He crafted meticulous back-stories for his own alter egos, and for the works that supposedly came from his familys collection. Robert Wittman, founder of the FBI's Art Crime Team, "It wasn't like Landis went in and said, 'Here, I want to give you this fabulous painting by Picasso and you need to pay me $100,000 for the painting,'" Wittman explains. " I am one of the most prolific art forgers in US history. He admits he has always had a mischievous streak. Obituary. More than 45 museums could not tell the difference between Landis' copies and original works, from his sketches of academic nudes to his Charles Schulz characters from Peanuts. During a tour of the department Landis told Gibson though his sister had never gone to The W, she thought highly of the school. Where was Landis now? When youre doing one of those Standard Digital includes access to a wealth of global news, analysis and expert opinion. Landis went quiet after the publication of The Art Newspaper article in 2010. In Art & Craft, we also learn that Landis is a. })(jQuery || NYTD.jQuery); Jean Antoine Watteau, A Woman Lying On A Chaise Longue (c. 1719) Offered to: Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, LSU Museum of Art, What I do with things like this is, I do one that I can think of as a master. To keep him busy and prevent him from trying to dupe more museums, Loll and the Art & Craft filmmakers have set up a website where people can commission him to make portraits from photographs. Harrods chief shrugs off recession fears because rich get richer, Argentina diary: Come armed with $100 bills, FCA regulator blamed for Arms decision to shun London listing, There are no domestic equity investors: why companies are fleeing Londons stock market, The stark challenge facing the London stock market, Humanity is sleepwalking into a neurotech disaster, The Murdaugh trial: a southern gothic tale that gripped the nation, Who to fire? And Mark Landis is a freelance writer for The. His skills with a pencil or paintbrush are undeniable. Howard Kelly Landis III passed away peacefully at his home on January 2, 2021 following a heroic two-year battle with cancer. The principal had become suspicious and contacted me as I had become the authority for all things Landis. He has told me that he has training from the San Francisco Art Institute and has a love for drawing and painting from a young age when he traveled over the world with his mom and dad while his dad was in the Navy. I hung the handicapped tag on the mirror and we went inside. Since it was unframed, Father Scott (Landis) offered to pay for the frame, and also suggested that he might consider donating more paintings from his familys collection. Birney Imes III is the immediate past publisher of The Dispatch. Mark Landis, in the guise of Father Scott, among others, has spent decades creating forgeries and gifting them to museums. He turns down tax write-off forms, and its unclear whether he has broken any laws. (At one point, he Before he left, he blessed me, said Gibson. Landis knew exactly what museums wanted to hear: "He knew right where to hit us. While some examine donations as a matter of course, others did so only after growing suspicious of Mr. Landis. Scholars are privy to a new object to study, adding to their body of extant works and the knowledge amassed from them. (560) 1 h 29 min 2014 18+. Once I was there, I was able to convince myself I really was a wealthy benefactor. Since the release of the film, that has changed: Hes been to New York for a screening; a touring exhibit of his forgeries has been organized and hes invited to appear at screenings of the movie, as was the case Thursday evening at the Rosenzweig Arts Center. His house in Laurel, Miss., is extremely cluttered, but his scams are well-organized. He has been one of the most prolific forgers American museums have encountered in years, writing, calling and presenting himself at their doors, where he tells well-concocted stories about his familys collection and donates small, expertly faked works, sometimes in honor of nonexistent relatives. He has charted Mr. Landiss travels to 19 states and his contacts, either in person or by phone or letter, with more than 40 museums since then, including large institutions like the National Portrait Gallery in Washington and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The family lived in London, Paris and Brussels, and Mark, an only child, attended St Mary's Town and Country School, a progressive school in Swiss Cottage, for two years. On the advice of lawyers, it did not explicitly warn other museums about its discoveries, Mr. Bassi said, but it tried to let them know to be wary of donations from a Mark Landis. Now, Landis is producing original works and accepts commissions . But Mark Landis never asked for money so he never went to jail. (function($) { Sam Cullman/Courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories He's compiled a four-inch-thick dossier that includes photos of framed fakes hanging in. But on the twenty fifth of July 2011 I received an email from the principal of Cabrini High School in New Orleans. The filmmakers tag along as he performs some of his stunts. I have tracked Landis travels through 20 states thus far and have linked him to over 50 institutions including the