Elmyr de Hory
Elmyr de Hory was a Hungarian-born art forger who sold paintings falsely attributed to modern artists, including Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse.
Picasso forgeries: Works falsely attributed to Pablo Picasso, including paintings and drawings made by forgers. De Hory’s Picasso imitations became among the most notorious works associated with his career.
Clifford Irving: An American writer known for the Howard Hughes autobiographical hoax and for collaborating on Elmyr de Hory’s memoir. Irving helped turn de Hory’s story into a published account, while later becoming notorious for a separate literary fraud.
Art forgery: The production or alteration of artworks intended to deceive people about their authorship or history. De Hory’s career is a prominent case of forgery in the modern art market.
F for Fake: A 1973 essay film by Orson Welles about forgery, deception, authorship, and artistic credibility. The film made de Hory’s story a vehicle for examining how art-world authority is constructed.
Copying in art: The making of a work by reproducing or closely following an existing artwork, sometimes for study or documentation. Unlike openly identified copies, de Hory’s works were sold under false attributions.
Matisse forgeries: Works falsely attributed to Henri Matisse and produced by artists other than Matisse. De Hory imitated Matisse’s style as part of his forged modernist repertoire.
Orson Welles: An American filmmaker, actor, and narrator who directed the documentary film F for Fake. Welles used de Hory’s case to explore forgery, authorship, and the making of artistic reputations.
Art authentication: The process of determining an artwork’s authorship, date, materials, and authenticity. Disputes over whether de Hory’s paintings were genuine exposed limits in authentication practices.
Art market fraud: Deception involving the sale, ownership, valuation, or authenticity of artworks. De Hory’s forged paintings became a widely known example of fraud within the art trade.
Appropriation art: Art that deliberately borrows or reuses existing images, objects, or styles as part of its meaning. Appropriation can make borrowing explicit, while de Hory relied on concealing authorship.