Buying art from reputable and well-known auction houses is for many a hallmark of quality that the art is genuine.

But Kulturnyheter's review shows that several auction houses have sold scam art.  

These are works by the signatures Tom Moore and Alexander Vasilenko, both are described as now active artists, but when Kulturnyheterna is looking for the artists, they do not seem to exist.

Admittedly, there is an artist named Tom Moore, but he has nothing to do with the art sold on auction sites and living in Australia. 

- It is my name and I in the picture, but I have nothing to do with the works.

So it is a forgery, he says to Kulturnyheterna. 

"Exquisite craftsmanship" was Photoshop montage 

The review of the cultural news also shows that Vasilenko's art, which is described as "exquisite craftsmanship" and "realistic oil painting", is a hoax.  

- I can definitely say that no artist named Alexander Vasilenko does not exist, says Mikhail Levin, principal of the Moscow School of Contemporary Art. 

The "oil paintings" are in fact simple photo montages created in Photoshop by the graphic artist Ulf Stålhane together with another Swedish artist and signed by a gallery owner who claims to have been led behind the light.

Why did you not go to the police when you realized? 

- Yes you ... you can ask yourself that and if it had happened today I would have said no.

But I was a bit dependent on that company quite simply, if I had started whining I would have gone out, says Ulf Stålhane to Kulturnyheterna.

Bukowskis: "We broke our routines" 

Works signed by Tom Moore and Alexander Vasilenko have been sold since at least 2016 at the art store Wasskonst, Stockholm's auction house and Sweden's perhaps most famous auction house Bukowskis, which has sold the most copies.

The price has been between 2000 and 6000 kronor each.

If you count the entire edition, the fake art of Bukowskis is valued at over ten million kronor. 

Bukowskis does not want to stand for an interview, but writes in an email to Kulturnyheterna: 

"This is a scam and we will therefore file a police report.

An art fraud where we, as we understand it, invented identities and then created works of art.

This kind of thing should not happen.

Since we at Bukowskis sold the works a couple of years ago and thus vouched for their authenticity, we broke our routines when we assessed these works.

What happened also shows that Bukowski's control of the lithographs in question was not sufficient as our assessments were made on the basis of the primary market's information about the works.

We will now contact the current buyers. ”

Wasskonst regrets that they went on the scam, and refers to the fact that the art has been in well-known auction houses.

Stockholm's auction house has not responded to the interview request.