Landis has earned his net worth through his work on many films, music videos, and. Our soft spot: art and money.". Often using a magnifying glass, Landis studies a print of an original work and, with meticulous attention to detail, copies exactly what he sees: religious icons, impressionist or modern works. Professor. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". Art forger Mark Landis is the subject of the documentary " Art and Craft ," directed by Sam Cullman and Jennifer Grausman. leftButtonText: data.footer.button.leftButtonText, The painting was by American Impressionist Charles Courtney Curran. leftImage: data.images.left.leftImage, The iconic red jacket she famously designed for Michael Jackson 's landmark Michael Jackson: Thriller (1983) was sold for $1.8 million at Julien's Auctions of Beverly Hills (CA) (27 June 2011). 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Sam Cullman/Courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories Robert Wittman, founder of the FBI's Art Crime Team, "It wasn't like Landis went in and said, 'Here, I want to give you this fabulous painting by Picasso and you need to pay me $100,000 for the painting,'" Wittman explains. " He has been one of the most prolific forgers American museums have encountered in years, writing, calling and presenting himself at their doors, where he tells well-concocted stories about his familys collection and donates small, expertly faked works, sometimes in honor of nonexistent relatives. Diagnosed as schizophrenic and living more or less hermetically since his mother died in 2010, the soft-spoken Landis is engaging if remorseless about his deception, and more than happy to. In The Landis Museum, the work was shown at the entrance, to set the scene for the exhibition, the screens sitting on the dismantled support structures from a previous installation of Mark Landis' work in Glasgow in 2011. caption: data.footer.caption, Now his paintings and drawings are in a touring exhibition called Intent to Deceive, and he's the subject of a new documentary called Art & Craft. Landis fakes would likely fail to stand up to scrutiny in an open-market situation. He rarely eats. We support credit card, debit card and PayPal payments. var beforeAfterContainer = $('#nytmm_beforeAfter_wrapper548 .nytmm_beforeAfter_container'); For three decades Landis created museum-quality forgeries of artworks and donated them to institutions around the country. startPoint: data.images.startPoint, For three decades, he used plain old colored pencils, magic markers, and acrylic paints to . (function($) { var data = chameleonData[0]; But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. To be charged with fraud, a victim has to suffer a loss. Later after reviewing his mothers obituary from April 2010, I found that James Brantley was the name of Mark Landis step-father, and all signs suggested that the painting was a forgery. But the fact is he gave it to the museum for free. Sam Cullman/Courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories Landis knew exactly what museums wanted to hear: "He knew right where to hit us. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Tell them Im not a bad guy. He takes nothing more in return for them than an occasional lunch or a few tchotchkes from the gift shop. He admits he has always had a mischievous streak. When youre doing one of those OBITUARIES. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community. Speaking by phone from Washington, D.C., where he was in town promoting the film, Landis downplayed the skill needed to pull off such fakes, often diminishing the originals (of An internationally acclaimed artist, Mark Landis, who suffers from mental illness, was diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 17. ), He also seems unaware of his own artistic gifts. Once the work was part of the collection and Landis had left the scene, he did not seem to mind if the work was found to be fake. Specialties: Simplifying complicated problems . showButton: data.footer.button.showButton, "Mark has seen almost everything up to a point, maybe the 1970s," says Art & Craft producer and director Jennifer Grausman. A painting Mark A. Landis donated to Hilliard University Art Museum as a Charles Courtney Curran. cookies Mother of Max Landis Mother of Rachel Landis. Discover Mark Landis's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. 1955) approached dozens of museums and university galleries claiming to be a wealthy philanthropist with a collection he wished to donate in honor of his deceased parents. Before he left, he blessed me, said Gibson. His house in Laurel, Miss., is extremely cluttered, but his scams are well-organized. var data = chameleonData[0]; George Bassi, the director of the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art in Laurel, Miss., where Mr. Landis, 55, has lived off and on for years, said he first encountered him eight years ago, after Mr. Landis moved back to the South from San Francisco, where he is believed to have owned a small art gallery. An Emmy and Oscar-nominated film company has interviewed Leininger for an exclusive documentary regarding the case. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. Mini Bio (1) Mark Landis is the son of Glenn and Ruby Landis Born in Cumberland, Maryland and joined the Army at 17 at 22 worked in Louisanna Oil Fields before moving to Los Angeles CA. While some examine donations as a matter of course, others did so only after growing suspicious of Mr. Landis. Can Shell close the valuation gap with US rivals? Past residents include Erika Buckner, James Dunigan, Mark Boonstra, Andrew Landis and Sheilakai Simmons. "[Mother and Dad] liked to go out, and I'd be left alone in the hotel room," Landis says. of Art, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, The Lepine I liked because its nice and small. He is believed to have given over 100 forgeries, according to the New York Times . In the film, Landis quotes from, among other old gems, Outer Limits ("Those who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear") and talks about how he and his late father "lived by the code of The Saint," as in the Roger Moore character Simon Templar from the 1960s TV show. A documentary is often only as good as its subject, and Art and Craft has a truly unique and astonishing one. Mark is 59 years old. Career He was a small and sickly child who spent most of his time indoors and had