SHEFFIELD, Ala.—Art forgery is an old crime, dating back to the renaissance and possibly back to the Roman Empire.
However, artist and forger Mark Landis isn’t a criminal, but he’s not exactly honest either.
Landis is also the subject of the film “Art and Craft,” which will be shown at the Ritz Theatre in Sheffield at 3 p.m. Sunday. It is presented by the Tennessee Valley Art Association’s Ritz Cinema Society.
“Art and Craft” director and producer Jennifer Grausman said that for the past 30 years Landis has been posing as various figures from will executors to philanthropists and priests and donating his forgeries to museums, passing them off as the real thing.
Grausman said Landis would paint or draw from auction catalogs, often recreating minor works or works from lesser known artists from various time periods. Many museums might not have had staff members on hand that were experts in those eras or paintings, allowing Landis to continue to donate his forgeries undetected.
“Certainly, Mark went to a lot of different types of institutions,” Grausman said. “There were varying degrees of when people found out. Some discovered it right when he left, or six months later. When they tried to get in touch, he may have left a fake address or a PO box that he had closed. Some people assumed he bought a fake at auction and unwittingly donated it.”
