[Anchor]

An exhibition featuring works by world-renowned masters, including Pablo Picasso, has been held in Daegu. The exhibition organizer promoted it extensively as a rare opportunity to see such works in the region, but an investigation revealed that most of the items on display are replicas. The organizer, which had insisted they were authentic, changed its stance once the investigation began.

TBC reporter Nam Hyo-ju reports.

[Reporter]

An exhibition has been running in Daegu since last March.

It is an exhibition claiming to unveil rare works and personal belongings of Picasso.

With posters plastered all over Daegu, the event was heavily promoted. We decided to visit the exhibition ourselves to see what it was really about.

The exhibition, titled "Picasso in Daegu," is currently underway at a gallery in Daegu.

The highlights of this exhibition are the rare works, including sketches and oil paintings by the 20th-century Cubist master Pablo Picasso.

Small notebooks that Picasso allegedly used himself are also on display.

The exhibition organizer insists that all the works are authentic and presents certificates of appraisal.

[Exhibition Official: People talk about appraisal certificates. We have placed these certificates here for everyone to see. Some say they are all fake. So, we intentionally displayed the certificates that match the original works.]

They explain that the notebook, which they claim is the only one of its kind in the world, was brought directly by David Picasso, the son of one of Picasso's students.

[Exhibition Official: This is a sketch notebook that Picasso used. It is a notebook he used for about 30 years. These are photos of Picasso's family that have never been seen before.]

To verify their authenticity, our team contacted the Picasso Administration in Paris, France.

The Picasso Administration responded, "This exhibition has not received any copyright authorization, and there are concerns that the works on display are forgeries."

The professor listed on the appraisal certificate also told our team, "I have never appraised any of Picasso's works, and the testing methods and job titles listed are all incorrect."

Galleries that were supposedly the sources of the oil paintings by Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet also stated, "We have never sent or loaned any artwork, nor have we authorized any such exhibition."

Once the TBC investigation began, the exhibition organizer admitted, "There are no authentic oil paintings by Picasso, Van Gogh, or Monet; they are all indeed replicas."

[Exhibition Official: We are currently displaying replicas of the paintings here. They are all replicas.]

In response, the Korea Art Copyright Association stated that it plans to demand corrective measures from the exhibition organizer.

With the exhibition having charged admission fees of around 20,000 won for over three months, urgent measures are needed to prevent further damage now that most of the main exhibits have been revealed as replicas.

(Video by Park Jong-young, TBC | Graphics by Kim Se-yoon, TBC)

Reported by Nam Hyo-ju, TBC