Please join us for a talk by Maria Timina, curator of Russian and European Art, on the exhibition Art in Doubt: A Critical Examination of the Thomas P. Whitney Collection, Part 2.
This is an exhibition about suspected fakes and possible forgeries, about works that cause us to doubt history, experts and art itself. It is about doubt as an essential part of art attribution, while it is also about how knowledge can transform skepticism into assurance. With a focus on the Thomas P. Whitney Collection, a collection of over 600 objects housed at the Mead Art Museum, Art in Doubt marks the first scholarly presentation of dubious works of Russian and Soviet modern art in the United States. In two parts, the exhibition continues throughout the 2023–24 academic year. Part 1 featured exclusively artworks of disputed authenticity—those with imaginary histories of ownership, unreliable authenticity certificates, misleading signatures, and fabricated artist biographies. Part 2 offers a wider range of artworks whose authenticity has been questioned, some of which are highly dubious and some of which now appear to be genuine.
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