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Home > Celestial Blood > ‘The Devil Wears Rothko’: Inside one of the art world’s biggest scandals
Podcast: Celestial Blood
Episode:

‘The Devil Wears Rothko’: Inside one of the art world’s biggest scandals
Category: Arts
Duration: 00:00:00
Publish Date: 2025-08-06 19:00:00
Description: For about a decade, one of the most reputable art galleries in the world, the Knoedler Gallery in Manhattan, New York, trafficked $80 million in fake art — works purportedly by abstract expressionists like Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, and Willem de Kooning. Chinese mathematician Pei-Shen Qian created them in his garage in Queens. This became a sordid detective story involving an international ring of con artists who duped the world’s most knowledgeable art dealers and wealthy collectors. Barry Avrich followed this story for years, and his new book is The Devil Wears Rothko , which expands on his 2020 documentary, Made You Look: A True Story About Fake Art. Avrich explains that the Knoedler Gallery came to New York City to take advantage of the area’s extraordinary wealth, when copper/mining/railroad barons wanted to fill their mansions with art. The Knoedler Gallery met their needs and gained popularity. Then as wealth came in from other industries like tech, communications, and entertainment, “Knoedler was there every step of the way to ensure that very wealthy people did not have blank walls.” Ann Freedman worked at the gallery for three decades. “If you wanted major art, it was Ann Freedman, and she had a very steely approach to her,” Avrich says. “People in the art world didn't like her — unless you were a collector, then you loved her, and she loved you, and she knew how to sell. But people were very envious of her success.” Ann Freedman worked at the Knoedler Gallery for three decades. Photo courtesy of Barry Avrich. People trusted Freedman to do “her homework,” ensuring the authenticity of what she sold. However, Avrich says she leaned on a Bonnie and Clyde-esque couple who sold art to the Knoedler — José Carlos Bergantiños Díaz and Glafira Rosales. “[They] would rely on the provenance … that they were giving her, often fake documents and incredible storytelling with enough name-dropping that to Ann Freedman, it made sense.” Avrich says Rosales was smart by previously attending auctions, sporting a cashmere coat and Birkin bag when making purchases. And her partner, Bergantiños Díaz, taught her how to look and what to say when selling art. Their con lasted 10 years. José Carlos Bergantiños Díaz is a native of Spain. Photo courtesy of Barry Avrich. On the day Rosales walked into the Knoedler Gallery with a purported Rothko under her arm, wrapped in brown paper, Freedman hadn’t heard of her. They were introduced by Jaime Andrade, a Knoedler staffer at the time. “[Rosales] unwraps it, and Ann Freedman nearly faints when she sees it, as [do] the people that ultimately buy it.” Domenico and Eleanore De Sole bought that “Rothko” for $8.3 million. Domenico De Sole formerly chaired Sotheby's, financially saved Gucci, and created Tom Ford. Avrich explains that when the married couple was at their hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, he took a shower and she opened The New York Times. She read that hedge fund manager Pierre Lagrange was suing over a fake Jackson Pollock artwork. “And she said, ‘Wait a minute, we have a Rothko from the Knoedler Gallery. Do we have a fake?’ And of course, they did.” Other knock-offs were uncovered before. Avrich gives the play-by-play: “The organization that authenticates and represents … Robert Motherwell paintings, the Dedalus Foundation, had gotten into trouble with the Julian Weissman gallery. And they found out that Carlos and Glafira were selling paintings not only to Weissman, but to the Knoedler Gallery. And the head of Dedalus Foundation … Jack Flam, goes over to Ann Freedman, does not get the answers he wants. They have big fights. ‘It is real. No, it's not. Yes, it is. No, it's not.’ And Jack Flam, representing Motherwell, gets so annoyed, he goes to the FBI and says, ‘I think I've uncovered a major, major art fraud scandal here.’ FBI starts to investigate. Subpoenas are issued, the word gets out. And suddenly the collectors who had bought paintings are running for the hills.” The Knoedler Gallery got sued. Its owner, Michael Hammer, whose grandfather is Armand Hammer, put Ann Freedman on “medical leave,” shut down his gallery, and sold the building for about $38 million, Avrich says. Meanwhile, Glafira Rosales was arrested. José Carlos Bergantiños Díaz fled to his native Spain — the country decided not to send him back to the U.S. And art forger Qian fled to Shanghai. Pei-Shen Qian now lives in Shanghai. Photo courtesy of Barry Avrich. “The FBI ascertains quickly with Glafira Rosales that she's sitting in jail for six months, not saying a word. She does not implicate, and she blames her husband for everything.” Avrich continues, “Then they start to find the bank accounts, $48 million … that had been wired out of the United States to various accounts in Spain and the Dominican Republic. And they basically say to her, ‘Okay, if you want to sit there and not say anything, you're going to be going to jail for 20 years for wire fraud and tax fraud. Or do you want to admit what you did?’ Which she did, and Freedman was never charged again.” Avrich also visited Pei-Shen Qian in Shanghai. “Is he making fakes in Shanghai? No, not that I know of. … Is he making copies of existing work? Yes. And again, remember the difference. A fake is you're suggesting it's an original piece of art, it's signed, and it's never been seen before. … A copy is just I'm having an artist copy something that already exists.” Still, other people continue to pass off forgeries as real pieces. “Where there's money and there's art, there's fraud. … I've had young, wealthy people … offer me money for the fakes that I have, and want me to get them access to other fakes.” Barry Avrich is the author of “The Devil Wears Rothko.” Credit: Post Hill Press.
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