How fine forgeries fooled the art world

On 17 November 2007, a man was jailed for producing works of art.2007 年 11 月 17 日，一名男子因制作艺术品被判入狱。 Why? Because the sculptures and artifacts Shaun Greenhalgh made were fakes: fakes that had conned museums and galleries out of over £500,000.为什么？因为肖恩·格林哈尔制作的雕塑和手工艺品都是赝品：赝品让博物馆和画廊损失了超过 50 万英镑。Shaun had left school with no qualifications but tried his hand at a wide range of crafts – from watercolor painting to sculpture.肖恩没有任何资格就离开了学校，但他尝试了各种各样的手工艺——从水彩画到雕塑。 The young Greenhalgh hoped to make it as an artist himself. 年轻的格林哈尔希望自己成为一名艺术家。His pieces were not admired, however, and he turned to forgery.然而，他的作品没有受到赞赏，他转向伪造。 He ended up creating a cottage industry in his garden shed, with the help of his family.在家人的帮助下，他最终在他的花园棚子里创建了一个家庭手工业。If the son had a talent for art, his father, George, had the gift of the gab and approached potential buyers. 如果儿子有艺术天分，那么他的父亲乔治就很有口才，会接触潜在的买家。He came up with detailed stories about how he found artworks which had been lost for generations. 他想出了详细的故事，讲述他是如何找到几代人丢失的艺术品的。In 2003, they sold a 50cm statue called the 'Amarna Princess' to Bolton Museum. 2003年，他们将一尊名为“阿玛娜公主”的50厘米雕像卖给了博尔顿博物馆。George claimed his own grandfather had bought it at an auction in 1892 at an aristocrat's home, and had papers which appeared to back up his story.乔治声称他自己的祖父是在 1892 年在一个贵族家中的拍卖会上买的，并且有似乎支持他的故事的文件。After talking to art experts, the museum paid more than £400,000 for the statue. 在与艺术专家交谈后，博物馆为这座雕像支付了超过 40 万英镑。The successful scam made the forgers grow bolder. 成功的骗局使伪造者变得更加大胆。But when they approached the British Museum with some more fake artefacts, an expert spotted mistakes and tipped off the police.After 18 months of investigations, the police knocked at the family's door. 但是当他们带着更多的假文物接近大英博物馆时，一位专家发现了错误并向警方举报。经过18个月的调查，警方敲响了这家人的门。They were surprised by the Greenhalgh's humble home. 他们对格林哈尔家简陋的家感到惊讶。Where were the riches of successful criminals? The police concluded that Shaun was motivated by "a resentment of the art market" and by a desire to deceive art experts, rather than by money.成功罪犯的财富在哪里？警方得出的结论是，肖恩的动机是“对艺术市场的怨恨”和欺骗艺术专家的愿望，而不是金钱。But how did he manage to fool so many experts? Irvin Finkel from the British Museum says the family produced things that "in a way we were looking for already". 但他是如何骗过这么多专家的？大英博物馆的欧文芬克尔说，这个家庭生产的东西“以我们已经在寻找的方式”。So when experts saw them they wanted to embrace these apparently long-lost treasures.因此，当专家们看到它们时，他们想拥抱这些显然失传已久的宝藏。词汇表artefact    人工（艺术）制品to con    欺骗，欺诈to try your hand at   试试手，尝试亲自动手craft   手工艺品，手艺watercolour painting    水彩画sculpture     雕刻，雕塑forgery      伪造cottage industry     家庭手工业，小作坊工业the gift of the gab    能说会道artwork     艺术品auction      拍卖aristocrat     贵族back up     证实（说法）scam  骗局to tip off    给（某人）通风报信riches   财富resentment  不满，愤恨

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