prestigious School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The quality of his reproductions has been good enough to fool dozens of museums, including the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. (function($) { My biggest concern was who is this guy and why has he done this? showFooter: data.footer.showFooter, I had poor self-esteem and then all of a sudden Id get treated like royalty, said Landis, explaining one of his motivations. He told the audience at the Omnova Theater Thursday evening he had nothing. Faux meaning fake or false or For real being you have got to be kidding me or make you think, what seriously? George Bassi, the director of the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art in Laurel, Miss., where Mr. Landis, 55, has lived off and on for years, said he first encountered him eight years ago, after Mr. Landis moved back to the South from San Francisco, where he is believed to have owned a small art gallery. startPoint: data.images.startPoint, hide caption. He rarely eats. View the profiles of professionals named "Mark Landis" on LinkedIn. I go and solve problems for the church.. Search. The owner of the object now possesses a great treasure, to keep or sell for huge profit. In 2008, a registrar caught on to his act and exposed him to the museum community. You may change or cancel your subscription or trial at any time online. He never accepted any money for his paintings, even turning down the chance to swap the donated paintings for tax write-offs, and so for some time it was unclear as to whether Landis was actually breaking any laws. var data = chameleonData[0]; Mark Landis has been called one of the most prolific art forgers in US history. leftButtonText: data.footer.button.leftButtonText, Genealogy for Johannes Jacob Landis (1667 - 1730) family tree on Geni, with over 230 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. To be charged with fraud, a victim has to suffer a loss. It wasn't like Landis went in and said, 'Here, I want to give you this fabulous painting by Picasso and you need to pay me $100,000 for the painting.' 2. He fought the disease much like he lived his life - with . Mini Bio (1) Mark Landis is the son of Glenn and Ruby Landis Born in Cumberland, Maryland and joined the Army at 17 at 22 worked in Louisanna Oil Fields before moving to Los Angeles CA. An internationally acclaimed artist, Mark Landis, who suffers from mental illness, was diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 17. Art and Craft has brought his way even if he long ago stopped being able to fool the countrys top museums. caption: data.footer.caption, Landis thought for a moment, then said, Well , Elayne., A woman who attended Thursdays screening wrote in an email later, its almost charming to find a tale of deceit in the 21st century that has absolutely nothing to do with money, power or sex. Everyone benefits. It bore a weathered label of a defunct New York art gallery on the verso. Landis was diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 17. rightButtonText: data.footer.button.rightButtonText Professor. He ended the meeting with a request; See if you can smooth things over for me. "It was the . Here, exclusively for T, Landis talks about some of his most successful forgeries. Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum. [3] http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/5905c640-2359-11e0-8389-00144feab49a.html#axzz1iaLh3QxA, accessed 5 January 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/12/arts/design/12fraud.html?pagewanted=all, http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/%E2%80%9CJesuit-priest-donates-fraudulent-works/21787, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/5905c640-2359-11e0-8389-00144feab49a.html#axzz1iaLh3QxA, http://www.maxim.com/amg/STUFF/Articles/Art+Forger+Mark+Landis. You buy the same boards at Home Depot as the Curran, which are the exact right width, and you just measure out the length. Mark Landis, from Laurel, Mississippi, is one of the most prolific art forgers of all time, as well as a consummate con man. It looks like something an untalented eighth or ninth grader would do. He arrived in a big red Cadillac and introduced himself as Father Arthur Scott. That same month The Art Newspaper broke the story about Landis and his scheme, after having contacted me knowing I had been tracking Landis, also ran a photograph of him. But forgery and fraud are outright lies that hurt others, even if there is no financial gain or loss, fraud is fraud and a forgery is a fake. Landis is a wisp of a man. And, he is easily distracted by details a womans bracelet, an ornate door hinge, the authenticity of a vintage movie poster which command all his attention. Details Edit Language English Also known as Den frunderlige konstfrfalskaren Filming locations Cincinnati, Ohio, USA Production companies Motto Pictures His last known attempt to pass off a forgery occurred in mid-November, when he presented himself, again as Father Arthur Scott, at the Ackland Art Museum at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, bearing a French Academic drawing. hide caption. Leininger did his due diligence and found out that other museums had some of the same works. As Landis puts it in the film, for him, "Copying is reassuring." His