All language subtitles for Art.and.Craft.2014.720p.WEB-DL.DD5.1.H.264-alfaHD.EN 23.976

Nothing's original
under the sun, you know?

Everything
goes back to something.

Yes, my name's Mark Lanois.

My recently deceased sister left your
archives a page from the book of hours...

that they purchased
from Christie's back in 1982.

I wanted to know if I could, uh, uh,
bring it by to you this afternoon.

Okay. It depicts the crucifixion.
It's circa 1540,

and I'd like to tell you a little
bit about Emily and her husband.

And, uh, you know, they worked for
World Bank in Europe and everything.

Well, good. Then we'll look
forward to seeing you, uh...

When? When might you
like to come by?

Uh, I th... Uh, let me see.

I-I-I guess we could
probably get there a little...

Probably-Probably early
this afternoon.

I think I have everything.

I'll only...

I'll only hit the stuff
just before I face...

whatever it is
at the place, okay?

Not when I'm driving.

Connecting to OnStar.

Your approximate travel time
is two hours, seven minutes.

Start out going south...

Oh, yeah, here...

Lester Sullivan.

Uh... Yes, sir.

I'm Lester Sullivan.
This is Irwin Lakov.

How you doing?

All right. Look, I'm writing...

Excuse me.
A little biography of...

Oh, thank you. Of Mother.

Excuse me.
I mean, of my sister.

Oh, this was your sister? Yes.

Oh, my. Well.

Oh, and now look. I'm going to bring
the, uh... the catalog to you.

That's the auction and
everything, all right?

Oh, isn't that nice?

I-I believe it'll-it'll-it'll
look well and...

Oh, you know it.
Is that a form...

an early form of color printing
of some sort?

Well, it's all hand done
and colored.

No. It's hand done, but it's not
as good as the earlier ones.

It's still insured
with Huntington Block.

Now I'm writing
a little biography of Emily.

Of the lady
who left this to us?

Yes. My sister, Emily.

That would be the sister.
I made her up.

But I-I said
that was my sister.

And I actually did that.

And why'd you make her up?

Oh, well, I was in the habit
of... of saying I had a sister...

so that I could...

throw awkward questions
and problems in their lap.

You've got my phone number
and everything.

No, sir. You gave me no data.

Oh. I thought
it might have shown up.

Oh, well.
Do you have a card or...

Uh, I'm pretty much
out of them.

And I'd like you to show me
about where would it be...

where you would think
of putting it.

Well, there would not be a permanent display.
I've got others.

No, not permanent,
but whenever you...

You see these cases
we've just vacated here?

We have an exhibit very much relating
to our religious history here.

She certainly knew what
she was doing. Hmm.

Well, I'm glad you're helping
to realize her wish.

I've been following Landis
for going on four years now.

I've got old... older copies
of my dossier in here.

What's so strange about Landis is
that he's not in it for the money.

He likes to dupe
museum professionals.

He likes to see the stuff
on display.

I met him in 2008.

I was registrar at the
Oklahoma City Museum of Art.

He showed up as Mark Landis,

and he started pulling
all these works out.

This was the first piece
that I looked up online...

'cause we were getting ready to
take this watercolor by Signac...

and make it part
of the collection.

Well, as anybody should,
I did my due diligence,

looked this up online, and it
showed up in a press release...

at the Savannah College
of Art and Design.

Artists, they'll do the same subject
matter over and over again, like Monet.

Or he'll do... You know, he
would do these buildings,

but he'd do it at different times of day
so you'd see the subtle differences.

But it wasn't until that I went on to
this oil-on-panel by Stanislas Lépine...

I looked this one up, and it
showed up in a press release...

at the St. Louis University
Museum of Art.

And then I found the same one
at three more museums.

I mean, these are
no small potatoes.

This Alfred Jacob Miller piece...
this is in six or seven museums.

But they look... They just
look so good and so real.

You know, the guy is
a skilled artist.

I just became obsessed with it, just like
he is obsessed with making these paintings.

And, um, I was just out to...

He messed with the wrong
registrar is what he did.

Hi, Mr. Mark. Hi, hi.

How are you doing? You'll sign here for me?
Yes, yes, yes.

Mark?

Hi. Nice to see you again.
Nice to see you too.

Tell me about your mood?
What's it like?

Been all right.

- Any suicidal thoughts?
- No.

