A Los Angeles auctioneer has agreed to plead guilty to making false statements to federal investigators and has admitted to helping create fake artworks that were displayed last year at the Orlando Museum of Art as previously unknown works of the celebrated artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.
The United States attorney’s office for the Central District of California filed court papers on Tuesday announcing the plea by Michael Barzman, nine months after the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided the museum and seized 25 paintings that had been hanging in its Basquiat exhibit, which was called “Heroes and Monsters.”
In court documents, prosecutors said Mr. Barzman, 45, of North Hollywood, had admitted to helping create between 20 and 30 fake artworks and then marketing them for sale as if they were authentic Basquiats.
Prosecutors said Mr. Barzman had worked closely with another man, identified only by the initials, J.F., who took the lead in creating the works. The associate spent as little as five minutes and no more than 30 minutes in creating each piece, Mr. Barzman told investigators, according to court records.
Court documents also say that Mr. Barzman created false provenance for the fraudulent paintings. They say he made up a false story about the paintings having been found in a storage unit, and created false documents to bolster that narrative.
He told investigators that he had sold the works to several buyers. They eventually ended up on exhibit at the Orlando museum....
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