How fine forgeries fooled the art world

[00:00.36] 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。

[00:08.13] 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。

[00:21.40] 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。

[00:31.67] 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。

[00:36.18] 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。

[00:41.94] 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。

[00:48.46] 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。

[00:56.73] 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。

[01:04.50] 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。

[01:12.76] 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。

[01:24.03] 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。

[01:31.55] The successful scam made the forgers grow bolder. 成功的骗局使伪造者变得更加大胆。

[01:35.81] But when they approached the British Museum with some more fake artefacts, an expert spotted mistakes and tipped off the police.

[01:46.33] 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。

[01:55.35] 经过18个月的调查，警方敲响了这家人的门。

[01:56.35] 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。

[01:57.10] 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。

[02:10.88] 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”。

[02:23.91] 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。