Alceo Dossena
Encyclopedia
Alceo Dossena was an Italian
sculptor
. His dealers marketed his creations as originals by other sculptors.
Dossena was born in Cremona
. He was a talented stonemason and sculptor who was skilled at duplicating classical Greek
, Roman
, medieval, and Renaissance
artistic styles and such artists as Giovanni Pisano
, Simone Martini
and Donatello
. He was skilled enough that his dealer Alfredo Fasoli sold them to museums and collectors as authentic antiques. One of them included a sculptured tomb attributed to Mino da Fiesole
that was sold to Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
In 1928 Dossena noticed that some of his works were in large collections as ancient - and also realized that his dealers were keeping most of the money; he got only equal to $200 per sale. He revealed the ruse and sued his dealers. Dossena defended himself against forgery
charges by claiming that he had been unaware that others were selling his work under false pretenses. A trial cleared him and he received equal to $66,000 in compensation.
His subsequent exhibit in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, unfortunately, turned out to be a failure. The Italian government auctioned 39 Dossena works in 1933.
Alceo Dossena died a poor man in Rome in 1937.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
sculptor
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
. His dealers marketed his creations as originals by other sculptors.
Dossena was born in Cremona
Cremona
Cremona is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana . It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments...
. He was a talented stonemason and sculptor who was skilled at duplicating classical Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
, Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, medieval, and Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
artistic styles and such artists as Giovanni Pisano
Giovanni Pisano
Giovanni Pisano was an Italian sculptor, painter and architect. Son of the famous sculptor Nicola Pisano, he received his training in the workshop of his father....
, Simone Martini
Simone Martini
Simone Martini was an Italian painter born in Siena.He was a major figure in the development of early Italian painting and greatly influenced the development of the International Gothic style....
and Donatello
Donatello
Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi , also known as Donatello, was an early Renaissance Italian artist and sculptor from Florence...
. He was skilled enough that his dealer Alfredo Fasoli sold them to museums and collectors as authentic antiques. One of them included a sculptured tomb attributed to Mino da Fiesole
Mino da Fiesole
Mino da Fiesole , also known as Mino di Giovanni, was an Italian sculptor from Poppi, Tuscany. He is noted for his portrait busts.-Career:...
that was sold to Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
In 1928 Dossena noticed that some of his works were in large collections as ancient - and also realized that his dealers were keeping most of the money; he got only equal to $200 per sale. He revealed the ruse and sued his dealers. Dossena defended himself against forgery
Forgery
Forgery is the process of making, adapting, or imitating objects, statistics, or documents with the intent to deceive. Copies, studio replicas, and reproductions are not considered forgeries, though they may later become forgeries through knowing and willful misrepresentations. Forging money or...
charges by claiming that he had been unaware that others were selling his work under false pretenses. A trial cleared him and he received equal to $66,000 in compensation.
His subsequent exhibit in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, unfortunately, turned out to be a failure. The Italian government auctioned 39 Dossena works in 1933.
Alceo Dossena died a poor man in Rome in 1937.
Further reading
- David Sox, Unmasking the forger: The Dossena Deception, London: Unwyn Hyman, 1987.
- Frank ArnauFrank ArnauFrank Arnau was the pseudonym of a German crime fiction writer, born as Heinrich Schmitt.- Biography :Arnau was born in Vienna, the son of a hotel manager.He began his literary career as a newspaper journalist...
, in 1959, published what is still one of the best books about counterfeiting art: "Kunst der Fälscher - Fälscher der Kunst. 3000 Jahre Betrug mit Antiquitäten." It is available in an English translation by J. Maxwell Brownjohn as "The Art of the Faker - 3,000 Years of Deception" and includes a chapter on Alceo Dossena.