Librarian replaced 140 masters paintings with works he painted himself
Print Edition
A FORMER chief librarian at a Chinese university yesterday admitted to stealing more than 140 paintings in a gallery under his watch and replacing them with fakes he painted himself.
For two years until 2006, Xiao Yuan substituted famous works including landscapes and calligraphies in a gallery in the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts library.
In his defense, he told the court that the practice appeared to be “rampant” and the handling of such paintings was not secure. He said he noticed fakes already hanging in the gallery on his first day on the job.
Later, after he replaced some of the remaining masters with his own work, he was surprised when he noticed that his fake paintings were being substituted with even more fakes.
“I realized someone else had replaced my paintings with their own because I could clearly discern that their works were terribly bad,” Xiao, 57, told the Guangzhou People’s Intermediate Court, which posted a video of the two-hour hearing on its website.
Xiao said he didn’t know who had replaced his fakes, but said students and professors could take out paintings in the same way as they could borrow library books.
Xiao sold 125 of the paintings at auction between 2004 and 2011 for more than 34 million yuan (US$6 million), and used the money to buy apartments and other paintings. Another 18 that he stole are estimated to be worth more than 70 million yuan, according to prosecutors.
Xiao admitted to replacing the 143 paintings with his own work, and said that he deeply regretted his crime.
The stolen works mentioned in the court transcript included paintings by influential 20th century artists Qi Baishi, who used watercolors, and Zhang Daqian, who depicted landscapes and lotuses.
Also removed was “Rock and Birds” by Zhu Da, a painter and calligrapher who lived during the 17th century and used ink monochrome.
Xiao said he stopped his stealing when the paintings were moved to another gallery. He was the university’s chief librarian until 2010, and his crimes came to light when an employee discovered what had happened and went to the police.
He will be sentenced later.
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