What about wanting to
hurt anyone else? No.

Okay. Are you hearing any
voices or seeing things?

No. Okay.

What do you do
for fun every day?

Well, I've done an awful lot
of three girls having a...

Three... Of the three girls...

sitting on the grass reading.

I've done a lot of those.

This one's really tedious.

You get better with practice.

But that's how the... The back's
easy if you just pour coffee on it.

Oh.

Here's another one.

Put it in one of those Walmart
frames, looks like a million doll...

It does look like
a million dollars,

'cause actually
that's worth about a million...

Well, maybe not quite that much,
but close.

And these frames are so cheap,
and all you have to do...

is just go over 'em some with arts and
crafts stuff and they look really good.

Don't you think that looks good?

The Sotheby's label would have
said "Black chalk, brown"...

You know how those thing... "Black
chalk, brown wash, red chalk."

I just use color pencils, you
know, 'cause they can't tell.

I just like to copy things
'cause it's what's...

It's reassuring, and I remember
it from when I was growing up.

You know, I would do it at night
to occupy myself.

You can see the veins
under the skin.

That's so beautiful.

I have this sort of gimmick for
being able to remember something...

just long enough
to get it onto paper.

It's something they were very interested
in at the Menninger Foundation.

I was there for more than
a year when I was 18.

I insisted on leaving.

See, people that follow
the advice of those places,

they're mental patients
all their lives.

You know, they'll be old
someday, and what can they say?

I've been through a lot lately.
I have these bad dreams.

It's like Mother's there.

And then I wake up
and I realize she's not,

and my heart's banging real bad.

See, this grass and stuff
is-is nothing.

See, it's practically done
just like...

Well, you know, they told Mother
at the Menninger Foundation,

they said I was
a bright little boy.

They said,
"He's a bright little boy."

They said that to Mother.

But they said I was inclined
to be mischievous...

from time to time.

Museums...
they don't like to be duped.

They don't like to get forgeries
or fakes into their collections.

Oklahoma City actually put one of 'em on
display because we thought that it was real.

We had received a watercolor
by Louis Valtat.

Yeah, I mean,
when we found out...

that we had had this thing
on display for five months,

we immediately went into the
gallery and took it off the wall.

And then that's when
I started letting people know.

Sent a message out
to the Registrars listserv,

and within the first hour, my
phone was ringing off the hook,

and my e-mail box
was getting full.

And I think within the first hour, I
had talked to, like, 20 institutions.

'Cause I'd say to 'em, I'd say, "Well,
what do you have?" and they would tell me.

I said, "Well, this museum has
that, and this museum has that,"

and they didn't believe me.

It took me three times
talking with the director...

at the University of Kentucky Museum
of Art before I could convince her...

that the pieces that they had
received were forgeries.

He's been doing it
over 30 years,

and I've found 46 museums
in 20 states...

with more than a hundred pieces that
he's offered up to these institutions.

Well, I just remember the time that
I spent with Landis personally.

Here's this great collector
that has a lot of money,

and, you know, the director wanted
me to take him into storage,

wanted me to take him
through the museum.

Um, so he per...
He wasted a lot of my time.

But I just keep building
my case...

because I don't think
that he's gonna stop.

He brought with him two
briefcases... satchels, really.

In one of the satchels,
he had the small Koran...

that he had sent us an image of
and the auction record.

Uh, the hammer price was somewhere
close to a hundred thousand dollars,

sold anonymously, and he represented that
that's what his mother had purchased.

There was some
generational welfare.

I don't think he used that term,
but he certainly implied...

that there was a great deal of
money... and old money... there.

His mother had a home in Paris.

And I think... believe his
sister... Emily was her name...

was in Paris at that moment, uh,
settling her estate.

One of the things that he
brought up very quickly...

was that there were
more paintings...

and possible endowments
from the family's estate.

He knew right where to hit us.

Our soft spot... art and money.

He was very interested
in the museum.

He was knowledgeable
about the museum.

He was, um, you know,
friendly, if a little...

a little odd, but we...

You know, we're southern.
We're used to eccentrics.

This is the piece.
It's a nice pastel.

I should've looked at it
more closely,

but I'm not the only curator
he duped.

I have felt totally embarrassed.

We can't show that
as an authentic Charles Schulz.

It-It makes us, uh, fake.

Well, I actually found out
about Mark Landis, uh,

a little over a year ago.

