Nadean Price

Nadean Price (1938 – 2010) was an American art forger whose deceptions shocked the art world in the late 1990s and early 2000s. With limited formal art training, Price created hundreds of fake paintings in the styles of renowned artists including Jackson Pollock, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and others, collaborating with accomplice Mark Landis. Their forgeries were sophisticated enough to fool galleries, auction houses, and collectors, with some paintings selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Price's story is remarkable because it exposed serious weaknesses in the art authentication and appraisal systems that were supposed to protect collectors and maintain market integrity. When the scheme was discovered, it triggered investigations into numerous museum acquisitions and raised uncomfortable questions about expertise and due diligence in the art world. Price's case became a cautionary tale about the fragility of art authentication and the persistence of forgery in high-value markets. While his actions were criminal, the exposure of such systemic vulnerabilities led to improvements in authentication practices. Price's life and crimes have been documented extensively and serve as a reminder of human ingenuity applied to deception and the ever-present challenge of verification in rare and valuable goods.