I love a good art-forgery scandal, and this is the cream of the crop: Dozens of fakes sold for tens of millions of dollars through a single, legendary New York City gallery over the course of 16 years. All the forgeries — alleged to be by Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and others — were painted by one artist in a garage in Queens, then passed off by a con artist as part of a remarkable collection by a mysterious European collector who had purchased them all from the artists themselves (thus the lack of any paper trail to authenticate them).
In Daria Price’s documentary, the story is well told by an eloquent, enthusiastic and diverse cast of mostly art world journalists, plus a lawyer or two. Many of the interview subjects had direct access to the key players in the scandal — art dealer Ann Freedman, of the 150-year-old Knoedler gallery in Manhattan; Glafira Rosales, the woman who sold Knoedler the paintings; and the many rich dupes who paid millions to buy them. Unfortunately, none of these key figures is actually interviewed by Price.
Driven to Abstraction still captures the amazing scope and intricacies of the fraud, but it’s like attending a cocktail party in which a number of smart, ingratiating people are recounting stories they heard at another cocktail party, to which you were not invited. And — who knew there were so many articulate people of so many different ages and backgrounds, all orbiting the New York art world as observers and experts? It’s quite an array of talking heads, mostly against neutral, probably green-screen backgrounds.
Driven to Abstraction is a low-budget affair, with crude computer graphics and a few news video clips of the actual people the filmmaker was unable to talk to. Turns out, this film has a rival with better access: Made You Look, a 2020 documentary feature by Canadian Barry Avrich, hasn’t yet been seen in the U.S. but includes interviews with Freedman (the art dealer) and some of her (cheated) clients and other primary sources. But Price has beaten Avrish to the U.S. streaming market with her well-reported but largely secondhand work. Still, if you love an art scam yarn as much as I do, you’ll want to see both films. Price’s is an appetizer — it’s enjoyable and well constructed and will leave you longing for a main course.
Available to rent starting Aug. 28 via fineartstheatre.com
Before you comment
The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.