Tony Tetro
Encyclopedia
Anthony Gene Tetro known as Tony Tetro, is an art forger
known for his perfectionism in copies of artwork produced in the 1970s and 1980s. Tetro never had formal art lessons, but learned from books, by painting and experimentation. Over three decades, Tetro forged works by Rembrandt, Joan Miro
, Marc Chagall
, Salvador Dali
and Norman Rockwell
and others. Tetro's paintings and lithographs, known for their perfectionism, were sold by art dealers and auction houses as legitimate works and hang in museums, galleries around the world. He was caught after Hiro Yamagata
found a forgery of his own work for sale in a gallery. Tetro was called a genius and "one of the two major [art] forgers in the United States."
, one of four children to Beatrice and James Tetro, a house painter. As a young girl, Tetro's mother once watched Amelia Earhardt land her plane in their family's pasture. His father developed a special process for coating water tower
s.
Tetro was an altar boy. His first trouble from his art came while at parochial school
in Fulton, where he drew a picture of one of the nuns as a Vargas girl, but with a "pruney face" and wearing a habit
. The nun hit him and took him to the priest.
Tetro got married at age 16 to his high school girlfriend, who was pregnant; he became a father at age 17. In 1969, he moved to southern California and got a job as a furniture salesman. He and his wife were divorced a few years later.
and others by visiting museums and making sketches of their work to learn the art of painting. This tour of Old Master paintings in the MFAH collection from the Renaissance
through the 18th century explores how future artists would learn the skills of drawing, coloration, and composition from the artists who came before them." (See "Members Tour: Learning from the Old Masters".) He learned about paper and canvas and experimented to find ways of producing craquelure
, a characteristic of old paintings. Still a hobby, he began selling his copies at art fairs. He then began copying photographs and painting portraits. His hobby became a business and he became known within wealthy circles. The art market expanded in the 1980s and according to one Los Angeles art dealer, some people were more concerned about matching their carpet than they were about the authenticity of a painting. Reproductions were in demand and Tetro had a reputation for making flawless copies, even going so far as to travel to Europe to buy wooden stretchers and canvas particular to where a certain artist had worked. He says he never marketed his paintings and lithographs as originals and his business card read, "Tony Tetro. Art reproductions." He says dealers told him his work would be sold to people who couldn't afford originals.
Tetro forged works by both contemporary painters and old master
s including Rembrandt, Joan Miro, Marc Chagall, Salvador Dali and Norman Rockwell. In addition to copying paintings, Tetro made an exact replica of a 1958 Ferrari Testarossa
, investing several hundred thousand dollars over six years. One gallery owner in Venice, California called Tetro "a brilliant mind" and a "genius".
Tetro became successful and wealthy, owning a tri-level condominium, a Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit
, two Ferrari
s (in addition to his replica) and a Lamborghini Countach
. He gambled in Monte Carlo
and frequently traveled to Paris and Rome. With no visible source of income, local police and residents assumed he was a drug dealer and his car was frequently searched. Tetro denied being a drug dealer, but the more he defended himself, the less he was believed. Not until his arrest was this rumor disproved, a kind of relief for Tetro, who was proud he would finally be acknowledged as an artist.
's office, called Tetro "one of the two major [art] forgers in the United States."
Tetro was arrested and tried in Los Angeles in 1989. He was charged with 44 counts of felony
forgery and one count of conspiracy. The costs of his defense forced him to liquidate his assets and ruined him financially. His lawyer was paid in cash until Tetro, out of funds, applied for and was granted a public defender.
Tetro sought to portray himself not as an art forger, but as an "emulator" who copied works, but did not intend to sell them as originals. He blamed art dealers for the fraud and said they commissioned him to create copies of paintings. His first trial ended in mistrial when jurors were deadlocked after 17 hours of deliberating, giving up after the third ballot. In order to convict, jurors had to be convinced of Tetro's intent to commit fraud. The district attorney decided to retry the case. With no more cash or assets to pay for a defense, in February 1993, Tetro pleaded nolo contendere
to six counts of forgery, one count of conspiracy and one count of attempted theft. Part of his sentence included 200 hours of community service in which he was ordered to paint a mural on a public building. He was also sentenced to six months in a work release
program, where he painted prototypes for traffic safety murals, and to five years' probation. He was released from jail in 1994.
documentary. The BBC science and technology magazine, Focus website has an article about how to forge a masterpiece based on Tetro's techniques. On December 17, 1991, he was featured in an episode of Nova
, called "The Fine Art of Faking It".
s for private clients. He continues to use the techniques he used in producing forgeries, but is required by a court order to sign all of his works. Tetro has a daughter and several grandchildren. In a painting called Mona Sabrina, Tetro painted a portrait of his granddaughter as Leonardo da Vinci
's Mona Lisa
.
