The online newspaper Il Secolo XIX publish a video of the above mentioned conference where Stefano Zuffi remarks the well-known friendship that joined Modigliani to Kisling and also speaks about the three still lifes attributed also to the artist from Livorno, declaring that «it cannot be excluded that, and an essay and the catalog document put forward this hypothesis that I collected and transferred to the exhibition, that at least in one of these three cases, Modigliani was personally involved in the painting by reproducing on it one of his subjects».

SUSPECTS ON MODIGLIANI - Jerome GAUTHERET - Correspondent from Rome: The event was launched at the Ducal Palace in Genoa, on March 16th, with great enthusiasm. The Italian press "La Repubblica" talked about "Modigliani Show", while "La Stampa" greeted the son of the homeland who had become a genius in Paris, the "painter who had made himself loved by the beautiful world" - but, in truth, Amedeo Modigliani, who died at age 35, in misery, in 1920, he has not enjoyed in life that of a very limited fame. The major museums, from Antwerp to Paris (Museums Picasso, Beaubourg, l'Orangerie), were lent their works to the event. In short, the exhibition that will last until July 16th, had a very proud gait. Though, for some weeks now, the environment of Italian art has been agitated by a violent controversy, which has led to the opening of an investigation by the Genoa Public Prosecutor's Office. The case was revealed in May by art critic Carlo Pepi. On his Facebook page, he has questioned the authenticity of numerous works on display. In Italy, Pepi is not who knows who: this self-taught collector became known in 1984 for a case passed to posterity with the name of the "hoax of Livorno". For the centenary of the birth of the artist, the town of Livorno had tried to verify a legend: the one that wants the artist to throw some sculptures into the "Fosso Reale" of the city's port. Dragging the bottom of the canal, the agents found three carved heads, immediately attributed to Modigliani. Carlo Pepi raised doubts and, a few days later, three students revealed that they had created one of the works, before a local artist claimed to be the author of the other two. This scandal cost the assignment to the superintendent of the Modern Art Gallery of Rome and to the museum conservator of the city of Livorno. Equipped with undoubted sagacity and an undisputed acquaintance of Modigliani, Pepi today affirms that at least 13 works exhibited in Genoa, or a third of the total, are dubious. He requested the withdrawal of the suspect paintings, but the organizers of the event replied: Rudy Chiappini, member of the management committee of the exhibition has defined the accusations "unfounded and specious" recalling the absence of scientific publications by Carlo Pepi and the shadow of "political elections". The Frenchman Marc Restellini then enters the scene: he claims he has transmitted to the police a dossier to demonstrate the extent of the fraud. This art historian who organized the Modigliani exhibition at the Luxembourg Palace in 2002 is considered as the greatest expert of the artist, has classified 400 of his works - and found 200 fakes. «The organizers has not provided nothing serious pedigree for the thirteen paintings indicted in the Genoa exhibition - he says - what to say about works that appear in the 90s in the catalogs of an expert, Christian Parisot, repeatedly convicted by Justice? The portrait of Soutine... I've had it in my hands: it's a fake. Even the owner knows that. Having regard to the lack of the right to exercise moral rights, the work of the painter is an ideal prey for forgeries. The astronomical quotation of the artist - in 2015, a "Nu couché" was has been awarded for about 160 million euros in New York. When a Modigliani doubt is displayed alongside works of unquestionable pedigree, visitors are cheated, scientific committees cultured failing, but the work acquires an aspect of respectability - a fraud in classic style, whose stakes, with Modigliani, rises to many tens of millions of Euros ..»

In response to the organizers, in reference to the scandal of the Modigliani case in Genoa. The answers of the organizers of the exposition to the complaint I deposited to the Italian authorities concerning the display of known fakes at the Ducal Palace in Genoa, reveal a true fair of falsehoods. Among the press conferences and the different interviews that I've read on the Italian press, I have to appeal to the following facts: - I have informed the Italian authorities in a significant way by on the basis of scientific indications that attesting the evidence concerning the forgeries. - All the works concerned, at the contrary to what has been said, are not based on ANY ancient documentation and they did not appear, at its best, before 1970. What is declared by the interviewed organizers is absolutely false. None of these works has even the slightest credible, serious, antique documentary trace. And when it exists, it is a question of documentation, in all probability, falsified. - The arguments of the speakers are very dangerous for their defense because everyone knows me perfectly and have had the opportunity to work with me in the past. For some of these works, they perfectly know my position about the authenticity. They can not, starting from the exposition manager and the curator, declare to be not aware of it. In this way, they run a very big risk, demonstrating their collusion with this enormous fraud which consists in exposing and deceiving an audience that does not have the competence to judge what is impose to them even though they must be the guarantors of the integrity and authenticity of the works wich they expose. - The organizers take refuge from participation in exhibitions of French National Museums to validate fake works, giving rise to the idea that the French national institutions would be available to help them validate known fakes. I have, for this reason, informed the French Minister of Culture and will inform, equally and considered the extent of the scandal, the French Public Prosecutor's Office to shed light on these illegal acts. - I remember, however, to the all persons concerned, that I have a judgment of justice of the Court of Appeal of Paris which gives me a right and an important moral obligation as expert, linked to my role and to my knowledge of the artist, of report and take action against fraudulent actions that I get to know about. I was wrong to think that the sentences against the forger Christian PARISOT were enough to disappear the fakes published by him. It was clearly not enough and this is the reason why, in accordance of the judgment, I will request the seizure and destruction of these works and, on the other hand to implement, starting from today, a service of the Restellini Institute whose purpose it will be to put the end to the activity of every institution or individual reputed partner in crime in exposing and spreading fakes Modigliani

16/06/2017 from an article published by Il Giornale, we learn that the Mariastella Margozzi expert appraisal is expected in days. In this article Rudy Chiappini claims that the French expert Marc Restellini: «announces in 2001 that he wants to publish his own catalog raisonné - On 1 January 2015 the Institut Wildenstein in Paris, who had commissioned the assignment, have withdrawn his mandate». We also read that «among the authors of the reference catalogs of Genoa's exhibition there is Christian Parisot. Between the latter and Restellini there is not love at all, and they were protagonists in the past of judicial events about fakes Modigliani».

Among these works exhibited in Prague in 2011, we find the "portrait of Hanka Zborowska" a work that it bring back to mind the exhibition "When I know your soul I will paint your eyes" inaugurated on November 21, 2015, set up at the Gallery of Modern Art and Contemporary of Arezzo curated by Romano Boriosi and promoted by the cultural association Editebro, in collaboration with the Municipality of Arezzo and the Rosini Gutman Collection. Even before the inauguration, Carlo Pepi pointed that the image shown in the event brochure is a know fake, like «several bronze sculptures that, as is well known, the artist never realized».

New turn of events on the scandal of the fakes Modigliani in Genoa.
The institute received a copy of a letter addressed to Ducal Palace by Marc Ottavi - a Kisling expert, of which he prepares the catalog raisonné. He points that the works of Kisling exhibited are also fakes.
Here is the copy.
I leave everyone judge of what is going on.

