Belgian police officers raided homes across the country as they investigate an exhibition in Ghent that was allegedly full of fakes.
An exhibition of 26 Russian avant-garde artworks loaned to the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent by Igor Toporovski was closed at the end of January after experts raised questions over the authenticity of the pieces. Catherine de Zegher, the museum’s director, defended the show, claiming two art historians verified the authenticity of the works, but she was suspended earlier this month after the two experts cast doubt on her assertion. On Monday, prosecutors and police carried out searches in homes across the eastern side of Flanders after receiving a complaint from several art dealers and a descendent of one of the artists whose work was allegedly forged. But so far, prosecutors are remaining tight-lipped about the target of the raids, though they “sealed computers, requested documents and interviewed De Zegher,” The Guardian reported, citing Dutch newspaper De Standaard.