[MSN] Under falling snow, federal agents carted out dozens of framed pictures Thursday from a River North art gallery suspected of selling fake Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Marc Chagall and Joan Miro artwork to unsuspecting collectors

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'The experts are amazed'
RIVER NORTH | Suspected fake art seized at gallery

February 1, 2008
BY STEFANO ESPOSITO AND FRANK MAIN Staff Reporters

Under falling snow, federal agents carted out dozens of framed pictures
Thursday from a River North art gallery suspected of selling fake Pablo
Picasso, Salvador Dali, Marc Chagall and Joan Miro artwork to unsuspecting
collectors, a source said.

Thursday's seizure was part of an investigation into a suspected scam
involving art galleries in Chicago and other U.S. cities, with "hundreds" of
local victims and others worldwide who, together, may have been duped out of
"tens of millions of dollars," the source said.

Authorities wouldn't discuss the gallery raid except to say evidence was
removed. The gallery has been at its River North site since 1986.
(Richard A. Chapman/Sun-Times)

Many of the fakes appear to look so real that "even the experts are amazed
at how good the stuff is," the source said. Some of the artwork came with
"certificates of authentification," the source said. The fakes were bought
both online and at galleries, the source said.

"It's pretty amazing what was involved," the source said.

The investigation is ongoing, the source said.

The art seized Thursday from the Kass/Meridian gallery at 325 W. Huron
included framed sketches and paintings with signatures of many famous
artists, including Picasso, Dali and Chagall. Agents with the U.S. Postal
Inspection Service and the FBI were seen carrying away the artwork.

"We can't say that [those confiscated Thursday] are fake because they have
to be analyzed," the source said.

FBI spokesman Ross Rice would say only that agents removed evidence from the
gallery, but he would not discuss the search warrant because it remained
under seal Thursday.

Phone calls to the home of the gallery owners, Alan and Grace Kass, were not
returned Thursday.

On the Kass/Meridian Web site, the gallery is described as a place for
"contemporary and modern prints, paintings and sculptures," offering "an
extensive collection of contemporary and modern 20th century American and
European prints by master artists." The gallery has been in its River North
location since 1986, according to the Web site.

One Chicago art dealer, Peter Bartlow, said in an interview Thursday that he
has known Alan Kass for decades. Bartlow said he told federal investigators
about 1½ years ago that he thought Kass was selling fakes.

In the mid-1990s, two of Bartlow's friends unknowingly bought two fake Henri
Matisse drawings from the Kass/Meridian gallery, Bartlow said.

"They were pencil drawings, but the framing was like you would frame the
cheapest thing," Bartlow recalled, saying the drawings were decent copies
but definitely not drawn by Matisse.

Contributing: Steve Warmbir