Plagiarizing painter plummets from grace

Yoshihiko Wada was once regarded as one of Japan's finest painters, but the recent disclosure that dozens of his works are virtual copies of an obscure Italian artist has exposed the 66-year-old Mie Prefecture native as nothing more than a bulls**t artist, according to Josei Seven (6/22).

Among works being sold as Wada's are 30 that are clearly copies of those by little-known 77-year-old Italian artist Alberto Sughi. Artwork prices are roughly determined by the size of paintings, with a small Wada work about 16 centimeters by 22 centimeters worth around 150,000 yen to 170,000 yen (around 1500USD), according to a gallery's art appraiser. A poster-sized Wada work, meanwhile, could fetch around 1.5 million (almost 15,000USD) yen on the Japanese market.

No such riches await Sughi, though. He is virtually unknown in Asia and the United States, though his name does carry a certain amount of value in Europe. Until the exposure of Wada's wickedness, Sughi was unheard of in Japan. Studio Sughi would like to clarify that Alberto Sughi's paintings sell in Italy, Europe and the United States at prices between 20,000 euros and 50,000 euros.
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Ooops, I wanted to post this a week or so ago but never got around to it. This has been a hot topic in the arts world since it broke out about a month ago. What a blessing for Sughi but tragedy for Wada, well all I have to say is, serves him right. I was shocked to find the two paintings SO strikingly similar - you would think someone copying a living artist would at least change the plagiarized painting to some extent. My goodness what a kerfuffle!