Gentlemen,
I received your catalog of the current exhibition of the painter Amedeo Modigliani, Skira edition.
The present exposition of the artist contains paintings attributed to Kisling and Modigliani - Kisling.
I inform you that the numbers 37, 38, 39 do not come from the hand of Kisling, I had warned Christian Parisot for over 3 years that these paintings are fakes.
For your information, the origins are fakes.
The painting n ° 40 does not come from the hand of Kisling, the painting is fake, these works have been reproduced on an illegal publication, published in 2008, and financed by Mr. Joseph Guttmann, watch the video tape:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3anFxqeqeqk

Therefore I invite you to immediately withdraw the above-mentioned works and notify the owners at the same time.
Waiting for your response, I offer you my best regards.

Marc Ottavi

N.B. The aforementioned paintings will be reported at soon in my Kisling catalog like fake works, both by Modigliani - Kisling, and as fakes Kisling.
N.B. For the number 41 we have no news about the creation in 1932 in the archives of the painter Kisling, it does not appear in the exhibition of Paris in 1937. It appeared for the first time in 2008 in a Tomo 4 pag 292 catalog 11, for the same catalog Joseph Guttmann.
N.B. You can watch the video tape: YouTube: Jean Kisling and Marc Ottavi art business.

Reading these certifications signed by Jean Kisling, we note that is not specified to which work/s they are related, besides this 'small' particular, these certificates can not be considered sufficient proof to establish the authenticity of the works, as well as the certificates drawn up by Jeanne Modigliani for her father's works, some of which are linked to fake works, or those redact by Angela Ceroni on which is better to let’s draw a veil over..

Answer about the Modigliani / Kisling scandal.
As I said in my interview, I repeat now here: it is known and public that Jean Kisling from the years 1980-90 no longer had the ability to make the catalog of his father's works. Invoking those certificates and publications as a reference of authenticity is not credible. The official answer of Marc Ottavi sent to the Palazzo Ducale and of which he gave me a copy confirms it if there was still any doubt. Once again, I let everyone judge the maneuvers that are used to not immediately pick up all the disputed works.
Marc Restellini

Marc Ottavi - Expert - XIX e XX sec.

A lie repeated ten times is not a truth. An expert error repeated ten times does not make an authentic painting. We are at the heart of the subject, that of fake origins, fake imitations, invented collections designed to deceive families, catalogers, depositaries. In this game of scams, it is necessary to understand that the final purpose of every forger is the commercialization of his production. The first step is to legitimize a forgery based on a provenance, and if possible, difficult to verify. The second step is to invent, subsequently, a transit in a known collection, read prestigious. The third step is to include it (the fake) in several publications. The non plus ultra is the inclusion in the catalog raisonné, and for this reason the forgers are ready to pay for the insertion of the work because the costs of the edition and the press are unrelated compared to the benefit obtained. We are at the fourth stage, the exhibition in a national museum, the most expected and the most important, because it is this that will allow the commercialization, and will subsequently exclude any risk of contestation regarding authenticity. Honest, integral and loving man of his father's work, Jean Kisling, pilot of his profession, today is 95 years old, they have abused of him and convinced with fallacious arguments with the purpose to deceive his eye and his brain, little in front of illicit and forgers qualified to make profit every defect and enjoy taking advantage of every weakness. I will not comment here, actually for a greater possible development, the mediocre style that does not correspond to one or the other of the two artists, wherever the catastrophic pictorial realization of the contested works (Modigliani-Kisling) currently present in the Genoa exhibition. In the error of having rebuilt the atelier of the Via Joseph Bara, the paintings are painted in the foreground to avoid any historical error related to the places. They resume and represent all the jabbering attributed to the two painters: presumed indoor of Kisling with his brushes and stone sculptures or small paintings of Modigliani lost in dignity but which should represent a pictorial reduction of his work. Each of these paintings is arranged in a theatrical, invented and anecdotal way. The interest also comes from the provenances indicated and from the suspicions raised. The paintings 37-38 -39 listed in the catalog as being of the hand of Modigliani and Kisling indicated like produced in 1918, would come from Léopold Zborowski, well-known art dealer. The exhibition catalog indicates that in 1920 or 1922, these paintings they would be part of the Serguei Chtchoukine collection in Moscow. Incredible informations about two prestigious provenances but not based on any evidence. Let us make it clear that none of these paintings was chosen in the exhibition of the Chtchoukine collection, which ended in Paris a few months ago. Unfortunately for the forgers, Serguei Chtchoukine archives were made accessible on the occasion of this Parisian exhibition in 2016. The Chtchoukine collection was acquired in 1918. An inventory was drawn up by the son who was appointed like a conservative by the new government. No painting was acquired by Chtchoukine after 1918, when it was still in Moscow. The provenance and dates indicated are fakes. The disputed paintings having been made in the 1990s, the forgers could not know these details because they were not yet made public. No placement of these paintings can be verified from 1920 to their appearance in 2000 !! An anomaly for paintings of such prestigious provenance and importance while from 2000 to 2017 the exhibitions follow each other. Tokyo 2000, Ancona Caserta 2003, Bari 2003, Taiwan 2011, Brazil 2011-2012, Seoul 2015 and Genova 2017. We note that the five disputed paintings of Genoa, 37, 38, 39, 40 and 41 were published (incomplete list) in an illegal work on Moïse Kisling published in 2008 and of which Jean Kisling has publicly requested their destruction (Youtube: Kisling-Ottavi) In pseudo tome IV on Moïse Kisling (illegal) the painting 37 is published on page 314 at n ° 9 (information omitted from Genoa) the 38 is published on page 315 at No. 10 (information omitted from Genoa) the 39 is published on page 313 at No. 8 the 40 is published at page 133 at No. 24 (information omitted from Genoa) . For this painting the origin "Alfred Fleichtheim Dusseldorf" was also omitted as indicated in the illegal work published in 2008, this provenance extensively used by the forger Beltracci. The 41 published on page 292 at No. 11: the information that leads to Volume 3 of the work of Moise Kisling No. 3 page 16 refers to another painting that retract Ingrid and currently represented at 41. This painting n° 41 does not appear in any publication like exhibited in Paris in 1937 (erroneous indication of Genoa that does not specify neither the place nor the publication). In an artistic environment in which falsehood, corruption, ignorance and denial cohabit, my expert opinion is that paintings 37, 38, 39, 40 and 41 are fakes that can not be found in a museum. I invite the curators to become aware of it and to remove them from their exposition. It would be an act of courage for them rather than offering additional legitimacy to the fakes. But we do not throw stones to the directors of the Genoa exhibition because they referred to fake documents, difficult to verify and intended to deceive them. Marc Ottavi Author of the reasoned catalog of Moise Kisling T4 and additional to the tomes 1, 2 and 3, currently being completed.
attachments: autograph letter by Jean Kisling concerning the destruction of the work on Moise Kisling of 9 June 2009; letter signed by Jean Kisling concerning the public destruction of the work on Moise Kisling on 20 April 2011; letter signed by Jean Kisling to the experts on 27 September 2012; letter signed by Jean Kisling for the attention of the Chamber of Expert on 9 October 2012; letter signed by Jean Kisling to the attention of the Chambers of Commissioners "Prizeurs" 9 October 2012; letter signed by Jean Kisling and Dominique Kisling-Pichot to the attention of Madam Eliane Houlette, Government Commissioner, dated 18 September 2013.

