German investigators seize Picasso forgeries and other fake artworks

Investigators from Bavaria have seized suspected forged artworks with a potential market value of millions of euros in Germany and neighbouring countries, officials said on Thursday.

The haul includes creations by world-famous artists such as Pablo Picasso, Peter Paul Rubens and Rembrandt van Rijn, according to the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office (LKA).

Several suspects were provisionally detained but have since been released. More details were due to be released on Friday.

The Amberg public prosecutor’s office and art investigators from the LKA were involved in the extensive operation.

Some of the replicated pieces were said to be so sophisticated that they could have fetched tens of millions of euros.

The Spaniard Picasso (1881–1973) was one of the most important and influential artists of the 20th century and is known, among other things, as the co-founder of Cubism, an art movement that breaks objects down into geometric shapes.

Rubens (1577–1640) was a Flemish Baroque painter who caused a sensation with his dynamic paintings and lavish depictions.

The Dutch artist Rembrandt (1606–69) became famous for the characteristic use of “chiaroscuro” in his paintings, a technique which achieves a stark realism by contrasting light and shadow, as well as his etchings.