>ETHICS IN ART > >You are a friend of a very famous artist who secretly admits to you that >the one of their most famous works was in fact >created by a visitor to their studio. That by mistake it was sent out >to the gallery and later sold to a museum. >As his friend do you keep the secret, or do you expose the work as a >fraud? Revealing what you know may result in endless lawsuits and deep >embarrassment on all sides. Is the authenticity of a work important in >our society anymore? > > >Koko >World Arts Association >http://www.artspeak.com > If the famous artist were stupid enough to put a friend in the position of choosing between the ethics of friendship or of preventing fraud, then the artist deserves the embarrassment. If I were the friend, I would insist that the artist come forward and offer an authentic replacement to the museum, hopefully minimizing the embarrassment all around. To simply keep one's mouth shut would be unethical. But the irony is that if the fraud were to be discovered and lead to scandal, the work in question would likely become famous and valuable -- and some collectors would undoubtedly come forward to pay handsomely for the authentic forgery, but not a dime for an imitation. ___________________________________________________________________________ Stephen Nowlin Director, Williamson Gallery Vice President Producer, Art Center Online Art Center College of Design www.artcenter.edu ___________________________________________________________________________