Artist Lee U-fan claims as authentic alleged counterfeits of his paintings

SEOUL, June 29 (Yonhap) -- Renowned abstract painter Lee U-fan claimed on Wednesday that all 13 paintings identified by the National Forensic Service and civilian experts as counterfeits are in fact authentic works by him.

"I found nothing strange with a single piece of the 13 items," Lee said during questioning at the Jungnang Police Station in eastern Seoul. "They are all mine seen from their breath, rhythm and method of using colors... Artists can quickly recognize their own works."

But Lee said he has no idea when questioned about a 66-year-old man who recently admitted to having forged some of his paintings after being indicted on forgery charges.

Despite Lee's statement, police said they will continue tracking down more accomplices in the forgery case, taking all the 13 works as counterfeits for now.

"Although a surviving artist's opinion is an important element in judging the authenticity of his or her work, the result of a test by civilian experts and researchers of the National Forensic Service is equally important," the police said in a statement.

The probe began last year when police were tipped off from the art circle that counterfeits of Lee's signature paintings such as "From Point" and "From Line" worth billions of won or millions of US dollars had been circulated in galleries in Seoul's Insa-dong neighborhood.

Police has since arrested owners of the galleries suspected of circulating alleged counterfeits and commissioned the National Forensic Service and civilian experts to analyze whether the 13 works they seized from the galleries are forgeries or not. Both sides then confirmed them as counterfeits after comparing them with Lee's six authentic works.

Lee has so far complained about being excluded from the ongoing probe into his works. He said he will hold a news conference Thursday to announce his official position.

sshim@yna.co.kr
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