It was rather intriguing.

There's kind of a performance
art quality to the act.

It made me very curious to understand
more what his motivation is.

Or, uh... or how... how well he
understands what the implications are.

Hello?

Hi. Good day, Mr. Landis.
How are you?

- Pretty good.
- I certainly appreciate you taking my call.

Anyway, I got your e-mail.

As you might imagine, I have a number
of questions that I'd like to ask you.

Oh, sure, sure.

Well, I'd like to ask you
some questions about, uh...

about what makes you, uh,
compelled to do this.

It's-It's a long story.
It's hard to, you know...

And I know, you know...
I know we both...

I mean, well... You know.

It's a long story.

This is... This is Mother's...
Mother and Dad's wedding album.

Okay. That's Mother. That's
the table that's there.

There's Mother and Dad.

There's Mother and Dad again.

See, they're cutting the cake with-with
Dad's sword, which is there.

See? Isn't Mother beautiful?

And they had
a cocker spaniel too.

Just like in Lady and the Tramp.

And then they had me
'cause Buster died.

Dad was a naval officer.
We traveled all the time.

And Mother and Dad
of course were young,

and they liked to travel
around Europe and see things...

even when it wasn't on business.

And of course they took me
with them, you know.

Dad would take me around
to the museums.

We'd come back with catalogs,

and Mother and Dad
would go out at night, you know.

They were young,
and I would be in the hotel.

There wasn't a TV.
I would copy pictures.

Occasionally, there was a babysitter,
but they aren't that easy.

But, you know, the hotel would periodically
send someone up to look in on me.

You know. I-I think.

What do you call it?

Uh, I-I couldn't think
of anything else,

so-so I just called it
a memory trick.

The earliest I remember
doing anything like it...

would have been when I was
about eight or something...

in a hotel room copying pictures
out of catalogs.

And you would put the piece of paper up
close to the picture you were copying,

and then the closer I got,

I guess somehow I just ended up
putting the piece of paper over the...

And even though I couldn't see
through the piece of paper,

I could flip it back and forth
enough to get a likeness.

The memory trick's sort of like
a magic trick...

or an illusion trick, or whatever
you have... a conjurer's trick.

You know?
It's the same kind of thing.

And so you enjoy... You get...

You get a little bit...
a little boost, you know.

And did you want to be
an artist?

You know how it is
when you're that age.

You see something on TV, you wanna
be this, and then you wanna be that.

I saw A Dog of Flanders.

I'll take this one.

Mother and Dad bought me a TV
for my birthday in '69.

When I was young,
I thought I'd won the lottery...

if I could just get
decent TV reception.

But you use
your imagination, you know?

'Cause lots of times the reception
was so bad I just had to guess.

There is nothing wrong
with your television set.

We are controlling transmission.

Those who have nothing to hide
have nothing to fear...

from ze Gestapo.

And stuff like that.
You know what I mean.

Get a little...
a little clouds here.

Some happy little clouds.

Your majesty, may I present
the infamous Simon Templar?

I live by the code of The Saint.

Dad and I both lived by it.
You don't remember The Saint?

Oh, it was a great show.

The Saint was such a hero.

No matter how bad a girl was,
he'd always let her get away.

He never shot a girl.

My favorite musical is How to Succeed
in Business Without Really Trying.

Remember when Vince said, "By George,
ethical behavior always pays off"?

But he was just making a joke because
ethical behavior doesn't pay off.

That's why Dad never got on...

'cause he was
too much of a gentleman.

He was nothing like me.

I would have been an immense
disappointment to him.

Speaking of your father, uh,

your father was an officer
and a gentleman,

That's true. and he knew
nothing of intrigue or deceit.

And that's why people like Dad
couldn't be a businessman.

After all, you know,
Saint Peter lied, you know?

Where would the church be
if Saint Peter didn't lie?

You have to let your conscience
be your guide.

If something seems...
really bad,

or something... if something
seems wrong, you know...

Do you have any idea why at this
point you haven't been prosecuted?

'Cause I-I didn't do
anything wrong or illegal.

He's uncovered an international
case of deception...

that has ended with dozens of museums
saddled with bogus works of art.

What I did was looked up
this piece online.

I found the same one at the
Savannah College of Art and Design.

The piece was one of five donated
to the Oklahoma City museum...

where Matt Leininger worked
in 2008, donated by this man,

Mark Landis,
in memory of his mother.

