How good are today’s art forgers? So good that some of them make quite a nice living selling their work to collectors who are fully aware that they aren’t buying the original painting. “The pursuit of authenticity can encounter nasty opposition,” as many would-be whistleblowers have discovered, and after all, isn’t the desire to own “the real thing” nothing more than a greedy desire for prestige? “A beautiful artwork does not cease to be beautiful once its authorship is cast in doubt, but it can cease to be precious.”