ART FRAUD IS THE deliberately false representation of the artist, age, or origins of a work of art in order to reap financial gain. Forgery of a famous artist's work is the best-known kind of art fraud. But fraud may also result from the knowing misattribution of the age or origin of a work of art, for example if an art dealer were to falsely assert, for the purpose of making a greater profit, that a statue was from 5th-century Greece, or that a vase was from the Chinese Ming dynasty; works from a particular region or time period may be deemed more valuable on the contemporary art market. Art fraud is motivated by the large sums of money that can be obtained for works ...