When British collector Martin Lang submitted one of his paintings to a French committee, he was hoping to find out if it was an authentic work by Marc Chagall.
But not only did the Chagall Committee declare the painting a forgery, it said Lang's painting should be burned under strict French laws that protect artists' works.
Lang, 63, said Monday he was frustrated with the decision but he still hopes the painting will be returned to him.
Describing his shock at the ruling, Lang said: "It was just total disbelief that they would want to destroy it."
"I'm not attacking the committee — I just want them to please reconsider. They could just mark it unoriginal and send it back," he told The Associated Press.
The businessman bought the watercolour of a reclining nude woman for £100,000 (about $182,900 Cdn) in 1992, believing it to be an authentic Chagall dating from around 1909 to 1910.
Lang's son recently called in experts from a BBC show about forgeries to determine if it was real. According to the BBC, the painting surfaced in Russia after the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union and was offered to Lang at a fraction of its value.
The painting was eventually sent to the Chagall Committee in Paris for a final ruling. The committee — run by the Russian-born artist's grandchildren to protect his legacy — ruled it was a fake and said it would be destroyed under French law.
Lang said he did not understand why art collectors like him should be punished for forgeries.
"It seems to be dissuading honest people from coming forward to have their art verified. It seems to be the wrong way of doing it," said Lang, a property developer from the northern city of Leeds.
The Chagall Committee declined to discuss the case Monday.
CBC News
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