© Getty Images

Han van Meegeren (1889–1947) -

Han van Meegeren is the man behind one of the most dramatic art scams of the 20th century. An ingenious art forger, van Meegeren specialized in copying work by fellow Dutchman Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675). He's pictured here creating 'Jesus Among the Doctors' after Vermeer, in 1945.

© Getty Images 

Han van Meegeren (1889–1947) -

Van Meegeren's greatest coup was trading a fake Vermeer to Hermann Göring for 200 original Dutch paintings seized by the Nazi Reichsmarschall at the beginning of the Second World War. This brazen act of duplicity made van Meegeren a national hero after the war's end.

© Getty Images 

'The Last Vermeer' (2019) -

Han van Meegeren is portrayed by Guy Pearce in the historically inspired wartime drama 'The Last Vermeer.'

© BrunoPress

Elmyr de Hory (1906–1976) -

Hungarian-born painter Elmyr de Hory is widely regarded as the world's most talented and successful forger in art history.

© Getty Images 

Elmyr de Hory (1906–1976) -

De Hory is believed to have sold well over a thousand art forgeries to unsuspecting individuals and gallery owners all over the world. He's pictured here in 1973 holding up a work in the style of French Fauvist painter Raoul Dufy (1877–1953).

© Getty Images 

'F for Fake' (1973) -

Elmyr de Hory was the subject of 'F for Fake,' a docudrama directed by and starring Orson Welles.

© Getty Images 

Walter Keane (1915–2000) -

Walter Keane was feted as one of the most commercially successful artists of the 1960s, famous for his paintings of vulnerable subjects with oversized, brooding eyes. Except he didn't create them. It was his wife, Margaret, who was the artist.

© Getty Images 

Walter and Margaret Keane -

The con came to light in 1986 when Walter was unmasked as a plagiarist. In fact, he couldn't even paint! Margaret won considerable damages in a court case, and was finally recognized as the artist behind the "Big Eyes." The couple are pictured in their studio at home.

© Getty Images 

'Big Eyes' (2014) -

The deception was the subject of the Tim Burton-directed movie 'Big Eyes,' starring Amy Adams as Margaret and Christopher Waltz as Walter. Adams won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress–Motion Picture Comedy or Musical for her performance.

© BrunoPress

Michelangelo (1475-1564) -

Believe it or not, no lesser a figure than Michelangelo was at one point accused of faking it. In fact, a forgery is said to have kicked off his career.

© Getty Images 

Michelangelo (1475-1564) -

Michelangelo is especially famous for David, a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture. But even Michelangelo had to start somewhere, and he did so by copying Roman sculptures when he carved 'Sleeping Eros' in 1496. It appears Michelangelo deliberately set out to create a sculpture that could be passed off as an ancient original. Pictured is a detail of 'Sleeping Eros.'

© Getty Images 

Michelangelo (1475-1564) -

When 'Sleeping Eros' was eventually discovered to be an imitation, its creator was applauded for his efforts. After all, only a true master could fake so well...

© Getty Images

Yves Chaudron and the theft of the 'Mona Lisa' -

The audacious theft of the 'Mona Lisa' from the Louvre in Paris on August 21, 1911 led to the arrest of Vincenzo Peruggia (pictured), who was accused of lifting Leonardo da Vinci's famous portrait. But another theory persisted, that the robbery was masterminded by a conman named Eduardo de Valfierno.

© Getty Images 

Yves Chaudron and the theft of the 'Mona Lisa' -

After the raid, Eduardo de Valfierno was supposed to have commissioned the French art forger Yves Chaudron to make copies of the painting so that he could sell them as the missing original. However, doubts remain to this day as to whether either man even existed. The 'Mona Lisa' was eventually recovered in 1913 in Florence, Italy, and was put on display in the Uffizi Gallery by police agents (pictured).

© Getty Images 

'Picasso's Gang' (2012) -

There's another twist in the 'Mona Lisa' theft story. For a while, Pablo Picasso fell under suspicion as the one who pulled off the heist, and he was even questioned by police. The implication of the Spanish painter in the robbery serves as the theme behind 'Picasso's Gang,' directed by Fernando Colomo.

© Getty Images 

Tom Keating (1917–1984) -

British painter and art restorer Tom Keating is estimated to have forged more than 2,000 paintings by over 100 different artists, including Samuel Palmer and John Constable. He's pictured in 1976 standing by his fake painting of Constable's 'The Hay Wain' (1821).

© Getty Images 

Tom Keating (1917–1984) -

His 'career' began as a student at Goldsmith's College after he was asked to make copies of several paintings. When he later found out that they were being sold as genuine, he decided to start creating fakes to be sold on the art market. "I flooded the market with the work of Palmer and many others," the artist later said. "Not for gain (I hope I am no materialist) but simply as a protest against the merchants who make capital out of those I am proud to call my brother artists, both living and dead." He's pictured in 1967.

© Getty Images 

Tom Keating (1917–1984) -

Keating's scam was revealed in 1970 when 13 Samuel Palmer watercolors came up for sale, all depicting the same theme. Keating was arrested in 1977, accused of fraud and conspiracy, and put on trial in 1979. The charges, however, were eventually dropped due to Keating's failing health.

© Getty Images 

Wolfgang Beltracchi -

In 2011, German art forger Wolfgang Beltracchi admitted to forging hundreds of paintings, many of which were purchased by high-profile individuals, including actor Steve Martin, who paid US$860,000 in 2004 for a counterfeit Heinrich Campendonk called 'Landscape with Horses' (1915).

© Getty Images 

Wolfgang Beltracchi -

Beltracchi also forged works by Max Ernst, Fernand Léger, and Kees van Dongen, among other Expressionist, Surrealist, and Cubist artists.

© Getty Images 

Wolfgang and Helene Beltracchi -

Wolfgang Beltracchi and his wife Helene (pictured) were caught after a forensic analyst uncovered a mismatched pigment in a painting the forger was trying to pass off as genuine. The pair were subsequently arrested, with Wolfgang Beltracchi eventually receiving a six-year prison sentence and his wife four years. Both were ordered to pay millions in restitution.

© Getty Images 

The Greenhalghs -

Surely the art world's most unlikely fraudster, Shaun Greenhalgh, from Bolton in England, sold hundreds of fakes as the genuine article over a 17-year-period, and netted thousands into the bargain. What's even more astonishing is that he did it with the help of his elderly parents. Pictured is  Shaun Greenhalgh and his 84-year-old father George outside Bury Magistrates during the Greenhalgh's trial.

© Getty Images 

The Greenhalghs -

Shaun Greenhalgh duped some of the art world's savviest experts with fake paintings and sculpture. His mother Olive Greenhalgh, 82, pictured arriving at court, helped front the sales side of the operation along with husband George. Shaun's brother, George Jr., managed the money.

© Getty Images 

The Greenhalghs -

One especially audacious transaction involved the sale to Bolton Museum of  the fake Amarna Princess figure (pictured). The museum parted with £440,000 (over US$600,000) for what it believed was a 3,300-year-old artifact. Eventually apprehended, Shaun Greenhalgh was jailed for four years and eight months in November 2007.

Sources: (Widewalls) (Time) (Essential Vermeer) (Vanity Fair) (Art Net) (NPR) (BBC) (The Guardian)

See also: The most famous paintings in the world

© Getty Images