Art forgery remains one of the most high-stakes crimes in the cultural world, blending brilliant talent with absolute deception. For decades, skilled counterfeiters have managed to trick major collectors and established institutions.
This quiz features questions about famous historical fakes, scientific aging methods, and the slip-ups that eventually caught the perpetrators. You will also see questions about provenance and art detection tools.
When you finish this set, browse our quizzes covering art curiosities, test yourself on famous artists, or study historical painting techniques.
Art forgery most frequently involves the illegal imitation of which type of items?
Sculptures
Sculptures
Textiles
Textiles
Jewelry
Jewelry
Paintings
Paintings
Han van Meegeren became world-famous for forging the works of which Dutch Master?
Vermeer
Vermeer
Picasso
Picasso
Da Vinci
Da Vinci
Rembrandt
Rembrandt
Which scientific dating method is commonly used to determine the age of organic materials, such as canvas or wood, in art forgery detection?
Uranium-lead dating
Uranium-lead dating
Potassium-argon dating
Potassium-argon dating
Carbon-14 dating
Carbon-14 dating
Luminescence dating
Luminescence dating
To make his forged Vermeers appear centuries old, what substance did Han van Meegeren mix with his paints to harden them?
Acrylic paint
Acrylic paint
Aluminum powder
Aluminum powder
Bakelite
Bakelite
Linseed oil
Linseed oil
Before the forgery was exposed, which major institution purchased van Meegeren’s ‘Christ at Emmaus’?
The Rijksmuseum
The Rijksmuseum
The Louvre
The Louvre
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
The Prado Museum
The Prado Museum
Which German forger is infamous for creating works in the style of various Expressionist artists, fooling major auction houses for decades?
Wolfgang Beltracchi
Wolfgang Beltracchi
Tom Keating
Tom Keating
Shaun Greenhalgh
Shaun Greenhalgh
Eric Hebborn
Eric Hebborn
What specific chemical contaminant helped investigators debunk Han van Meegeren’s claim that he only used authentic 17th-century pigments?
Traces of titanium white in his lead white
Traces of titanium white in his lead white
Traces of cobalt blue in his ultramarine
Traces of cobalt blue in his ultramarine
Traces of Prussian blue in his azurite
Traces of Prussian blue in his azurite
Traces of chrome yellow in his ochre
Traces of chrome yellow in his ochre
Which prolific forger, known for his fakes of Modigliani, Matisse, and Picasso, was the subject of Orson Welles’ documentary ‘F for Fake’?
Mark Landis
Mark Landis
Sylvain Bigot
Sylvain Bigot
John Myatt
John Myatt
Elmyr de Hory
Elmyr de Hory
What was Han van Meegeren’s primary motive for creating his initial set of forgeries?
He wanted to prove he was a better artist than the critics who rejected him
He wanted to prove he was a better artist than the critics who rejected him
He was blackmailed by the Dutch resistance
He was blackmailed by the Dutch resistance
He was commissioned by the Nazis
He was commissioned by the Nazis
He needed money to fund a political party
He needed money to fund a political party
What is the term for the network of fine cracks that develops on the surface of an old painting, which forgers often attempt to simulate?
Chiaroscuro
Chiaroscuro
Craquelure
Craquelure
Sfumato
Sfumato
Impasto
Impasto
How can UV (ultraviolet) light be used by art experts to identify a potential forgery?
Checking for ultraviolet light fluorescence under varnish layers
Checking for ultraviolet light fluorescence under varnish layers
Comparing the frame style to known historical documents
Comparing the frame style to known historical documents
Using a magnifying glass to find hidden signatures
Using a magnifying glass to find hidden signatures
Performing a blind taste test of the paint binders
Performing a blind taste test of the paint binders
Why did Han van Meegeren choose to confess to being an art forger while on trial after WWII?
It proved he was a forger rather than a collaborator who sold Dutch cultural heritage
It proved he was a forger rather than a collaborator who sold Dutch cultural heritage
It proved he was a Nazi collaborator
It proved he was a Nazi collaborator
It resulted in his immediate execution by the Dutch government
It resulted in his immediate execution by the Dutch government
It proved he was a brilliant artist only capable of original work
It proved he was a brilliant artist only capable of original work
Which ancient Greek marble sculpture of a standing youth was acquired by a major California museum in 1985, only for its authenticity to be heavily debated by art experts?
The Venus de Milo
The Venus de Milo
The Capitoline Wolf
The Capitoline Wolf
The Getty Kouros
The Getty Kouros
The Winged Victory of Samothrace
The Winged Victory of Samothrace
Which art professional is specifically tasked with researching and verifying the chronological ownership history of a painting?
Gallery docent
Gallery docent
Provenance researcher
Provenance researcher
Art restorer
Art restorer
Exhibition designer
Exhibition designer
In the art world, what does the term ‘provenance’ refer to?
A secret method of painting developed in the Renaissance
A secret method of painting developed in the Renaissance
The history of ownership of an object
The history of ownership of an object
A gallery owner who sells mainly forgeries as authentic pieces
A gallery owner who sells mainly forgeries as authentic pieces
The physical condition report of an antique
The physical condition report of an antique
Which British art forger became a television personality, demonstrating his ‘Sexton Blake’ fakes and claiming he created them as a protest against the art establishment?
Lord Colin Campbell
Lord Colin Campbell
Tom Keating
Tom Keating
Han van Meegeren
Han van Meegeren
Eric Hebborn
Eric Hebborn
Which modern pigment, when discovered in an ‘Old Master’ painting, serves as a common ‘red flag’ indicating a modern forgery?
Titanium white
Titanium white
Bone black
Bone black
Lapis lazuli
Lapis lazuli
Yellow ochre
Yellow ochre
Which artist was frequently mimicked by Wolfgang Beltracchi to produce highly convincing, previously ‘undiscovered’ masterpieces?
Joan Miró
Joan Miró
Claude Monet
Claude Monet
Max Ernst
Max Ernst
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh
What is a common technique used by art forgers to circumvent age-dating tests on materials?
Applying hand-carved wooden baseboards to modern canvases
Applying hand-carved wooden baseboards to modern canvases
Employing 3D-printed recreations of historical paint textures
Employing 3D-printed recreations of historical paint textures
Using period-appropriate canvases and frames salvaged from junk shops
Using period-appropriate canvases and frames salvaged from junk shops
Using synthetic chemical recreations from a laboratory in Switzerland
Using synthetic chemical recreations from a laboratory in Switzerland
Which document acts as a comprehensive, annotated listing of all the known works of a specific artist, which experts use to identify fakes?
Artist bibliography
Artist bibliography
Exhibition monograph
Exhibition monograph
Provenance registry
Provenance registry
Catalogue raisonné
Catalogue raisonné
Which document acts as a comprehensive, authoritative list of all verified works by a specific artist, used by experts to help identify fakes?
An authentication index
An authentication index
A certificate of origin
A certificate of origin
A catalogue raisonné
A catalogue raisonné
A provenance log
A provenance log
Which Renaissance master famously buried his own sculpture of a sleeping Cupid, pretending it was an antique, in an early example of an art scam?
Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Caravaggio
Caravaggio
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Donatello
Donatello
You can do better
Not bad
Great!
If you enjoyed uncovering fakes, try our trivia on legendary masterpieces, explore genuine classical sculpture, or discover how museums and galleries handle the real deal.
