Appeal rejected in Sotheby's dispute over a portrait attributed to Frans Hals
London's Court of Appeal upheld an order requiring Fairlight Art Ventures to repay Sotheby's about $5.37 million, plus interest and costs, after a private sale of An Unknown Man was rescinded. Sotheby's refunded the buyer after laboratory analysis identified the portrait attributed to Frans Hals as a modern forgery. This was a civil contractual ruling, not a criminal conviction for forgery.
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