Art and Archaeological Fakes on Display. Forty Years of Temporary Exhibitions (1915-1955)

Since the second decade of the twentieth century, temporary exhibitions on art and archaeological fakes and reproductions have appeared in museums, galleries and research institutes in Europe and America. Aiming to educate collectors and curators, to denounce and raise public awareness of forgeries, and eventually to disseminate the value of fakes as historical documents, these exhibitions are something of a litmus test for the perception of, and critique on, this phenomenon over time. Drawing upon an anthology of paramount exhibitions held during the first half of the century, this research provides an insight on display strategies, as well as the patterns, reasons and purposes for exposing fakes and reproductions, tracing back both commonalities, differences and changes over time.