New hurdle for art forgers as A-bomb fallout is used to identify the fakes
A new and not very subtle weapon is helping art collectors in the battle against forgers: the Bomb.
Russian scientists believe that nuclear test explosions and the bombs dropped on Japan in 1945 released elements into the atmosphere that can be detected in oil paintings made after the Second World War. The technique has been patented and is being used by Russian collectors to test prospective purchases.
Elena Basner, a former curator at the Russian Museum in St Petersburg who developed the method, claims that it provides indisputable evidence of whether a painting was made before or after 1945. British art specialists welcomed the breakthrough yesterday, saying that it would help to tackle the increasingly elaborate fakes flooding the international art market.
Read entire article at Times (UK)
Russian scientists believe that nuclear test explosions and the bombs dropped on Japan in 1945 released elements into the atmosphere that can be detected in oil paintings made after the Second World War. The technique has been patented and is being used by Russian collectors to test prospective purchases.
Elena Basner, a former curator at the Russian Museum in St Petersburg who developed the method, claims that it provides indisputable evidence of whether a painting was made before or after 1945. British art specialists welcomed the breakthrough yesterday, saying that it would help to tackle the increasingly elaborate fakes flooding the international art market.