Frida Kahlo 'fakes' investigated 艺术家Kahlo“假作品”事件展

A probe has been launched into claims that artworks featured in books about Mexican artist Frida Kahlo are fakes.

针对有关墨西哥艺术家Frida Kahlo作品中的插图是伪造的说法的一项调查已经展开。

Frida Kahlo, who died at the age of 47, was known for her bold style

Mexican prosecutors¹ are responding to a complaint by the artist's trust that 1,000 items in two books are forgeries（伪造，伪造物）.

But the publishers of Finding Frida Kahlo have rejected calls for the book to be withdrawn², saying it states that some items are not 100% authenticated³（证明为真）.

Kahlo, who died in 1954, was known for her stark⁴（变硬了的，完全的） self portraits and was played by Salma Hayek in a 2002 biopic（传记片）.

The Frida Kahlo Trust and a number of art historians said at a press conference in Mexico City that it would be damaging for the books to remain on sale.

"We must stop the commercialisation of false works," said Frida Kahlo Museum director Hilda Trujillo.

The second book in question is called The Labyrinth⁵ of Frida Kahlo: Death, Pain and Ambivalence（正反感情并存，矛盾心态）.

"This will infect all the studies of Frida Kahlo with a virus and bad, inaccurate⁶ information," said US art expert Professor James Oles.

He added that the art featured in the books are of poor quality, while other items including handwritten notes contain spelling mistakes.

Professor Oles said the owners of the items claim they came from five boxes given by Kahlo to a carpenter（木匠）.

Kahlo was given special status in Mexico in 1984, affording protection to her works of art under the country's law.