Published 11 June 2021 at 16.11
Culture. Snobby Bukowskis, with premises at Berzelii Park in Stockholm, has been selling works of art by the accomplished artists Tom Moore and Alexander Vasilenko to Stockholm's more affluent buyers for several years. But now SVT reveals that none of the artists really exist.
Like the article p & aring; Facebook
– After looking at the case, I can definitely say that the artist Alexander Vasilenko does not exist. Neither does Nikolaj Titov, says Mikhail Levin, principal at the Moscow School of Contemporary Art, to SVT. , except that Bukowski borrowed a picture of him for the presentation on his website.
– It is my name and I in the picture, but I have nothing to do with the works. So it's a forgery, says Tom Moore to Kulturnyheterna.
The “oil paintings” sold under a false name are in fact simple photo montages created in Photoshop by the artist Ulf Stålhane. He tells SVT that he discovered that his art is sold this far after he made the works of art for a client.
– Had it happened today, I would have told. But I was a bit dependent on that company quite simply, if I had started whining I would have gone out, says Ulf Stålhane to Kulturnyheterna.
“What happened shows that Bukowski's control of the lithographs in question was not sufficient then our assessments were made based on the primary market's information about the works. We will now contact the current buyers “, Bukowskis writes in a comment to SVT.
Works signed Tom Moore and Alexander Vasilenko have been sold at Wasskonst, Stockholms auktionsverk and Bukowskis for an estimated ten million kronor over the years, according to SVT.