Not having signed the "ok for the press" for the publication of Volume IV of Moïse Kisling, I ask the Canale typography not to diffuse the work in its current state, which involves numerous errors and this awaiting my corrections Paris, January 9, 2009 Jean Kisling

Ms. Dominique Kisling Pichot Ms. Government Commissioner, I follow up on September 11, 2012, I confirm that Jean Kisling, my father, has been in protection for 5 years. Jean Kisling, born in 1922, has dedicated his whole life to his father's work, the painter Moïse Kisling (1891-1953). He is the origin of the publication of the reasoned catalogs tomo 1 (1971) tomo 2 (1982) and tome 3 (1995). In 2008, while Jean Kisling was placed in compulsory protection (curatelle), a work that claimed to be the result of his work was published without being able to verify the content and that does not guarantee the authenticity of the reproduced works. At the apparition, Jean Kisling found the work (named Tomo IV) involved dubious, contested, and beyond paintings. Taking into account his age and the frequency of solicitations linked to authentications, Jean Kisling wants me, his daughter Dominique Kisling Pichot, to attend future meetings of expertise. We would therefore be grateful to you, Commissioner of the Government, to inform all market operators who request appraisals or confirmations of authenticity that contact the study of the expert Marc Ottavi, 12 rue Rossini 75009, as soon as we entrust him with the task of centralize and define procedures. Thanking you in advance for the attention you want to make to this request, please, Madam The Commissioner of the Government, to appreciate our best regards. Dominique Kisling Pichot / Jean Kisling

Subject: public destruction of the work of Moise Kisling illegally published in 2008.
Thursday May 5, 2011 Jean Kisling, son, person entitled and expert of Moïse Kisling (1891-1953), will publicly destroy at 11 in rue Rossini, 12 (75009) the part in his possession of the work on Moise Kisling having been printed without his agreement and illegally by Canale Edizioni Torino and unduly presented by the latter like Tomo IV of the catalog raisonné of the work of Moïse Kisling. Paris, April 20, 2011 Jean Kisling

Regarding the volume IV of the catalog raisonné of Moïse Kisling, the undersigned Jean Kisling son of the artist, declares that I have not given the license to print this volume to the Canale typography. Observing irregularities and serious errors present in Volume IV, I ask for the destruction of the prints. June 9, 2009 Jean Kisling Document written in the presence of Marc Ottavi and Armand Israel.

To the attention of the gentlemen appraisers.
With this letter I inform you and I wish comunicate to the affiliated appraisers that a work was printed in 2008 with the title "Moïse Kisling tomo IV edited by Jean Kisling Canal Arte Edizioni". This work has been printed without my authorization and without my agreement and reports, among other things, reproductions of paintings that I do not know and that do not come from the hand of Moise Kisling (1891-1953). So please contact me before using this bibliographic reference. I beg you, gentlemen appraisers, to receive my best regards

For the attention of the Chamber of Experts (appraisers).
With this letter I inform you and I wish to inform you to the affiliated appraisers that a work was printed in 2008 with the title "Moise Kisling tomo IV edited by Jean Kisling Canal Arte Edizioni" has been printed without my authorization and without my agreement and involves, among other things, reproductions of paintings that I do not know and that do not come from the hand of Moise Kisling (1891-1953). So please contact me before using this bibliographic reference. I beg you to receive my best regards, gentlemen appraisers.
Paris 9 October 2012
Author of the reasoned catalogs Tomo I II and III
Jean Kisling

To the attention of the Commissaires Prizeurs.
With this letter I inform you and I wish to inform you to the affiliated appraisers that a work was printed in 2008 with the title "Moise Kisling tomo IV edited by Jean Kisling Canal Art Editions". This work has been printed without my authorization and without my agreement and includes, among other things, reproductions of paintings that I do not know and that do not come from the hand of Moise Kisling (1891-1953). So please contact me before using this bibliographic reference. Dear Sirs, I would like to welcome my best regards Paris 9 October 2012 Author of the catalog raisonné 1,2 and 3 Jean Kisling

Regarding the "impeachment hearings" directed to Mariastella Margozzi, for "not to be super partes" cause she turn out like a co-author of a publication together with Restellini, it's about the catalog ("MARC RESTELLINI: Modigliani: The Melancholy Angel") published by Skira in the occasion of the exhibition organized by the City of Milan (Real Palace) in 2003 with ArtificioSkira, an event followed to the exhibition at the Musée du Luxembourg of Paris promoted by the French Senate, both cured by the French expert. For the record, always with Skira, the consultant appointed by the Public Prosecutor's Office has published two other volumes: "Mario Sironi - L'Italia illustrata" e "I costruttori: il corpo del lavoro in cento anni di arte italiana" - just to say that the links, if we want, existed on both sides as often happens in the art world and. For last is not possible to deal with Modigliani without meeting on this path Marc Restellini.

Now the question is: will arrive before the exhibition closes? This is the same question of Carlo Pepi on 6/07/2017:

Works attributed to Modigliani:
Head Sculpture, 1910-11, Black grease pencil on paper; Red Caryatid - The Bride and Groom, 1913, oil on canvas; Portrait of Conrad Moricand, 1915, oil on canvas; Portrait of Jean Cocteau, 1916, pencil on paper; Portrait of Chaim Soutine, 1917, oil on canvas; Cariatide à genoux, 1913 circa, pencil and gouache on paper; Seated nude, 1913-1914, pencil and blue watercolor on paper; Caryatid, 1914, tempera on paper Reclining Nude (Portrait of Cèline Howard), 1918 circa, oil on canvas; Portrait of Moise Kisling, 1916, pencil on paper; Head of woman (Portrait of Hanka Zborowska?), 1917, oil on canvas; Head of Red-haired Woman, 1915, oil on canvas; Seated Nude, 1916 circa, pencil on paper; Female portrait (La femme aux macarons), 1917, oil on canvas; Portrait of Maria, 1918 circa, oil on cartoon.

Works attributed to Kisling: Madame Hanka Zborowska in the atelier, 1912 circa, oil on canvas; The Atelier of Moise Kisling , 1918 ca.; The Atelier of Moise Kisling, 1918 ca.; Still-life painting with portrait, 1918 circa, oil on canvas; Seated young woman , Kiki, 1924 - 26 circa, oil on canvas; Large reclining nude (Portrait of Ingrid), 1929-1932 circa oil on canvas.

18/07/2017 On Il Secolo XIX the names of the accusers and accused are reported, among whom we read the name of Joseph Guttmann, already quoted by Marc Ottavi in the documentation he sent to Ducal Place and for knowledge to Marc Restellini, regarding the authenticity of some paintings attributed to Moïse Kisling. This article expresses the suspicion that the American art dealer, owner of several works on show in Genoa, has used prestigious stages such as Ducal Palace to accredit his paintings as authentic and increase their market value. As reported in this article, the name of Joseph Guttmann is linked to a clamorous case (reported on the New York Times) of a stolen Picasso (replaced by a forgery), which then reappeared from Sotheby's in 1991, brought by the same art dealer to get an evaluation. At last, in this article is mentioned a letter written by another American art dealer, Paul Quatrochi, through which he apologized to Guttman for accusing him for the theft of a Modigliani painting "Nu couché (portrait of Céline Howard)".

