Forgery proceedings
Carter Reese sentenced in counterfeit art scheme
Reese received imprisonment, supervision and restitution after admitting sales of works he knew were falsely attributed to artists including Bacon, Basquiat, Picasso and Warhol.
Documented dossier
Francis Bacon
These reports concern the recovery of a Bacon painting stolen in Madrid and a separate counterfeit-art sentencing involving works falsely attributed to several artists. The stolen portrait titled Francis Bacon by Lucian Freud belongs to Freud’s authorship and is not counted here as a work painted by Bacon.
3 reports · Source dates: 22 Mar 2018 — 12 Sept 2025
Forgery proceedings 1Recovery reports 1Legal disputes 1
Each entry reflects its source on the stated date. A historical theft report does not mean a work remains missing. Attributions, allegations and decisions remain distinct; this dossier does not authenticate artworks.
Reports and developments
Newest source reports firstRecovery reports
Spanish police recover Francis Bacon painting
The painting was one of five Bacon works stolen from a Madrid home in 2015.
Legal disputes
Confidential settlement in auction dispute involving Richter and Bacon
Lawsuits concerning buyer Zhang Chang’s unpaid purchase of Gerhard Richter’s Düsenjäger at Phillips and a claim to a Francis Bacon painting used in related financing were settled confidentially. The image shows the Richter painting.