Art forgery is an obscure crime in New Zealand, with only the Foxton Forger being convicted of the crime in 1985. Instead of shunning the forger, his hometown of Mangaweka honours his memory every two years with the nationwide Fakes and Forgeries competition.
"The idea is you do an exact copy, a copy with a twist, or it can be a completely new scene or artwork within the style of a famous artist," Yellow Church Gallery's Richard Aslett told Seven Sharp.
The bi-annual Fakes and Forgeries art exhibit has been running since 2007.
"I was sitting around one night having a drink of wine and discussing what we should do and Goldie's name came up and then basically just all morphed from there," Aslett said.
The Foxton Forger, Karl Sim – also known as Charles Goldie and Carl Goldie – was no legendary artist but at one point in history, he was once ranked the eighth greatest art forger in the world.
"He was a real character. He had lots of stories about some of the stuff that he used to get up to – some of which probably can't be repeated on TV," he said.
After being charged, Sim was made to paint the Foxton public toilets for his crimes against the art community.
While art forgery in the Manawatū-Whanganui region won't land you in the toilet, it could let you bring home the gold.
The competition has a panel of three judges: Aslett, Michael Cathels, and "another Michael".
"We basically make separate notes so you're not even comparing," Aslett said.
This year's winner was Palmerston North artist Graham Christensen, whose art was inspired by Karl Maughan.
"The local artist was important to me because he's associated with Fielding, associated with the lower Rangitikei, Manawatū area," he said.
"It wasn't taken from an original – it was the basic principles Karl uses, those sorts of shapes of bushes, and I used that principle to make my own."
Watch the beautiful fakes and forgeries happening in the lower North Island in the video above.
SHARE ME