17/07/2017 the news of the seizure of the 21 works and the relative early closure of the Genoa exhibition, is transmitted by Agorà on RAI 3. The correspondent Simone Carolei also traces the story of "the hoax of Livorno", interviewing Carlo Pepi the only expert who in 1984 questioned the authenticity of the three stones "fished" in the canals of Livorno, and in the end he was right.

Inappropriate works 'by Modigliani' exhibited in Genoa
Rome - The Correspondent
- The Justice seize 21 works of an exhibition at the Ducal Palace, suspected to be fakes.
«It's crazy: listen, many of these paintings are so horrible that I would not hang an the wall in my living room!» The Tuscan collector Carlo Pepi does not calm down. For many months, he had alerted the Italian authorities to the presence of fakes, placed side by side with the masterpieces from all over the major museums of the world, in the exhibition of Modigliani, opened March 16 in the Doge's Palace in Genoa. Two months after his charges to the Roman Magistrates, the Carabinieri entered into action. On the evening of July 13, three days before the theoretical term, the event was closed. For the hundreds of thousands of deceived visitors, the evil has been accomplished. Above all, it is necessary to ensure that the paintings do not vanish into thin air, before we must proceed with the scientific analysis that will be made in the next few weeks.
- “The hoax of Livorno”
In total there are no less than twenty-one of the fifty works on display that have been placed under seizure waiting the scientific expertise. Most of the indicted paintings are believed to be of the hand of Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920), others attributed to his friend Moïse Kisling (1891-1953). To several tens of millions of euro on canvas - authentic - the exhibition could in fact have unmasked an attempt of fraud with a dizzying extent. At the beginning. There is a certain man, Carlo Pepi, who denounced in May, through a Facebook message, the presence in Genoa of at least 13 fakes. An acknowledged expert, but perfect self-taught, this frank fighter, now in his eighties, had made himself known by the Italian public in 1984, not falling into a trap that has remained famous with the name of "the hoax of Livorno". A history that has remained in the record books: for the hundredth anniversary of the artist's birth, the municipality of his hometown had announced the desire to dredge a canal that crosses the city, looking for sculptures, whose local legend told that the artist had thrown into the water of the canal in 1909, in an evening of discouragement. The research had led to the discovery of three heads, immediately accepted as masterpieces by art critics and museum directors. A few days later, three students, with a local artist, claimed to be the authors of the joke, demonstrating live on television. The scandal that ensued lad the role of the director of the Museum of Modern Art of Rome, sparking a storm in the world of Italian experts - as well as a certain hilarity in the entire country. How did Carlo Pepi perceive that day, only against everyone, what all the colleagues refused to admit? And how, thirty years later, seems to have once again seen right? Counting on his intuition, he ensures. «No I have university diplomas, but I have studied all my life", - he explains - "The Modigliani trait is very simple, so it is easy to reproduce, but it is not what it appears. His genius is to penetrate inside to the interiority of his models. This is what the forgers will never be able to do».
- Participating in a large exhibition allows to reinforce the pedigree of dubious works.
If the empirical method had, in the past, given indisputable results, it would not have been enough to triggered an investigation. Initially, the curator of the exhibition, Rudy Chiappini has, moreover, defended himself emphasising the absence of scientific publications by Carlo Pepi. He also pointed out that many works, like a portrait of Soutine, had been exhibited in Pisa, in an exhibition organized by the Pompidou Center, and that Pepi had not said anything at the time. And here comes another expert, the French Marc Restellini, former director of the Pinacothèque de Paris and organizer, in the past, of many exhibitions dedicated to the artist from Livorno, the best known at the Luxembourg Palace, in Paris, in 2002. He is considered as the greatest specialist of Modigliani, and he works for years to the authentication of all Modigliani works, on science-based study of the tract, samples of paint used ... A titanic stain: Modigliani died leaving his legacy to a daughter natural of just a year, without a true inventory of his works could be established. Concerning the works on display at the Genoa exhibition, Marc Restellini is categorical: «I had in my hands many of the indicted works. For the portrait of Soutine, I wrote a certificate of fake before the exhibition, even its owner also knows!"
- Already condemned for fakes
And he tells his researches: «When I started to look carefully the exhibition I came into contact with an expert on the work of Moïse Kisling, of which several canvases were on display in Genoa. He assured me that those canvases were known fakes and belonged to an American art dealer: Joseph Guttmann. So the whole story became clear: in recent years this character appeared as a member of a Italian expert: Christian Parisot, who had arrogated the moral right on Modigliani and later condemned with imprisonment several times for forgery». Three people are now the object of an investigation in Italy: the curator Rudy Chiappini, Massimo Vitta Zelmann, president of the company Mondo Mostre Skira, organizer of the exhibition, and the art dealer Joseph Guttmann, owner of several incriminated works (four Kisling and at least as many Modigliani) Palazzo Ducale declares itself in good faith.
- The Genoa exhibition may have brought to light a dizzying fraud attempt.
In a press release, the Museum states that the impeccable reputation of Skira Exhibitions as well as the references of Chiappini, "director of the Lugano Art Museum for twenty years" and "organizer of numerous international exhibitions, including those on Modigliani". Justifications difficult to believe for Marc Restellini. From the investigations in progress results that the Genoa exhibition it cost only € 150,000. «Consider that - explains the French expert - an exhibition by Modigliani requires huge cost: considering the value of the paintings, the insurance, all this involves millions of Euros. These costs are not possible, they should have suspected that there was a problem, and that there was someone who paid. For example the owners who take part in a large exhibition to reinforce the pedigree of dubious works ... Joseph Guttmann is trying to sell the Reclining Nude (Portrait of Céline Howard) shown in Genoa, points out Marc Restellini. This work was proposed on sales catalogs for 28 million euros, and after the Genoa exhibition, its value has increased to 32 ...»
This affair is very harmful for collectors who have lent their works in good faith, and that now fear to see the authenticity of their works questioned. It is also embarrassing for all the museums, in particular the French, that have lent their paintings, indirectly participating to endorsing the authenticity of the fakes. Until now, none of the institutions, not even the French Ministry of Culture, despite alerted by Marc Restellini, has reacted to the developments on the instance.
Jerome Gautheret

Summary of the interview with Marc Restellini aired on France24:
«We are facing a mafia network, there are peoples who expose these fakes to legitimize them. It's a scandal, it's a fraud. The pseudo specialist I was talking about has disappeared from circulation (the reference to Parisot is evident) and has been replaced by a museum curator who continue his old job. And it is very dangerous because the purpose is very simple: put fake works on the market legitimizing, and give them millionaire values with the purpose of selling, and it is inadmissible that national museums lend themselves to these frauds, and what astonish me most, having directed a certain number of museums, it is knowing that there is an audience that goes to exhibitions and is deceived from whom, instead, should educate them. They come thinking to admire real artworks, but they see only fakes». Marc Restellini