Art forgery
Art forgery is the creation of works of art which are falsely attributed to other, usually more famous, artists. Art forgery can be extremely lucrative, but modern dating and analysis techniques have made the identification of forged artwork much simpler....
known for his perfectionism in copies of artwork produced in the 1970s and 1980s. Tetro never had formal art lessons, but learned from books, by painting and experimentation. Over three decades, Tetro forged works by Rembrandt, Joan Miro
Joan Miró
Joan Miró i Ferrà was a Spanish Catalan painter, sculptor, and ceramicist born in Barcelona.Earning international acclaim, his work has been interpreted as Surrealism, a sandbox for the subconscious mind, a re-creation of the childlike, and a manifestation of Catalan pride...
, Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall Art critic Robert Hughes referred to Chagall as "the quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century."According to art historian Michael J...
, Salvador Dali
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....
and Norman Rockwell
Norman Rockwell
Norman Percevel Rockwell was a 20th-century American painter and illustrator. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of American culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening...
and others. Tetro's paintings and lithographs, known for their perfectionism, were sold by art dealers and auction houses as legitimate works and hang in museums, galleries around the world. He was caught after Hiro Yamagata
Hiro Yamagata (artist)
Hiro Yamagata is a painter/artist, based in Los Angeles, California....
found a forgery of his own work for sale in a gallery. Tetro was called a genius and "one of the two major [art] forgers in the United States."
Early years
Tetro was born in Fulton, Oswego County, New YorkFulton, Oswego County, New York
Fulton is a small city in Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 11,855 at the 2000 census. The city is named after Robert Fulton, inventor of the steamboat.The city of Fulton is located in the western part of the county....
, one of four children to Beatrice and James Tetro, a house painter. As a young girl, Tetro's mother once watched Amelia Earhardt land her plane in their family's pasture. His father developed a special process for coating water tower
Water tower
A water tower or elevated water tower is a large elevated drinking water storage container constructed to hold a water supply at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system....
s.
Tetro was an altar boy. His first trouble from his art came while at parochial school
Parochial school
A parochial school is a school that provides religious education in addition to conventional education. In a narrower sense, a parochial school is a Christian grammar school or high school which is part of, and run by, a parish.-United Kingdom:...
in Fulton, where he drew a picture of one of the nuns as a Vargas girl, but with a "pruney face" and wearing a habit
Religious habit
A religious habit is a distinctive set of garments worn by members of a religious order. Traditionally some plain garb recognisable as a religious habit has also been worn by those leading the religious eremitic and anachoritic life, although in their case without conformity to a particular uniform...
. The nun hit him and took him to the priest.
Tetro got married at age 16 to his high school girlfriend, who was pregnant; he became a father at age 17. In 1969, he moved to southern California and got a job as a furniture salesman. He and his wife were divorced a few years later.
Art forgery
By 1973, Tetro was learning about art by reading books and visiting museums. He never had formal art training or a desire to develop his own style, but he liked to paint and he liked copying from the masters. He found the exercise taught him more about the art, enabled him to understand why an artist had done a particular thing, which merely looking at a painting did not reveal.Copying, sketching or making studies from old masters is a common way for art students and artists to learn how to draw and paint. A tour description at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston says, "Artists in subsequent generations looked back to the work of TitianTitian
Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c. 1488/1490 – 27 August 1576 better known as Titian was an Italian painter, the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near...
and others by visiting museums and making sketches of their work to learn the art of painting. This tour of Old Master paintings in the MFAH collection from the 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...
through the 18th century explores how future artists would learn the skills of drawing, coloration, and composition from the artists who came before them." (See "Members Tour: Learning from the Old Masters".) He learned about paper and canvas and experimented to find ways of producing craquelure
Craquelure
In art, craquelure is the fine pattern of dense "cracking" formed on the surface of paintings, in particular due to the aging of paints. It is often used to determine the age of paintings and to detect art forgery, as craquelure is a hard-to-forge signature of authenticity.-Authentic:Authentic...
, a characteristic of old paintings. Still a hobby, he began selling his copies at art fairs. He then began copying photographs and painting portraits. His hobby became a business and he became known within wealthy circles. The art market expanded in the 1980s and according to one Los Angeles art dealer, some people were more concerned about matching their carpet than they were about the authenticity of a painting. Reproductions were in demand and Tetro had a reputation for making flawless copies, even going so far as to travel to Europe to buy wooden stretchers and canvas particular to where a certain artist had worked. He says he never marketed his paintings and lithographs as originals and his business card read, "Tony Tetro. Art reproductions." He says dealers told him his work would be sold to people who couldn't afford originals.
