Italian police swooped in on a Salvador Dali exhibition in Parma this week, seizing 21 pieces they suspect aren't quite the real deal. The Carabinieri's art heritage unit collected tapestries, engravings, drawings, and assorted objects from the "Salvador Dali: Between Art and Myth" exhibit, all said to be works by the Spanish surrealist legend. The move followed a tip from the Gala-Salvador Dali Foundation—guardians of the artist's legacy—which flagged "anomalies" after viewing the collection during its earlier run in Rome, per Reuters.
That alert came after the Carabinieri's art unit grew suspicious in January while doing a routine check at the Rome exhibit, which saw roughly 80 pieces on display from January to July. "Something seemed to be amiss," the senior officer leading the probe tells the Guardian, noting that police couldn't understand why none of Dali's paintings or other high-value art pieces were included in the exhibit. The current exhibition opened in Parma on Saturday and was intended to run through February.
Organizers at Palazzo Tarasconi, the Parma venue, haven't commented, but the ticketing office says the show will go on, despite the missing works. Authorities emphasize that these suspected Dalis are presumed fake based on initial checks, but that the final verdict is still pending. Italy's Culture Ministry is currently examining the pieces. If they're deemed to be phonies, they could be confiscated, and those found to be involved could be prosecuted for forgery or for knowingly handling counterfeits, per ARTnews.
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The Carabinieri, which have experts skilled in sniffing out counterfeit and stolen art, have been busy: Last year, they said they'd cracked a sprawling forgery ring that churned out fake works attributed to major names ranging from Picasso and Warhol to Banksy and, yes, even to Dali himself, per Reuters. The AP notes that Dali is among the world's most-forged artists, joining the likes of Picasso and Modigliani.
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