25/07/2017 Il Secolo XIX, publishes an interview to Marc Restellini, who points out what already explained to the journalist of Le Monde and, speaking of the 'Reclining Nude (Portrait of Celine Howard)', declares that «it was enough to include in the Palazzo Ducale catalog the "Reclining Nude (Portrait of Celine Howard)", that the work, for sale at 28 million euros, was offered to various art dealers for 32 million euros». We also read a statement about the scenarios that might occur if the painting should be considered fake: from 32 million euro to zero. In fact, if the Prosecutors could prove the existence of an international fraud, he could order the immediate destruction of the fakes, a promise that Restellini, already heard by the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, has delivered to whom in recent years has provided expertise on many of the contested paintings, or rather Christian Parisot, president of the Modigliani Archives (arrested in 2013 for an affair of alleged fakes), which Restellini had denounced for a similar event some years ago: «I will destroy all the fakes. It is a moral duty for me. I want to emphasize that it is a lie that I lost a lawsuit against Parisot for defamation: I was right...» The hypothesis of the deputy Prosecutor Paolo D'Ovidio and the Prosecutor Michele Stagno is that the Genoa exhibition has been opportunistically exploited as a stage from a group of people, to support paintings of dubious origin. Who knew, if it was so? For now, the subjects under investigation are the collector Joseph Guttmann, an American magnate, owner of several paintings under seizure (assisted by Massimo Boggio), the organizer of the exhibition Massimo Vitta Zelman and the curator Rudy Chiappini. «In Turin and Genoa, was shown a “Ritratto di Soutine” completely different from the one exhibited in Milan by Marc Restellini - states in a note the homonymous Institut Restellini - in Turin they cited the Restellini's catalog, changing the images alongside, with the clear intention of cheat the reader and to legitimize this forgery. In the Genoa catalog, on page 105, the same error is repeated, claiming that the copy appeared in Lausanne and Milan. This is also false». Then there is a detail acquired by the investigators as an important clue: «the owners of the "Portrait of Soutine" exhibited in Genoa asked me for an expertise before the exhibition, I said clearly that the work was fake: so they knew that, but they exposed it anyway». To complicate the matter is added the counteroffensive of the pool of lawyers who assisted the owners of the paintings. Yesterday the lawyer Cesare Dal Maso, specialized in investigations on the art world, has accused the appraisal of the Public Prosecutor's Office, who ordered the removal of pigments from the seized works: «If the paintings are genuine, it would be a millionaire damage, moreover, in the absence of the consultant of the parties». Ducal Palace, defended by Cesare Manzitti, ask to be able to move the paintings seized to carry out the renovation work.

After Italy, with the replacement of the President of Palazzo Ducale in Genoa and the investigation of the three protagonists of the exposition on the case of the fakes Modigliani, Switzerland seems to have become aware of the vastness of the scandal. Only Paris remains silent in front of this situation. However, the implication of French museums it was clearly emphasize by the organizers under investigation who continue to defend the legitimacy of the fakes thanks to the presence in the exhibition of works from national museums. Once again, is it the role of national museums to legitimize known fakes? I have written to the Minister of Culture for over three months, and only a culpable silence reigns over this scandal in Paris.

The affair of the fakes Modigliani is politicised in Ticino

The socialists questioned the Locarno executive about his head of cultural services. He is under investigation about alleged forgeries. Manager of the cultural services of the city of Locarno, Rudy Chiappini was the subject of a parliamentary question by the socialists to the city council last Friday. Since mid-July, he is in fact under investigation by the Public Prosecutor's Office for the crime of «forgery, receiving stolen property and fraud».
This is part of a case of art forgery that could turn out like «one of the biggest fraud in the recent history of museums», according to several experts. In addition, his activity at the Cultural Heritage of Locarno, Rudy Chiappini, who managing the Museum of Modern Art in Lugano for almost 20 years, organizes international events abroad. He is the curator of an exhibition dedicated to the artist Amedeo Modigliani, held at the Doge's Palace in Genoa between last March and July, which he finds himself investigated by Italian justice.
He was denounced by two experts of Modigliani, the Italian collector Carlo Pepi and the French art historian Marc Restellini, which they declared this exhibition full of fakes - 21 paintings were seized on the fifty works on display. The institution of Ducal Palace - which claims to be injured in this case and remembers to not having organized the exhibition directly - was forced to conclude the event three days earlier than planned.
Little success
After hearing Rudy Chiappini, the executive of Locarno, without entering into the pending investigation, said through the media that «he has always been a source of great satisfaction, showing a maximum of professionalism, competence and seriousness» like a director of cultural services. The cultural manager of Locarno defends himself from the charges of exposing fakes, affirming that all the works in question are certified and they have a documented history. The municipal authorities also hold that for the moment, the current investigation does not put in question his mandate with the City. Perplexed, the Locarno Socialist Party believes that the government is ready to publicly demonstrate their support to Rudy Chiappini. «He is under investigation for forgery, receiving stolen property and fraud, and it's not nothing» said Pier Mellini, council leader of the city, «maybe he's acquitted, or maybe not». The executive would have to wait before to expressing judgments. The socialists of Locarno leave to the Italian justice the task of determining the role of Rudy Chiappini in the scandal that shakes the art world. In a parliamentary act submitted Friday, they nevertheless question the executive on the risks that the city faces, in the perspective of future collaborations with Swiss and foreign entities, to see his image tainted by this case. The socialists refer to the management of the department of Rudy Chiappini. In support of this, they argue that the recent demonstrations held at Locarno took place with little success both in terms of visitors. They asked if the 80% responsibility for cultural services is compatible with its international activities.
Scientific evidence
While the Genoa exhibition took place, Rudy Chiappini also participated for the Fernando Botero's work at the Museum of Vittoriano in Rome, and Robert Indiana at the Rusca House in Locarno, as well as in the production of their respective catalogs. When the Modigliani scandal erupted, the officer of the Locarno culture, defended himself on the Ticino's press about supposed forgery, claiming that all the works in question were certified and had a well-documented history recognized by the international scientific community. Marc Restellini, founder of the Restellini Institute for Scientific Research and Documentary in the History of Art, firmly refutes on his Facebook account. «Famous fake works has been exposed in Genoa; we have provided the Italian authorities with documentation and scientific evidence to proving it». The two other people who collaborated with Rudy Chiappini in the realization of the Genoa exhibition and the selection of works - Massimo Vitta Zelman, President of MondoMostre Skira, and the art dealer Joseph Guttmann, owner of several of the suspect paintings - are also indicted.

07/09/2017 Il Corriere della Sera published an article where is reported the judgment of the art historian Maristella Margozzi which supports the opinions expressed by the two Modigliani's expert, Marc Restellini and Carlo Pepi. Comes out the key documents of the investigation, that is to say the Margozzi expertise report. In summary, three are the works declared fakes: the «Red Caryatid», which arrives in Genoa from a private collector of San Francisco, the «Reclining Nude (Céline Howard)», loaned by a Swiss collector, and the «Portrait of Maria» from an American private collector, transited through Global art exhibitions. «The forgeries are quite evident in these cases - concludes the expert -. The works seem copied». For the others three paintings, with double attribution (Modigliani - Kisling), the «signature of the artist from Livorno results fake. «I fully agree with Pepi and Restellini: there isn't the Modigliani's intervention». Then, there are 9 «strongly dubious». Among the «suspects», there is also the «Portrait of Hanka Zborowska», submitted to the state protection with a constraint dating back to 1972. «However, I have some doubts on it», suspected Margozzi. About the remaining paintings, the opinions are not univocal and therefore doubts remain. One thing is clear: if they are really fakes, means that many Modigliani exhibitions shall be considered as fraudulent: Pisa, Turin, Rome, Milan, Venice, Seoul, etc. Thus confirming the bitter conclusion that Modigliani is one of the greatest and most loved painters of the twentieth century, but he is also the most forged. There are immense interests at stake, which could rise in view of 2020, the centenary of his death. It will be a year of events and money, reason for which a certain tension is weighing on the investigation. Behind the scenes, the ghost of Christian Gregori Parisot, former president of the Modigliani Archives, collaborates with the daughter of the artist.

