Jury selection begins Wednesday in the strange case of a New Hampshire mother and son accused of selling forged art works to a prominent collector.
Lorettann Gascard and her son Nikolas are accused of selling two dozen forged works by the painter Leon Golub to Andrew Hall. Gascard is a former art history professor at Franklin Pierce University in Rindge. She claims she was a student of Golub in the 1960s.
[You can read NHPR’s previous coverage of this story here.]
Hall purchased 24 paintings from the Gascards, but claims he discovered they are forgeries while preparing to exhibit the works. He’s seeking more than $500,000 in damages.
The Gascards maintain that the works are authentic, though Nikolas admits that he made up names for some of the paintings.
The five-day jury trial will begin later this month in federal court in Concord.