Hugo Chavez Painting Scandal

Beside his duties as Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez is also a landscape painter. Few were aware of the president's talents until recently, when a painting attributed to Chavez, "Luna de Yare" (Yare's Moon), was auctioned off by the United Socialist Party of Venezuela for the sum of $255,000. The work was said to have been painted by Chavez during the time he spent in the Yare prison after his failed coup d'etat in 1992. However, since the sale there has been ample speculation in Venezuela’s art community that the piece is a fake! No definitive word yet, but artists and curators are studying the style of Chavez originals (including his landscapes of Swiss chalets) to determine whether “Luna de Yare” is indeed the authentic Hugo.