Tetro forged works by both contemporary painters and old master
Old Master
"Old Master" is a term for a European painter of skill who worked before about 1800, or a painting by such an artist. An "old master print" is an original print made by an artist in the same period...
s including Rembrandt, Joan Miro, Marc Chagall, Salvador Dali and Norman Rockwell. In addition to copying paintings, Tetro made an exact replica of a 1958 Ferrari Testarossa
Ferrari Testarossa
The Ferrari Testarossa is a 12-cylinder mid-engine sports car manufactured by Ferrari, which went into production in 1984 as the successor to the Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer...
, investing several hundred thousand dollars over six years. One gallery owner in Venice, California called Tetro "a brilliant mind" and a "genius".
Tetro became successful and wealthy, owning a tri-level condominium, a Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit
Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit
For the cruise ship see MS Silver SpiritThe Silver Spirit is a British saloon automobile made by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, in England. It was launched in 1980.The Silver Spur was a long-wheelbase version of the Silver Spirit, produced at the same time....
, two Ferrari
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...
s (in addition to his replica) and a Lamborghini Countach
Lamborghini Countach
The Lamborghini Countach is a mid-engined supercar that was produced by Italian automaker Lamborghini from 1974 to 1990. Its design both pioneered and popularized the wedge-shaped, sharply angled look popular in many high performance sports cars...
. He gambled in Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....
and frequently traveled to Paris and Rome. With no visible source of income, local police and residents assumed he was a drug dealer and his car was frequently searched. Tetro denied being a drug dealer, but the more he defended himself, the less he was believed. Not until his arrest was this rumor disproved, a kind of relief for Tetro, who was proud he would finally be acknowledged as an artist.
Arrest and aftermath
His forgeries were caught in late 1988 after Hiro Yamagata found a forgery of his work for sale in a Beverly Hills gallery. Police found 250 forgeries during a search of Tetro's home in April 1989 and he was accused of conspiring with art dealer Mark Henry Sawicki to defraud four other art dealers by selling them forgeries. Gary Helton, an investigator for the district attorneyDistrict attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
's office, called Tetro "one of the two major [art] forgers in the United States."
Tetro was arrested and tried in Los Angeles in 1989. He was charged with 44 counts of felony
Felony
A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
forgery and one count of conspiracy. The costs of his defense forced him to liquidate his assets and ruined him financially. His lawyer was paid in cash until Tetro, out of funds, applied for and was granted a public defender.
Tetro sought to portray himself not as an art forger, but as an "emulator" who copied works, but did not intend to sell them as originals. He blamed art dealers for the fraud and said they commissioned him to create copies of paintings. His first trial ended in mistrial when jurors were deadlocked after 17 hours of deliberating, giving up after the third ballot. In order to convict, jurors had to be convinced of Tetro's intent to commit fraud. The district attorney decided to retry the case. With no more cash or assets to pay for a defense, in February 1993, Tetro pleaded nolo contendere
Nolo contendere
is a legal term that comes from the Latin for "I do not wish to contend." It is also referred to as a plea of no contest.In criminal trials, and in some common law jurisdictions, it is a plea where the defendant neither admits nor disputes a charge, serving as an alternative to a pleading of...
to six counts of forgery, one count of conspiracy and one count of attempted theft. Part of his sentence included 200 hours of community service in which he was ordered to paint a mural on a public building. He was also sentenced to six months in a work release
Work release
In prison systems, work release programs allow a prisoner who is sufficiently trusted or can be sufficiently monitored to leave confinement to continue working at his or her current place of employment, returning to prison when his/her shift is complete...
program, where he painted prototypes for traffic safety murals, and to five years' probation. He was released from jail in 1994.
Media
While awaiting trial in 1989, Tetro was featured in a BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
documentary. The BBC science and technology magazine, Focus website has an article about how to forge a masterpiece based on Tetro's techniques. On December 17, 1991, he was featured in an episode of Nova
NOVA (TV series)
Nova is a popular science television series from the U.S. produced by WGBH Boston. It can be seen on the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States, and in more than 100 other countries...
, called "The Fine Art of Faking It".
Present
Tetro currently produces copies and pastichePastiche
A pastiche is a literary or other artistic genre or technique that is a "hodge-podge" or imitation. The word is also a linguistic term used to describe an early stage in the development of a pidgin language.-Hodge-podge:...
s for private clients. He continues to use the techniques he used in producing forgeries, but is required by a court order to sign all of his works. Tetro has a daughter and several grandchildren. In a painting called Mona Sabrina, Tetro painted a portrait of his granddaughter as Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
's Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa is a portrait by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. It is a painting in oil on a poplar panel, completed circa 1503–1519...
.
External links
- Official website
- Lee Catterall, Great Dali Art Fraud Dali Fraud. Retrieved June 19, 2011