Chicago Museum admits star attraction is a forgery

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By Lucy Cockcroft
Last Updated: 2:48am GMT 13/12/2007




A half-man, half-goat sculpture, which was attributed to Post-Impressionist artist Paul Gauguin and took pride of place at the Art Institute of Chicago for a decade, has been revealed as a forgery created by a British family.

The museum has admitted that The Faun sculpture is not by the 19th century French artist but is the work of the Greenhalgh family, who swindled an estimated £1.5 million from museums, galleries and auction houses.

A private dealer bought the sculpture at Sotheby's, London, for £20,700 in 1994. The Art Institute purchased it from the dealer three years later.

Erin Hogan, the director of public affairs at the institute, said: "Everyone who bought and sold the work did so in good faith."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/13/wfake113.xml