Forgeries? Perhaps Faux Masterpieces

For nearly three decades Ken Perenyi made a small fortune forging works by popular 18^th– and 19^th-century artists like Martin Johnson Heade, Gilbert Stuart and Charles Bird King.

Then in 1998, Mr. Perenyi says, two F.B.I. agents showed up on his doorstep, curious about a couple of paintings sold at Christie’s and Sotheby’s, ostensibly by the maritime artist James E. Butterworth but actually his own meticulous creations.

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