The Picasso Forgery Scandal: Coffee, Tea, and a Million-Euro Art Crime
Greetings Warriors
What if I told you that some of the world’s most “untouchable” masterpieces — works by Picasso, Munch, Klee — were being faked… and those fakes were being “aged” with nothing more than coffee and tea?
Sounds ridiculous, right? Like a joke someone tells at a dinner party. But this isn’t fiction. This is one of the biggest forgery scandals to hit the art world in years.
Italian police recently seized more than 100 forged artworks worth about €1 million, along with €300,000 in bank accounts. And the kicker? These fakes weren’t hanging in shady backrooms — they had made their way into auction houses across Europe and even the US and UK.
Let that sink in: a gang dipping paper in coffee and tea nearly scammed the global art market out of millions.
This is more than an art crime. It’s a story about how fragile trust really is in an industry that runs on it.
The criminals are said to have produced plates that let them make large numbers of prints
Picasso: The Perfect Target
Why Picasso?
Because Picasso is Picasso. He’s one of the most famous, recognizable, and valuable artists in history. His name alone turns collectors into bidders and bids into record-breaking sums.
But here’s what makes him the perfect target for forgers:
Picasso made thousands of works in his lifetime — paintings, sketches, etchings, prints. That sheer volume makes it easier for fakes to slip into the mix.
Many of his works are line drawings and prints — technically easier to reproduce than a complex oil painting with thick brushstrokes.
And here’s the dirty truth: the art market loves Picasso. That love can sometimes blind it.
If you’ve been following my writing (especially my recent deep dives on Picasso news and exhibitions), you know his name dominates the market, the museums, and the headlines. That kind of cultural gravity attracts everyone — collectors, fans… and con artists.
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The Forgery Ring That Fooled the World
This wasn’t one rogue scammer with a paintbrush. It was a network.
Italian investigators uncovered an art forgery gang operating out of Tuscolano, a district in Rome. From there, their fakes spread into 23 countries, including 13 EU nations plus the US and UK.
Their method? Surprisingly low-tech.
They reproduced high-quality copies of existing etchings and line drawings.
They used plates similar to those used in lithography to churn out multiple “Picasso” prints.
And the pièce de résistance? Coffee and tea.
The forgers literally “aged” the paper by dipping it in coffee and tea to create the illusion of time. That’s how they fooled experts into thinking the prints had come from the legendary French dealer Ambroise Vollard’s vaults — whose distinctive paper was long thought “impossible to replicate.”
Well… apparently not.
When the Hammer Falls
The Carabinieri Art Crime Squad (Italy’s elite art cops) led the charge, seizing 104 fake works and freezing €300,000 in connected bank accounts.
Lorenzo Galizia, a captain in the unit, didn’t sugarcoat it:
“The suspects are Italians, one with a prior record for falsifying works of art. They didn’t create new works — they copied existing pieces that could be easily replicated because they were line drawings and not color paintings.”
Translation: They weren’t trying to fake a Picasso oil masterpiece like Guernica. That would take years and wouldn’t hold up. They went for low-hanging fruit — works that could pass the casual eye test and maybe even a few professional ones.
And it worked.
Some of these fakes landed in auction houses across Europe and the UK. Five British auction houses unknowingly handled the forgeries before they were seized. Investigators believe most acted in good faith, not realizing they were dealing in forgeries.
But that’s what makes this case dangerous. When fakes slip past professionals, the entire market shakes.
The Bigger Picture: A Web of Forgery
This scandal isn’t an isolated story. Italian art police have been busy — and for good reason.
In February, they uncovered another workshop in Rome cranking out fakes of Picasso, Rembrandt, and more — even selling some on sites like eBay and Catawiki.
Last November, prosecutors in Pisa launched a probe into 38 people suspected of being part of a pan-European forgery network. This ring didn’t just fake works; they even organized two Banksy exhibitions in prestigious Italian locations — complete with catalogs — to boost their fake credibility.
And then there’s the absurd: last year, it came out that Picasso’s works had been faked and hung in the ladies’ restroom of a museum in Tasmania. That “prank” turned out to be the work of artist Kirsha Kaechele (wife of MONA’s owner), who later admitted she painted them with help from her “manicurist’s niece.”
When you add it all up, one thing is clear: art forgery isn’t rare. It’s constant.
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The Damage Forgery Leaves Behind
Warriors, let’s be real. Art forgery isn’t just a “clever crime.” It’s theft on a deeper level.
It doesn’t just steal money (though €1 million in seized fakes is no small number). It steals trust.
Collectors get burned. Some spend life savings on a “Picasso” that turns out to be a coffee-dipped knockoff.
Auction houses lose credibility. Even when they act in good faith, handling fakes makes buyers wonder: How many more are slipping through?
The artist’s legacy suffers. Every fake Picasso chips away at the integrity of the real Picassos.
And here’s the bigger economic hit: art forgery undermines the entire market.
If you can’t trust the authenticity of what you buy, how long before collectors stop buying at all?
The Market, the Law, and the Future
There’s a strange irony in all of this.
While forgery scandals swirl, Italy’s legal art market is booming. New galleries are opening. The government even cut VAT on art sales from 22% to 5% — the lowest in the EU. Economists expect earnings to jump from €1.36 billion a year to €1.5 billion per quarter.
That’s a huge influx of money — and with money comes opportunity… and temptation.
Italian police know this. That’s why their art crime squad is one of the most aggressive in the world. But even with raids, seizures, and prosecutions, forgery isn’t going away.
Because here’s the truth: where there’s value, there will always be vultures.
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The Warrior’s Takeaway
So what do we do with a story like this?
We don’t just shake our heads and laugh about coffee-soaked Picassos. We learn.
We learn that art — real art — is priceless. That trust, integrity, and authenticity are as important as paint and canvas.
We also learn that the art world, for all its beauty, has cracks. Cracks where scammers slip through. Cracks where greed seeps in.
Warriors, here’s my challenge to you: Whether you’re an artist, a collector, or just someone who loves to stand in front of a painting and feel something — protect art.
Ask questions. Demand proof. Support the real, not the fake.
Because every forgery isn’t just a scam — it’s an insult to every brushstroke an artist ever made in honesty.
And if Picasso taught us anything, it’s this: great art changes the world. But only if we protect it.
