TOTALLY SURREAL

Dozens of Fake Salvador Dalí Art Pieces Seized From Exhibition

Italy’s art police confiscated 21 works from a Dali exhibition in Parma.

Italian art heritage police raided a bogus Salvador Dalí exhibition on Wednesday, seizing 21 works attributed to the famous surrealist painter believed to be fakes. Tapestries, drawings, engravings, and a variety of objects were taken from an exhibit titled ‘Salvador Dali: Between Art and Myth’ which opened in Parma last week, after the artist’s estate spotted a number of “anomalies” while the artworks were on display in Rome during a previous leg of the tour earlier this year. The exhibit, which ran in the Italian capital from January to July, reopened in Parma on Sept. 27 and was set to remain in the city until February. The ticketing office stated that the exhibition would still proceed despite the seizures. Italy’s Carabinieri—specialized units focused on stolen and forged artworks—said they were tipped off last year to a large-scale forgery network operating throughout Europe, which had produced fakes attributed to some of the biggest names in modern and contemporary art, including Banksy, Picasso, Andy Warhol, and Dalí. Carabinieri stressed that the seized artworks were only the subject of a preliminary investigation, and the presumption of innocence would be maintained until the final verdict is reached.