Ernest Durig (1894–1962)[1] was a sculptor and art forger, known for his faking of drawings by Auguste Rodin.[2]
Ernest Durig
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Ruth Bryan Owen poses for Durig, 1920
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| Born | 1894 |
| Died | 1962 (aged 67–68) |
| Occupation | Sculptor |
| Known for | Art forgery |
Durig claimed to have been a pupil of Rodin, but the only documentation of their having ever met is a single photograph.[2]
As a sculptor, Durig, no doubt helped by his claimed link to Rodin, modelled busts for a number of notables in the United States establishment.[2] His sitters included Mussolini,[3] US President Harry S. Truman, and the actor Will Rogers.[4] He sculpted a peace memorial for Greenwood, Wisconsin,[5][6] from an artificial stone made using concrete and fine white sand.[7] Unveiled in 1937, it was restored in 1982.[7]
In July 2016 BBC Television screened an episode of Fake or Fortune?, in which a privately held watercolour of a Cambodian dancer, supposedly by Rodin, was exposed as a Durig fake.[2]
The New York Museum of Modern Art holds a collection of his drawings.[2] Others, previously thought to be by Rodin, are in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.[2] Durig's extensive career of forgery was first exposed in the 4 June 1965 issue of LIFE.[3]
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