He also found the aliases...
Stephen Gardner and Father Scott.

Landis likely knows by now...

Cincinnati's Director of Museum
Services has his number.

Good stuff.

Come here, bub.

Who's that guy? Mark Landis?

Who? Mark Landis.

Yeah, that's Mark Landis.

Hi. It's nice to see you again.

How are you doing?

All right. Thanks.

Your medication...
you're on Geodon.

You've been taking that? I have.
Got a few left.

Got a few left. You keep taking it
just like you're supposed to, okay?

Any depressive symptoms? Have you been upset more...
lately about anything?

Anything on your mind?

Well, I'm getting...
I'm getting, you know.

I guess as time goes by, I'll get
over what happened to Mother.

Okay. Yeah.

Yeah, I know for a lot of years, you
were taking care of her, right?

I moved in with her
after the hurricane.

And see,
since Mother's been gone,

it would be... two years?

Took me a long time
to get over it.

But I had to answer,
'cause they kept banging...

Everybody kept banging
on the door, you know.

And I was too upset still to type an
obituary and stuff like that, you know.

Had to pull myself together
for her funeral.

In Sunday school
they always tell everybody...

to make use of your gifts,
you know?

And copying pictures is my gift.

I decided to be
a philanthropist.

It happened as an impulse
back in '85, I think.

I wanted to impress Mother that I'd
done something for Father's memory.

I-I thought
it would please Mother.

Do you think she had any
suspicions of what you were doing?

Oh, yeah. The mother always
knew when I was up to mischief.

You know how mothers are.

So she knew
why you were traveling?

She'd have known.

Huh.

But she was proud of me.
And then later on...

I could tell
she was sort of proud, but...

Well, but that's...
Let's not say that.

I mean, she didn't mind.
Let's put it like that.

Uh, I had the inspiration
to be a priest about a year ago.

Seems longer,
so much has happened.

I went on
philanthropic binges...

in Mother's car...

in states...
the southern states...

and Florida,
and a bit in Texas.

And I took some bus trips.

That's the joke that they have in
aristocratic families from England.

They always say
oldest son goes to the navy,

next one goes to the army,
next one for a profession,

and we always give the fool
to the church.

See, the church could use
some talent.

They could use
a guy like me, you know?

I'd be a good priest.

Gee, I can't go to one of
those places for six years.

And they're hard too, you know?
They're crazy.

You can learn everything you need
to know to be a good priest...

from the Father Brown DVD series
with Kenneth More just like that.

See, over time... that's exactly
their thinking, you know?

2601 Gentilly Boulevard...

is three-quarters
of a mile away.

Well, I've heard
that some museums are...

quite distressed
and maybe upset...

that he has donated paintings...

and they were not
original works.

I don't have evidence.
I've just heard.

I occasionally have empathy.
Um...

I used to have empathy.
I don't anymore.

I do believe he knows
what he was doing was wrong.

I'm not a person
who wants vengeance.

I just want him to stop.

The schematics...

It is a serious crime,
and we can't tolerate that.

No matter what issues or challenges
you may have, that's still no excuse.

And, um, you either need to be
hospitalized or you need to be in jail.

Thanks, Father. Bless you.

Yeah, I first heard
about Mark Landis...

back around 2005 or 2006
when I had gotten a call...

I was still working at the F.B.I.
I was still an agent.

I got a call
from Matt Leininger.

And he was the one who told me about
this situation with this individual...

who was doing, uh, forgeries,
fake pieces of art,

and giving them to museums
around the country.

The art world's
a very strange place, you know?

A lot of things happen
in the art world.

In this particular case,
I think that the forgeries,

the-the gifts
of the forgeries...

were basically
an ego satisfaction...

for the painter, Mr. Landis.

Matt Leininger has been the only person
that has pursued this from the beginning.

Uh, he's stayed on top of it.
He's done a great job of-of...

of, uh, pursuing it almost
to the point of obsession.

There we go.

Hey, Jonah. It's Matt
Leininger in Cincinnati.

I wanted to talk to you and give
you an update on, um, Landis...

and bring you up to speed just because I
know you would have an interest, and, uh,

maybe there's be something that you could,
uh, write at your new position, um,

for a local publication so we can just
keep spreading the word about Landis.

Why don't you go upstairs?

Hello?