an eye for drawing at a young age. Mr. Leininger circulates by e-mail a picture taken of Mr. Landis in 2008 by the Louisiana State University Museum of Art, and he uses a dry-erase marker to update a laminated map in his office. var data = chameleonData[0]; He told the audience at the Omnova Theater Thursday evening he had nothing with making the movie, but Woody Allen liked it, so I hope you all do as well. Photo by: Luisa Porter/ Dispatch Staff. I'm Mark Landis. I dont think his mother had even a clue that this was going on, he added. He said, Well, I travel a lot, Mr. Tullos recalled. As Landis told me personally after this was all brought to light to the public, he was never in it to hurt anyone or reputations, but enjoyed being treated nice and catered to as a philanthropist of art. Mark Landis (Mark Augustus Landis) was born on 10 March, 1955 in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. The American authorities then tell Joe that "Kamikazi," his Japanese pilot, is an American agent who has learned that Kimura plans to smuggle Japanese war criminals back into the country to organize an anti-American Communist movement. beforeAfterContainer.BeforeAfter(options); (function($) { rightImage: data.images.right.rightImage, Or half a million, I suppose., A scene from the documentary film, Art and Craft., Milan Fashion Week: Dsquared Spring/Summer 2015. Arthur Landis, Jr. and even closer his late mother Jonita Joyce Brantley as she did remarry when Landis' father passed. Mr. Tullos of the Hilliard said his museum would like to find a way to stop him in case Mr. Landis decided to adopt another identity and keep up his campaign. In fact, Landis considers himself a "philanthropist." Mark Landis has been a member of Actors' Equity Association since 1978, and his work in the professional theatre took him to a number of different parts of the U.S. where he worked as an actor, a director, and a stage manager. [2] http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/%E2%80%9CJesuit-priest-donates-fraudulent-works/21787 accessed 5 January 2012. They include "magic markers and pens and Wal-Mart frames raw materials that proper forgers might not use," says Cullman. You might call Matt Leininger the story's Sherlock Holmes. The earliest donation of a fake by Landis in my dossier dates to 1985, when many of his forgeries were given to the DeGrummond Libraries at the University of Southern Mississippi which included drawings by Dr. Seuss. The filmmakers tag along as he performs some of his stunts. Birney Imes III is the immediate past publisher of The Dispatch. He had a connection to Laurel and he knew of the museum, he said, and you just assume good intentions.. Then Landis promises more gifts of art and money to care for the collections but will get in touch when he recovers from heart surgery. Since Landis was donating his copies to museums, he wasn't doing anything illegal. One Landis version of an Alfred Jacob Miller painting made it into "six or seven museums.". through it. Mark D Landis, 52. On the advice of lawyers, it did not explicitly warn other museums about its discoveries, Mr. Bassi said, but it tried to let them know to be wary of donations from a Mark Landis. Premium Digital includes access to our premier business column, Lex, as well as 15 curated newsletters covering key business themes with original, in-depth reporting. Some known art forgers have turned to forgery for psychological and financial reasons. Art fraud investigator Colette Loll believes making fakes was the way he managed his mental illness. Mark Landis craves artistic expression and finds strength in the validation he receives from it. Not only were his fakes convincing, but he also knew exactly what to say when he met with museums. But when he paid a visit to the Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum in Lafayette, La., last. When he arrived at the Hilliard University Art Museum in Louisiana, driving a large red Cadillac that had belonged to his mother, Jonita Joyce Brantley, formerly of Laurel, Mississippi, he introduced himself as Father Arthur Scott. For an optimal experience visit our site on . Lived In Dublin OH, Hilliard OH, Santa Teresa NM, Drums PA. Related To Jennifer Landis, Kyle Landis, Jason Landis, Terri Landis, Lindsay Landis. But money was not a factor in the scheme of Mark Landis, aka Steven Gardiner, aka Father Arthur Scott, aka Father James Brantley and aka Marc Lanois, when he showed up at Loyola University in New Orleans in February of 2012. Directors. the modernist painter John Marin he says, You could get a 3-year-old to do better sailboats) while conceding that he may have a modicum of talent. Still, he is appreciative of the opportunities became so brazen that he began to simply print out copies of his works, going over them with colored pencils and staining them with coffee to make them appear more authentic. Mark Landis is somewhat of a chameleon. You can still enjoy your subscription until the end of your current billing period. var options = { After the Valtat came down, he began. I hung the handicapped tag on the mirror and we went inside. I used watercolors and black crayon because thats what they said he used in the catalog. [3] http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/5905c640-2359-11e0-8389-00144feab49a.html#axzz1iaLh3QxA, accessed 5 January 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/12/arts/design/12fraud.html?pagewanted=all, http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/%E2%80%9CJesuit-priest-donates-fraudulent-works/21787, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/5905c640-2359-11e0-8389-00144feab49a.html#axzz1iaLh3QxA, http://www.maxim.com/amg/STUFF/Articles/Art+Forger+Mark+Landis. I drew images out of books to show to my mother. var data = chameleonData[0]; It is the confidence of gifting his forgeries gaining no financial advantage in addition to playing on the reliance of museums on donations that makes the trick so successful. var beforeAfterContainer = $('#nytmm_beforeAfter_wrapper913 .nytmm_beforeAfter_container'); Landis himself stated to me that his rationale for perpetrating this unusual scheme was that Everyone likes to be treated nice.. Standard Digital includes access to a wealth of global news, analysis and expert opinion. Details Edit Language English Also known as Den frunderlige konstfrfalskaren Filming locations Cincinnati, Ohio, USA Production companies Motto Pictures