only prize was personal enjoyment in being catered to by the art world, that his own works were being accepted into established collections and lauded as originals, gifted in his parents memories. Our soft spot: art and money," says one museum director featured in the documentary. } Tell them Im not a bad guy. Birney Imes: The curious case of Mark Landis. The remarkably high-quality forgery was done by Mark Landis, a notorious art forger who has been profiled by the likes of The New Yorker and has done copies of artworks by sources ranging from Picasso to Disney. Among famous art forgers, he's in a class by himself, says Colette Loll, an art fraud investigator. [1] He is best known for "donating" large numbers of forged paintings and drawings to American art museums. It doesnt happen often, but every now and then the gods offer up someone who is doing something for which there is no precedent. What if it is deemed an original? through it. beforeAfterContainer.BeforeAfter(options); showButton: data.footer.button.showButton, Mark Landis is an odd person with ears that stick out. In September 2010, Mark Landis went to the Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum, under the identity of a jesuit priest, Father Arthur Scott. Cadillac that had belonged to his mother, Jonita Joyce Brantley, formerly of Laurel, Miss., he introduced himself as Father Arthur Scott. This was also the case with the other forgeries that the Oklahoma City Museum of Art had been gifted that I also found in other museums while doing my research. Inside was what looked to be a medieval icon, a vintage print of Brer Rabbit from Joel Chandler Harris Uncle Remus and a short, handwritten note on folded, crinkled paper. showButton: data.footer.button.showButton, This holds little sway when thousands, and occasionally millions, are at stake, should the new work be deemed authentic. Address: Room 306, Cato Center for the Arts. He is believed to have given over 100 forgeries, according to the New York Times . That was not a concern to me. Landis pays his own travel, lodging, meals, etc. Mark Landis has been a member of Actors' Equity Association since 1978, and his work in the professional theatre took him to a number of different parts of the U.S. where he worked as an actor, a director, and a stage manager. Mark was born June 8th, 1978 to William (Bill) and. Mark Alan Landis currently resides in Cincinnati, Ohio. Hes also made copies of letters from John Hancock and Abraham Lincoln. In Landis case, we do not know the origin of his unusual habit of donating forgeries. He maintains a database of all known contacts with Mr. Landis, sightings of him and works he has copied. Directors. For an optimal experience visit our site on . Art and Craft, a documentary on Landis artistic exploits was released in the fall of 2014 (Google Art and Craft trailer for a preview). A documentary is often only as good as its subject, and Art and Craft has a truly unique and astonishing one. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. The real Landis is living on disability. She's organized a touring exhibition of works by five notorious forgers, including Landis. university Mr. Bassi knew Mr. Landiss mother, Jonita Joyce Brantley, who was born and raised in Laurel and was a member of the museum. Her doctor couldn't pinpoint a cause. leftButtonText: data.footer.button.leftButtonText, It seemed that Landis was still operating, now under yet another pseudonym. 1) by 19th century artist Charles Courtney Curran. "He remembers not only names and titles and actors but lines from all of these movies which do make their way into his vernacular.". (i1717) b: 1697 Barbara Landis . The Curran painting looked authentic right off the bat. None of his numbers worked. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". Includes Address (11) Phone (7) Email (10) See Results. Landis works on a "Picasso" at his home. showButton: data.footer.button.showButton, Leininger spent a few years doggedly tracking down which museums Landis had fooled and tried to spread the word. Landis has earned his net worth through his work on many films, music videos, and. Certainly, the case of Mark Landis is a curious one. His materials including magic markers and frames from Wal-Mart are not those of a "proper" forger, says filmmaker Sam Cullman. And then there is a more practical side to his art. They would all go to museums and bring home catalogs and information about the collections. Mark Landis is still out there having successfully perpetrated a very bizarre forgery scheme for over thirty years with no financial gain. var options = { They get a letter in the mail of a promised gift of art and then it shows up via FedEx or in person, as he did while I was in Oklahoma City, along with a photocopy of an auction catalogue entry for provenance reasons showing he was the owner. