A Portuguese man, who is alleged to have run a forging operation from a studio in downtown Lisbon, has been arrested.
Police say the unnamed 56-year-old produced over thirty paintings in the style of artists including Paula Rego, Manuel Cargaleiro and the Mozambique-born Malangatana. All the artists have died in the last decade.
The man is said to have posed as a medical doctor, despite having no such qualifications, to gain the trust of potential clients, before selling the freshly-made works as historical pieces. One client is alleged to have paid a further €600 for a historic frame, which was actually sourced from a budget store.
Speaking to Publico for the Polícia Judiciária, João Oliveira said that officers suspect they caught the man red-handed in the production of a new forgeries of Rego and Cargaleiro works. The suspect ‘was not a doctor nor had any connection to medicine’, using that title because it ‘gave him credibility’.
Further sketches and paintings in the style of Júlio Resende, Cesariny, Cruzeiro Seixas and Cutileiro were found during the raid and seized. The man has been released on bail.
