eBay Seller Dantegallery Peddled Forged Chicago Imagist Works

An investigation by Artnet News uncovered a scheme involving forged artworks by Chicago Imagists Jim Nutt and Christina Ramberg sold on eBay by the seller dantegallery. Two works on paper, each listed for $499 with a $99 opening bid, were purchased by the reporter. Gallery labels on the backs from Phyllis Kind Gallery and Jean Albano Gallery were deemed fake by experts. Chicago art dealer Karen Lennox confirmed the Ramberg label was counterfeit and the drawing not by Ramberg. Jim Nutt himself stated he did not make the attributed drawing. New York dealer David Nolan called both works total forgeries, citing poor execution. The seller, Katarzyna Ozimek of Walton, New York, claimed to buy art second-hand and sell it as "in the manner of" artists. The dantegallery store was emptied by April 28. Separately, a federal indictment charged Polish nationals Erwin and Karolina Bankowska with conspiring to consign 200 counterfeit artworks, including Warhol and Scholder, netting at least $2 million.