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Home Depot, and you do the sky first because thats the furthest thing back, and then you go forward. Mr. Landis often under his own name, though more recently as Father Scott or as a collector named Steven Gardiner has indeed done a lot of traveling over the past two decades, but not for the church. Landis grew up in Europe in the 1960s. leftCredit: data.images.left.leftCredit, For a full comparison of Standard and Premium Digital, click here. He looks like he's about 70, except at the time of the film, he was 59. Art fraud investigator Colette Loll believes making fakes was the way he managed his mental illness. ---. rightImage: data.images.right.rightImage, Some known art forgers have turned to forgery for psychological and financial reasons. Arthur Landis, Jr. and even closer his late mother Jonita Joyce Brantley as she did remarry when Landis' father passed. Mark D Landis, 52. Leininger lives in Cincinnati, Ohio and uses his acquired knowledge of fakes and to help stop other forgers. Leininger earned a BA from Wright State University and an MFA in Printmaking from Ohio University, becoming the Curatorial Department Head at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art and then Chief Registrar at the Cincinnati Art Museum. Before you run them through the computer, caption: data.footer.caption, She passed away from after battling a 2 year fight with cancer. Since Landis was donating his copies to museums, he wasn't doing anything illegal. It gave me something to live for.. Museums rely on gifts to fill their walls since many museums have little funds for acquisitionsmost of the Baroque art at Londons National Gallery, for instance, is owned by Sir Dennis Mahon, and the works are displayed on loan thanks to his beneficence. It seemed that a Father James Brantley, who looked remarkably like Landis, had donated an oil-on-copper painting, Holy Family with Saint Anne ostensibly by 16th century painter Hans van Aachen. Also learn how He earned most of networth at the age of 65 years old? Landis did not respond, but the Father James Brantley sightings abruptly ceased until February of 2012, when he came out under his fourth alias, Marc Lanois. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. But the fact is he gave it to the museum for free. He fought the disease much like he lived his life - with determination and persistence, strength, grace and humility. you stain the paper first, otherwise the ink will bleed. Compare Standard and Premium Digital here. When it was over, Landis received a standing ovation. Mr. How the biggest companies plan mass lay-offs, The benefits of revealing neurodiversity in the workplace, Tim Peake: I do not see us having a problem getting to Mars, Our ski trip made me question my life choices, Michelle Yeoh: Finally we are being seen, How Glasgows tiny, muckraking crime mag stays afloat, Apocalypse then: lessons from history in tackling climate shocks. He was a small and sickly child who spent most of his time indoors and had an eye for drawing at a young age. OBITUARIES. I think he blessed everyone (here)., Im kind of like a method actor, Landis told the BBC earlier this year. caption: data.footer.caption, The next morning Landis came by the paper to say good-bye. The phrase dont look a gift horse in the mouth takes on a new meaning. Past residents include Erika Buckner, James Dunigan, Mark Boonstra, Andrew Landis and Sheilakai Simmons. By Matthew C. Leininger, former Curatorial Department Head at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. [1] He was carrying a painting that he intended to gift to the museum in memory of his mother, whom he told the staff was Helen Mitchell Scott, who he said was a Louisiana native. For cost savings, you can change your plan at any time online in the Settings & Account section. Sam Cullman/Courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories [2] http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/%E2%80%9CJesuit-priest-donates-fraudulent-works/21787 accessed 5 January 2012. rightCredit: data.images.right.rightCredit, During your trial you will have complete digital access to FT.com with everything in both of our Standard Digital and Premium Digital packages. Landis was self-depreciating, brutally honest and frequently hilarious. 2013 International Arts & Artists. Landis fooled museums around the country for years with his convincing copies of Picasso, Signac and Watteau works. Discover Mark Landis's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. I did not seek the media; they sought me and this story as a social interest piece to help me educate the public, which has been my mission with Landis. Diagnosed as schizophrenic and living more or less hermetically since his mother died in 2010, the soft-spoken Landis is engaging if remorseless about his deception, and more than happy to. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community. Art forger Mark Landis is the subject of the documentary " Art and Craft ," directed by Sam Cullman and Jennifer Grausman. rightImage: data.images.right.rightImage, Hes copied 19th century bank notes from the Republic of Texas. He has also appeared as an actor in a . I flipped back and forth and would remember it just long enough to get it down. Landis himself stated to me that his rationale for perpetrating this unusual scheme was that Everyone likes to be treated nice.. Unlike most forgers, he does not seem to be in it for the money, but for a kind of satisfaction at seeing his works accepted as authentic. rightCredit: data.images.right.rightCredit, Mark Landis Photo by Joseph Dalton Twelve years ago, The Art Newspaper broke a story about a prolificand somewhat eccentricart forger, who