«Initially, Gutmann used Parisot to legitimize the Modigliani works - as reported by Restellini to the investigators - when he was arrested, Guttmann replaced him with Rudy Chiappini». Heard by the investigators, Chiappini rejected the accusations: «All the paintings on display in Genoa were chosen by us because we knew their history. I remember that Modigliani often painted two paintings with the same subject with different details. These are not fakes, but distinct works». In the meantime, the deputy Prosecutor Paolo D'Ovidio has arranged a consultation assigning three other experts, who will conclude the work later on. Today there is the first meeting in front to the Genoa Court of Review, to which the lawyers Massimo Boggio and Cesare Dal Maso will ask the release of most of the works. The impression is that the war on Modì is only at the first shots of cannon.

08/09/2017 the online journal Genova24 resumes the news published by Il Corriere della Sera, adding new details: «fame and money would come from the legitimation of fakes through the organization of exhibitions». This is the charge moved by Marc Restellini. The french art historian points the finger against Guttmann and Christian Parisot: «To organize an exhibition - Restellini said in the report of Carabinieri - it takes an investment of 5-6 mln. The exhibition of Genoa has cost 150,000 euro, this is the demonstration that the gains don't come from the exhibitions, but through the legitimation of fake works ... When I organized the exhibition of Modigliani in Lugano - said Restellini - Chiappini forced me to accept cash. I accepted, but when I placed in bank, I declare their origins».

06/10/2017 Marc Restellini interviewed by the Franco - German ARTE Journal:
How do you make a fake Modigliani?
MR: "The classic way is the patchwork (collage): take three or four paintings by Modigliani and take a piece of one and the other and mix them so you get a forgery, that is a fake, which incorporates different elements of the paintings of the artist."
Last July at Palazzo Ducale in Genoa the Modigliani's exhibition ended in a catastrophe: a third of the collection, that is to say 21 paintings, would be fakes.
MR: "When a curator makes a couple of mistakes ... why not ... But finding yourself with such a quantity of fakes in an exhibition, one wonders why ... The aim is quite simple: to create legitimacy to fake paintings by exposing them .. We have this 'famous nude' [Céline Howard] of which we see that it is a reproduction of several existing elements. Take the exact position of the model ... take a pillow of one picture and put it in another, sold for 180 million, then you have a face and take the head of another .... so you make a fake ... "
Modigliani apparently easy to imitate is quoted like a Picasso and Van Gogh, but it is not the only standard for the forgers..
MR: "Modigliani today is not protected by someone who holds the moral right that can say: I place bans or authorize .. I do this .. it is very important to realize this because the absence of moral rights has probably generated the amount of forgers, that is to say a forger who sees an artist who is not protected and says .. if I paint a fake nobody can attack me .. Done!

Recently Marc Restellini has the authority to fight the forgers and will soon publish a reasoned catalog of the artist that may well represent the end of the golden age of the fakes ...

11/11/2017 Amedeo Modigliani is celebrated trough three important exhibitions: at the Jewish Museum of New York, in London at the Tate Modern (review by Gloria Fossi for Youmanis) and at the Fabergé Musuem in Saint Petersburg where Marc Restellini will curate the exhibition with the artworks coming from the Jonas Netter Collection. Matthew Clayfield, journalist for the website The Daily Beast, taking a cue from these events to remember how much the Genoa scandal has made a further contribution to raise doubts about the authenticity of the works attributed to Modigliani and it has also invited the curators to exercise more caution on the selection of the works to exhibit. It is also reported an interview to Carlo Pepi, who reminded that «in February, I received through Facebook the image of the nude painting present in the exhibition that I immediately recognized as fake. «Then, another painting appeared online and I saw that it was fake too. Later I saw the catalog and I realized that there were only a few authentic works on display». Even before he saw the catalog, Pepi had suspicions about the exhibition: «the curator of the exposition, Rudy Chiappini, has long been associated with the controversial scholar of Modigliani Christian Parisot, who claims to have received moral rights on the works of Modigliani from the daughter of the artist before her death in the 80s».

09/01/2018 Ansa: The paintings seized by Italian police last summer from an exhibition of works by Amedeo Modigliani held in Genoa after the complaints by the two experts Carlo Pepi and Marc Restellini, are all fakes (except a drawing), according to Isabella Quattrocchi's expertise report deposited to the Court. Ducal Palace announces they are "injured party" in the affair, stating that if "the appraisals related to the pigment examination confirm the negative opinion of the deposited expertise, the Board of Directors of the Ducal Palace Foundation will decide what initiatives to undertake". The news bounces on all the national newspapers: Sole24Ore, RaiNews, Repubblica, Tgcom, Finestre sull'Arte, iL Secolo XIX, Quotidiano.net, RSInews, LiguriaOggi, Genova24.it, GoNews, Huffington Post, LaRegione, ArteMagazine, QuiNewsPisa, IL Telegrafo, GenovaPost.

10/01/2018 The news about the confirm of the fake works in Genoa is on all national newspapers and TV. Now the owners of the incriminated works are shaking, because if the Isabella Quattrocchi expertise, that is added to the one by Mariastella Margozzi, also ended with the same negative judgment, will be confirmed by a final sentence, the Italian law will have to proceed with the destruction of such works. Interviewed by Il Corriere della Sera, Marc Restellini claims «I gave to the Carabinieri of Rome all the informations in my hands to explain how the forgery system works. It is indisputable that the works are fakes, I presented a report and I have provided the evidence». His comments were echoed by Carlo Pepi: «finally the truth had come out. I fought against the Modigliani forgers for years, and I have been opposed and even persecuted by the art establishment. Modigliani seemed to have painted more pictures after death than when he was alive, it was a grotesque situation. But this is just the tip of the iceberg».

The Isabella Quattrocchi's expertise report states that all the canvases are «crudely forged» both «in the style» and «in the pigment». The report also stresses that «the frames of the forged works came from countries in Eastern Europe and the U.S., which do not match up with the period or context in which the artist worked». The curator of the exhibition Rudy Chiappini defends his work by highlighting how he is not the author of the attributions (the reference to Parisot seems obvious): «I limited myself to gathering existing information. It will be necessary to go back to the source, to whoever made the first attributions. The new information about the frames is “ridiculous”». Ducal Palace declares itself to be «injured, indeed strongly injured» stating that «if the appraisal relating to the examination on pigments confirm the negative opinion of the deposited appraisal, the board of directors of the Ducal Palace officials will decide what initiatives to undertake».

