2.2.3 Artwork Forgery

The controversy over counterfeiting is a problem that has not been resolved for a long time in the global art society. In 2017, the Kim Daljin Art Research Institute selected the beauty controversy of the artist Cheon Kyung-ja and the counterfeiting of the artist Lee U-hwan, giving rise to the best issues in the art world. In fact, 2016 was so serious that it was called "Year of the Fake" (Artnet, 2016), and some concluded that the portrait of Dutch artist Frans Hals (1581-1666) which was auctioned off by the world auction company Sotheby's for 8.4 million pounds (about 11.86 billion KRW) was forged. In addition, 'Venus' (1531) by German painter Lucas Cranach and 'St. Jerome by 16th-century Italian painter Parmigianino (1503-1540) were found to be counterfeit as well, causing huge social embarrassment (Sarah Cascone, 2017).

Figure 2. Portrait of Dutch painter Frans Hals (left) and Italian painter Parmigianino's Saint Jerome (right)