Three well-known Parisian antiques dealers—from Didier Aaron gallery, Kraemer Gallery and the now-closed Lupu Gallery—are involved in a scandal over allegedly fake 18th-century furniture. Investigators from France’s art and heritage police unit, the OCBC, gathered enough evidence to arrest Bill Pallot, an expert for Didier Aaron gallery, and Laurent Kraemer, the head of one of Paris’s most venerable galleries, along with a gilder, who has not been named. They were arrested on suspicion of fraud and possible money-laundering. Kraemer has been released on bail and denies all charges; Pallot was put in provisional detention on 9 June, on the outskirts of Paris, according to the district attorney. Neither Pallot nor his lawyer are commenting on his arrest and are neither confirming nor denying the charges.
Guillaume Dillée, an expert who admitted serving as a middleman between Pallot and the Kraemer gallery, was charged with collusion and possible money laundering and released on bail. Dillée and his attorney declined to comment. Hervé Aaron, who runs Didier Aaron gallery, also declined to comment.
According to sources close to Pallot, he has admitted to making an unspecified but limited number of fakes, including two copies of a chair commissioned for Versailles by Marie Antoinette, in 1780, an action he reportedly described to investigators as an “intellectual game”—a challenge to the authorities of Versailles and the art market.
The news has stunned the art world. Pallot, 52, is a leading specialist in 18th-century royal furniture. He works as an expert for the French Court of Appeal and the customs office, and is a professor at the Sorbonne university. Kraemer says he bought the two chairs through Dillée, a friend of Pallot.
The chairs were classified as national treasures in 2013, when the Kraemer Gallery offered to sell them to Versailles, but the price was too high. Instead, the pair was sold for €2m to an anonymous collector in London. However, when doubts emerged last year over their authenticity, the gallery contacted the collector to recover them and to pay him back.
Kraemer says he acted in good faith and is the victim in the story. “It was impossible to detect the fraud, which cheated the national museums”, he says, adding that it is “shameful to see the family name being treated on the same level as that of the forger”. Founded in 1875 by Lucien Kraemer, the gallery claims to be the oldest dynasty of dealers still active in Paris.
Although the extent of his own involvement is unclear, Pallot told the investigating judge that the trafficking of fake 18th-century furniture is widespread and well-established in Paris.
The French ministry of culture is now investigating other pieces, worth a combined €2.7m, which have been bought by Versailles since 2008, including a winged chair, authenticated by Dillée as having belonged to one of Louis XVI’s sisters. Béatrix Saule, the chief curator of Versailles, says that “as far as we know, this armchair is authentic,” but adds how difficult authenticating such pieces can be.
Since June 2015, investigators have also twice raided the home and gallery of another Parisian dealer, Jean Lupu (the gallery closed in February). Each time, he was interviewed for two days about pieces of furniture, bought as 19th-century copies, alledgedly redecorated with lacquer and ebony, and sold on for six-figure sums. Lupu, 85, was released without being charged but is now expecting to be summonsed to appear before a Parisian judge. He has never answered any of The Art Newspaper’s questions on the case.
Kraemer Gallery has announced it will not take part in this year’s Biennale des Antiquaires in Paris (10-18 September) and the Syndicat National des Antiquaires, the fair’s organiser, has suspended Didier Aaron gallery’s participation this year. Hervé Aaron told the French press his gallery shouldn’t be held responsible for any rogue actions by a member of staff.