Born in 1949 in Hoboken, New Jersey, Ken is a self-taught artist who painted his first pictures during the Summer of Love in 1967, having discovered an uncanny ability to intu ...read more
Born in 1949 in Hoboken, New Jersey, Ken is a self-taught artist who painted his first pictures during the Summer of Love in 1967, having discovered an uncanny ability to intuitively grasp the aesthetic and technical aspects of the Old Masters. A series of fateful events resulted in what was to become a thirty-year career as a professional art forger. Today he operates his own studio in Madeira Beach, Florida.
Ken recently published his memoir — Caveat Emptor: The Secret Life of an American Art Forger. Ten years ago, an FBI investigation in conjunction with the US Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York was about to expose a scandal in the art world that would have been front-page news in New York and London. After a trail of fake paintings of astonishing quality led federal agents to art dealers, renowned experts, and the major auction houses, the investigation inexplicably ended, despite an abundance of evidence collected. The case was closed and the FBI file was marked “exempt from public disclosure.”
Now that the statute of limitations on these crimes has expired and the case appears hermetically sealed shut by the FBI, this book, Caveat Emptor, is Ken Perenyi’s confession. It is the story, in detail, of how he pulled it all off.
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