had been placing his work in the collections of. beforeAfterContainer.BeforeAfter(options); showFooter: data.footer.showFooter, If youd like to retain your premium access and save 20%, you can opt to pay annually at the end of the trial. Mark Landis with his forged copy of the Mona Lisa. For three decades Landis created museum-quality forgeries of artworks and donated them to institutions around the country. The media can report on a great story, that there are hidden treasures among us, there for anyone to find. Mark Edward Landis, 43 of Bloomington, MN, passed away Sunday, March 20th, 2022 suddenly after a long battle with several heart issues. hide caption. On any fair-weather weekend, many of Southern California's mountain trails are busy, and the biggest challenge today, could be finding a parking space! Because weve not seen it before, we are not sure how to react and acceptance varies, sometimes to the extreme. He used detail elements, like the worn label on the back of the fake Curran, to pass initial examination, but not close scrutiny. Matthew C. Leininger, a museum professional with over 15 years of experience as a registrar, singlehandedly investigated and solved the strange case of Mark Augustus Landisuncovering his art forgeries, multiple identities, and national donations of fake masterpieces. Mark Has worked at Universal Studios Hollywood Ca for better than 16 years and continues to work there as a Systems Analyst. The only flicker of suspicion came when a museum employee began to chat with Father Scott about possible mutual acquaintances in the nearby Catholic community, at which point the priest seemed to grow nervous and claimed I travel a lot, to cover for his inability to recognize local names. Howard Kelly Landis III passed away peacefully at his home on January 2, 2021 following a heroic two-year battle with cancer. But money was not a factor in the scheme of Mark Landis, aka Steven Gardiner, aka Father Arthur Scott, aka Father James Brantley and aka Marc Lanois, when he showed up at Loyola University in New Orleans in February of 2012. showFooter: data.footer.showFooter, Landis had trained at the . rightImage: data.images.right.rightImage, rightCredit: data.images.right.rightCredit, (She died last April.) Or half a million, I suppose., A scene from the documentary film, Art and Craft., Milan Fashion Week: Dsquared Spring/Summer 2015. He's thin, pale and bald and looks a little like Truman Capote. })(jQuery || NYTD.jQuery); Stuart Davis, Houses Along A Canal (c. 1914-18) Offered to: Mississippi Museum of Art, The picture looks like it was done by a 6-year-old, so it took no particular effort. A funny fascinating too-good-to-be-true documentary about Mark Landis one of the world's most prolific art forgers who for over 30 years has duped museums across the country--until one determined registrar sets out to stop him. Leininger quickly found that James Brantley was the name of Mark Landis' step-father, and all signs suggested that the painting was a forgery. var options = { Associated Addresses 5001 Kingsley Dr, Cincinnati, OH 45227 4407 State Route 37 W # 37, Delaware, OH 43015 4407 State Route 37 W, Delaware, OH 43015Show More (+) Associated Phone Numbers (740) 363-3284 (740) 362-7178 (740) 363-5070 (419) 674-4225 (740) 363-4012 rightButtonText: data.footer.button.rightButtonText Daughter of John Elmer and Betty P. Education Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry, Cornell University, 1965. Next Page. Often using a magnifying glass, Landis studies a print of an original work and, with meticulous attention to detail, copies exactly what he sees: religious icons, impressionist or modern works. A painting Mark A. Landis donated to Hilliard University Art Museum as a Charles Courtney Curran. Mark Landis, in the guise of Father Scott, among others, has spent decades creating forgeries and gifting . It does not store any personal data. beforeAfterContainer.BeforeAfter(options); You might call Matt Leininger the story's Sherlock Holmes. He was the registrar at the Oklahoma City Museum in 2007 when Landis offered to donate works of art there. He'll correct you if you call him an artist because his art, like his life, is not what it first appears to be. Art & Craft includes an interview with Robert Wittman, who founded the FBI's Art Crime Team. But Mr. Wittman has been unable to find him. Two: Clara Ridste was her mother. He was a diffident, artistic child who was diagnosed at age 17 with schizophrenia and institutionalized for eighteen months. As an apology for not having opened the door when Gapper first knocked, Landis gave him a painting he had designed and completed of Joan of Arc, signed with his own name. Ive gotten to make an awful lot of friends, and talk to an awful Ever since being conned by Landis that day in 2007, he's been obsessed with tracking the forger down. Art fraud investigator Colette Loll believes making fakes was the way he managed his mental illness. Premium Digital includes access to our premier business column, Lex, as well as 15 curated newsletters covering key business themes with original, in-depth reporting. Landis, now in his fifties, is a painter and former supposed gallery owner, and a most unusual type of personone who has yet to break a law, and as I mentioned, gained financially.