaging to Icelandic cultural history. She contends that it is possible that a number of paintings from a recent art forgery case could have ended up on the market, instead of being locked away in police storage.

Minister of Education and Cultural Affairs Illugi Gunnarsson has already put together a special work group dedicated to devising methods for fighting art forgeries, and the group includes two members of SÍM. They are expected to submit their findings next spring.