Always from Repubblica: The long history of the fake Modigliani. The "head of woman" seized in Genoa comes from Milan and it was certified by the Ministry.
One of the famous paintings by Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920) exhibited at Ducal Palace in Genoa, judged to be fake and seized after a complaint filed to the Public Prosecutor's Office, comes from Milan where it has always been considered a masterpiece. It is a "Head of a Woman" of 1917, or "Head of Hanka Zborowska", owned by the Pasquinelli Foundation. It is the portrait, in warm tones, of the heir of a wealthy family of the Polish Taristocracy in Paris, posing by the artist in his atelier, fascinated by his elegant features, her face is sharp and quite haughty. A writing on the back of the canvas shows the address of Modì's studio in rue Joseph Bara 3. No one had ever raised any objections to the signature in the lower right-hand corner. While the Roman expert appointed by the Public Prosecutor's Office, the expert Isabella Quattrocchi, she inserted it without delay into the list of the "crude fake" works. The art historian Antonello Negri, long-time director of the department of arts history and a member of the scientific committee of the Museum of the 20th century of Milan, remembers that the work has an important pedigree and a story with flakes. «Documented early as '32 in an exhibition in Paris at the Hòtel Drouot, a qualified auction house, like Sotheby's today, it has been seen by many scholars throughout the century. From Berenson to Russoli, who exhibited it at Real Palace of Milan in 1958; Palma Bucarelli chose it for another exhibition in Rome, at the National Gallery of Rome in '59». Even the great collector, connoisseur and critic Lamberto Vitali, a specialist in Modigliani who wrote so much about him for Scheiwiller (It's quite the opposite, Scheiwiller took care of Modigliani before Vitali), talked about it for a long time and, in 1946, proposed it to the Casa della Cultura, linking it to a season of research by the distinguished painter from the «greatest transfiguration of his models». The Pasquinelli Foundation has included the "Head of Hanka" in the exhibition "Figures 1913-1942" organized in 2015. A well-known bibliography. «Another interesting fact - continues Negri - this painting is notified. In the seventies it was asked to Pasquinelli for an exhibition abroad. For temporary exportation it was notified by the Ministry that attested its authenticity. It is curious that the Government of Italy in the past has certified this work, instead now seizes it». Faced with a touchy subject, having regard to the fame of Modigliani as the most copied and faked twentieth century artist in the world, Negri does not rule out anything: «they could all have taken a blunder. Nothing is impossible. But we will have to wait the final sentence. For now we suspend the judgment».

13/01/2018 Il Secolo XIX publish all the 20 works confirmed as fakes by Isabella Quattrocchi, reporting the origins and the results of the appraisals for each of them. The only work 'saved' among the 21 seized, at least judging from those published by this journal, should be the portrait of Jean Cocteau (1916, pencil on paper). We have also further informations about the expertise; are mentioned styles often «childish», from the mark «too heavy» or «blushing», in a case superimposed even to the evident coexistence «of the abbreviation of another artist», works in some cases painted «quickly and in a very wholesale way» and copied from authentic Modigliani paintings. Other works - and now we enter in the scientific field - «intentionally aged» through complex techniques, such as «artificial combustion», interventions with «shellac coating» or «white titanium», and in the end through «clumsy attempt to paper restoring». The judgment, signed by Isabella Quattrocchi (the art expert who has unmasked the reproductions of the works owned by the boss of Mafia capital Massimo Carminati) and supplemented by the reports of two French scholars and one Italian, launches a harsh attack both those who have authenticated the paintings, defined as «crude fakes», and to the organizers of the exhibition: «the works object of seizure have a generic origin, from "private collections" of North America, South America, from Israel and from various European countries. Many presents a "carton plume" which masks the falsification operations to a non-careful examination. The exhibition at the Ducal Palace in Genoa was organized with the intention to not allow a proper vision of the works».

17/01/2018 «Hidden complaints to gain millions from the fake Modigliani works». This is the title of Il Secolo XIX from which we read that Marc Restellini defines «suspicious convergences» those between Joseph Guttmann, owner of several of the 21 paintings of Modigliani and Kisling seized in Genoa, and some of the "experts" involved as Christian Parisot, former president of the Archives Legal Modigliani, and Rudy Chiappini, curator of the Ducal Palace exhibition: «There is a connection between Guttmann and the works exhibited in Genoa. Guttmann initially used Parisot to legitimize the works purchased and treated by himself. It has rumored that  the Hungarian dealer paid Parisot for having fake works inserted in catalogs produced by the latter. When Parisot was arrested for fake Modigliani works produced by himself, he lost credibility so he was removed by Guttmann and replaced with Rudy Chiappini, who already collaborated with both of them at the time». We read also a correction concerning a mistake reported repeatedly on several newspapers about the relationship between Restellini and Parisot: «once concluded a university master's degree, I wanted to organize an exhibition but I had no experience. I was advised to contact Parisot. He said that was available and also lent me some drawings by Modigliani, which in my view were horrible. He was the president of the Legal Archives and assured the authenticity, I could not help but accept. Understanding the character, I no longer wanted to have any contact with him».

The scenario described to the agents - source Il Secolo XIX -, quite incredulous in front of the size of the fraud reported (we speak of insured paintings with a value between 20 and 40 million dollars), is a kind of system: «I have a certain amount of experience, I have set up 140 exhibitions, and to make them you need an investment of 5-6 million euros. Parisot requires 150 thousand euros, this is the proof that the profits do not come from the event. It is well known that Chiappini works for Guttmann, just read the thanks in the catalog of Genoa exhibition. It is absolutely unusual that he only thank him». These are the first charges, which confirm what was previously reported by the Tuscan art collector Carlo Pepi, then supported by four other authoritative opinions, those of the super consultants of the Prosecutor: Mariastella Margozzi and Isabella Quattrocchi (experts of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage), Tiziana Mazzoni (restorer who works in Paris, expert in the analysis of pigments) and Marie Pierre Etcheverry (engineer in archeology, specialized in dating of art works). A seventh critic, Marc Ottavi, heard on 28 June, adds that the paintings attributed to Moïse Kisling, Modì's friend, are also fakes: «No localization of these paintings is possible between 1920 and 2000. Guttmann financed a catalog with fake Kisling works».

10/03/2018 From Repubblica (Genova), we learn that the Prosecutor Michele Stagno, who coordinates the investigation together with the deputy Prosecutor Paolo D'Ovidio, has given the ok to the suspects who have requested to make new appraisals on the works kept in the caveau of the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Rome. In the coming days, therefore, other experts will be authorized to perform new examinations. Should not be made counter-tests on pigments, rather non-invasive tests but which can detect a lot of information, such as radiographs. Not all suspects, however, seem to have chosen this way. Who did it is Joseph Guttmann and Rudy Chiappini. We find out also that between Chiappini and the Public Prosecutor's Office there is a tug-of-war on the request for international rogatory letters put forward by the Genoese magistrates which in Switzerland have asked to seize papers and documents on the work of Modigliani. Chiappini has challenged the letters rogatory, but it is difficult to block the Genoa Prosecutors, who want to go on. As regards the other two letters rogatory requested by Genoa, in Great Britain and the United States, it is only a question of receiving information. No seizure has been requested, so no impugnment is possible. If the target in the United States is easily identifiable in the same Guttmann, Britain is a "new entry" in the story. We obviously have to look at London, where there are the two most famous auction houses in the world, Christie's and Sotheby's from which the works could be passed through. But always in London, at the Tate Modern, from last November to the next 2 April the exhibition "Modigliani" is set up, with other works by the artist. Remains a suspect, Massimo Vitta Zelmann, president of MondoMostre Skira, the largest company in Italy to deal on the organization and production of exhibitions. At the moment he has not yet asked to enter the caveau of the Carabinieri to see the works, so he could focus entirely on the reconstruction of the cards of origin of the Modigliani exhibited in Genoa. Also because if it were established in a final sentence that some of the paintings and drawings are really fakes, the organizers of the exhibition would have "good game" to claim that they were first deceived by those who brought documents and authentications on the works.

