We've given up: Artist Anjolie Ela Menon on stopping fakes

As Indian art and artists rise in profile, so does the menace of fakes. An early example of this was the case of a fake painting of Anjolie Ela Menon's 'Female Head', moving from gallery to gallery in Mumbai more than a decade ago.

Several gallerists as well as Menon's assistant, Hamid Shafi, were questioned in the context. The investigations led to the arrest of Shafi and Suraj Sharma (owner of a Delhi-based framing house).

Ten years on, little has improved and Menon doesn't sound too hopeful about the subject. During a talk this week at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Vastu Sanghralaya in Mumbai, she said, "I think we've just given up on it because they all do it. I think they are a little wary of my fakes (of my work) after the incident because those two guys were put in jail by the enforcement directorate. They fake so many artists, they fake Jamini (Roy). It is terrible."

Menon was discussing her paintings and the influences on her work.

When asked if there were any measures to check the proliferation of fakes, Menon was pessimistic. "Nothing. Nothing stops them," she said.