N.B. Obviously, none of the seized works has passed through Christie's or Sotheby's.

18/03/2018 From Repubblica: Modigliani fakes: the hoax of ithe insurance - The Carabinieri fear possible damages and forbid the examination of the paintings of Modigliani to the experts hired by the suspects. The Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Rome, who guards the 20 works of Modigliani seized, wrote to the Genoa's deputy prosecutor explaining that the insurance coverage on the canvases, signed at the time by the Ducal Palace Foundation, it has expired. And now, in a few words, in the case which someone damage the canvases, in trouble there could end both those who will make new expertise and also the Carabinieri who guards the works seized in their caveau. A warning that put again all in stand-by. So to overcome the impasse, the ways seem two. Or the lawyers of the suspects will be able to find an agreement with the Public Prosecutor to circumvent the new unforeseen event, or the matter could become really serious. In the first case a solution could be a waiver signed by the owners of the works, which allows to the experts appointed by the defenses to handle the paintings without taking risks of damage. Solution that seems within reach for Guttmann, who should actually authorize himself to perform tests on his works. Chiappini, on the other hand, that like a curator of the exhibition would have the obvious interest to examine more canvases as possible, would instead find himself in the unfortunate situation of asking a waiver to the every individual owner. If the "friendly" solution already presents some difficulties, the second one would be really drastic and could lead to an appeal before to the magistrate (judge of preliminary investigation). Because the paintings in question represent the "corpus delicti" of the alleged crime and the defense could argue to haven't had the opportunity to examine it properly, unlike the Prosecutor. Another objection of the two suspects (the alleged crimes are aggravated fraud, forgery, diffusion of fake works of art and laundering) is that their tests would not involve on taking paint samples for pigment analysis or some other invasive action, as was done by the expert Isabella Quattrocchi on her appraisal carried out jointly with the two scientific experts Marie-Pierre Etcheverry and Tiziana Mazzoni. Instead it would be doing "non-invasive" analysis such as through infrared rays (in technical terms, reflectography). In the coming days we will understand which fold will take an increasingly surreal story. Because if on one side there is an expert who defines "grossly false" works of millionaire value, on the other hand all the parts in question are careful not to commit some false steps.

16/04/2018 From the Facebook page of the Institut Restellini we learn that on 24 April at the IFAR (International Foundation for Art Research) in New York, after the recent exhibitions there will be a conference on Modigliani. The four speakers invited to talk about studies and research techniques on the artist's works will be Isabelle Duvernois (conservator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art), Lena (Carol) Stringari (vice director and chief conservator of the Museum and Guggenheim Foundation), and the two specialists engaged in the publication of their respective reasoned catalogs: Marc Restellini (founder and director of the Institut Restellini in Paris) and Kenneth Wayne (director of the 'Modigliani project' in New York).
An event certainly very interesting even if - it must be said -, among the exhibitions that took place this year there is also Genoa, in which there were exposed a conspicuous number of Modigliani fakes (many of them are very well known), against whom only Carlo Pepi and Marc Restellini fought. I find it really embarrassing the fact that certain characters around Modigliani and who consider themselves "experts" or considered as such, they did not raise their dissent against this scandal that has once again damaged the reputation and the art of Modigliani. Perhaps they are not experts, or maybe they consider genuine the works indicted - If so, they should seriously take into account the idea to deal with some other artist .....

12/05/2018 The speech by Marc Restellini at the IFAR in New York is published on the Facebook page of the homonymous Institute. Essentially Marc Restellini traces all the phases of the Genoa's case; both because he considers it like one of the greatest scandals occurred in the museums, and to take stock of the issue about the fakes and the forgers, which are a source of great daily concern for the French expert. And it is precisely on the new generation of forgers of the last decade that Marc Restellini makes the alarm, because if before the forgers "worked" in an autonomous way, now they have available a real platform that includes anonymous Istitutes and laboratories scientific they exploit for to legitimize some subjects with skills to be verified and sometimes invented, which guarantee the authenticity of the works through the contribute of the "science". In this regard, Restellini tells how he came to create a protocol of scientific analysis on the works of Modigliani since 1997, that is, when he began working on the catalog raisonné with Daniel Wildenstein up to the present day with the Restellini Institute which combine the scientific studies with a triangulation between stylistic research and an essential source intended as literature that includes all the original collections and primary documents on Paul Guillaume and his photographic archive, Roger Dutilleul, Jonas Netter, Masurel, Noël Alexandre and many others. This triangulation method - reiterates M.R - is the only one able to guarantee a reliable and solid work on the reasoned catalog.

05/07/2018 Il Secolo XIX publishes a news that should definitely close this story. We read in fact that a new expertise report has arrived, signed by the Carabinieri of the RIS of Parma (the most important forensic science department of the Carabinieri), which definitively confirms and reinforces the evidence base rebuilt by the prosecution in recent months: the canvases exhibited at Ducal Palace, says the RIS dossier , they are almost all fakes. The only margins of doubt, write the authors of the new analysis, concern in fact some drawings, the sketches left unfinished and without color, that follow some of the most famous paintings. As for the paintings, the final proof comes from the chemical analysis of the colors: that kind of paints, the Carabinieri conclude, has a more recent date than the one declared and certainly after the death of the Livorno genius. The new report will be deposited very soon and made available to the parties in question, in one of the most sensational investigations conducted in the art world in recent years.
The fact that even the Carabinieri of the RIS of Parma have come to very similar conclusions to the two consultants of the Public Prosecutor's Office, could lead the deputy Prosecutor Paolo D'Ovidio and the Prosecutor Michele Stagno to close the investigations shortly.

11/07/2018 The process in the process has already begun and sees the Ducal Palace Foundation give battle. Even before asking for a possible mega compensation for having exposed the paintings of Modigliani, in case the famous canvases were declared false by the Court, here is another problem, much more immediate that is a judicial winding-up order delivered to the Foundation for custody and insurance costs on the incriminated paintings.

Money that the Foundation had to put on the table in the past months. Over 30 thousand euros that are now at the center of what in technical terms is called incidental process (and that follows the rules of the civil trial), as "hooked" to the mother investigation on the paintings considered fakes by the prosecutor. Next October 30, then, before the judge Roberto Bonino, will be discussed about the request for reimbursement of this money.

Last November, the Foundation asked to the prosecutors the reimbursement of these expenses, but a clearly no arrived from the Public Prosecutor's Office. The question, therefore, has become a separate process, in which Palazzo Ducale to sue the Ministry of Justice. On 30 October, not only the Foundation, but also all the parties involved in the main investigation were called: the art dealer Joseph Guttman, owner of some of the works in question, Rudy Chiappini, curator of the Genoese exhibition and Massimo Vitta Zelmann, president of MondoMostre Skira, the organizer of the exhibition. Because, if tomorrow the three suspects were condemned, the money that the Palazzo Ducale Foundation wants to take back could be asked of them. An eventuality, it is evident, very far in time.