Hey, Matt, it's Jonah.

Hey, Jonah.
How are you doing, man?

Good, good.

Oh, not a problem.

Well, do you know
of his third and fourth aliases?

Okay.

Well, and it's the biggest screwball
story I've ever heard about in my life.

And I ask the good Lord every day.
It's, like, "Why am I the one?"

You know? Why am I the
one that found this guy?

Well, so what do you know
of Matthew Leininger then?

Did you find out about him through
being contacted from one...

I couldn't have spent
much time with him 'cause...

And the only time I can think of would have
been when I was in the basement down there.

Um, that's... I-I-I-I don't
even know what he looks like.

- But you realize he's been keeping tabs on you?
- Oh, yeah, I know all that.

I found his fourth alias.

He hit Loyola University in
New Orleans as Mark Lanois.

Well, I'm still looking
for full-time work,

but I got
a part-time gig going on.

And that's what I've been doing.
Maybe that's my gig right now.

I am to be a stay-at-home dad,
and, uh...

It's just weird being a...
you know.

It's just weird being the man
of the house and being at home.

So do you want a taco? Yep.

Okay.

Tacos with soap.

No, no, no, no.
Don't put soap in it.

Then your juice will
taste like soap. Yuck!

Hey, I know you're excited
about school.

Just... No, I'm not.

Can you calm down a little bit?
I'm not.

We got to go.

I thought they said it was gonna
warm up a little bit today.

Hey, girl.

Yeah, we go through hiccups
in life.

It's been 15 months since
the first time ever...

that I was ever let go
from, um, a position.

Do I think that, um,
the Cincinnati Art Museum, um,

had something against me or were
scared because I was onto Landis?

Um...

They told me that while I am
working for the art museum,

I am not to accept phone calls,
send or receive e-mails,

uh, regarding Landis.

Period. You do it on your own.

And soon after that, they let me
know I didn't have a job anymore.

But you can see every state...
California, Arizona, New Mexico,

Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri,
Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee...

When Matt contacted me,
he gave me a list...

of the many museums
that he had been following.

The idea that the museums may have thought
that the paintings were real or not real,

that's all dependent upon the specific
museum, which one you speak to.

If they thought it was real,
it's still...

They didn't spend
any money for it.

And it wasn't like Landis
went in and said,

"Here, I'm gonna give you this
fabulous painting by Picasso,

and you need to pay me a hundred
thousand dollars for the painting,"

and then received the money,
which would...

That would be a crime, okay?
That's a fraud.

But the fact is he gave it
to the museum for free.

It's up to the museum to determine
what they wanna think of it.

I don't know if Landis has
become a-a-a obsession for, um,

the general public
or the ones at museums.

Uh, I believe that, um...

I mean, I... I am, you know,
anal retentive.

I have been diagnosed with, like,
a... What do they call it now?

O.C.D. or A.D.H.D. or whatever.

Um, but when I get focused
on something,

I mean, I stick to it
and I stay on it...

until I get
to the end of it, you know?

I had a nervous breakdown
when I was 17...

'cause I was upset
about Dad passing.

I went into one hospital that...
for...

'Cause to just see
if it was a physical...

And of course we know
whenever they can...

And so they... Then there was, you
know, the psychiatric part of the...

Yeah, see, this stuff
all goes back to '72.

"Schizophrenic paranoid
and psychotic disorders."

I got that.

"Personality disorders."
I got that.

"Catatonic or other
grossly disorganized behavior."

I guess I've got that too.

Well, it says I've got it, so...

"Incoherence"... Well, wait a minute.
I didn't mean to laugh.

Gee, that's awful.

"Oddities of thought, perception,
speech and behavior."

Oh, no. I don't have that.

Yeah, okay.
I'm okay on that one.

I've just got the pathologically
inappropriate suspiciousness...

and impulsive
and damaging behavior.

That I've got.

Oh, that's bad enough.

Okay.

And you went into the clinic
at that point?

Mother's friend suggested the Menninger
Founda... which is a fine place.

Were you happy there? Oh, yeah.

And you were there for about two
years, I guess? Well, you know.

- I mean, happy enough.
- Yeah.

So, um, when you were in Chicago,
you studied photography.

When you went to San Francisco,
did you?

Um, I took photography.
I should...

Do you have any of the
photographs that-that, uh,

that you took? No.

No? You know, that's the thing.
I learned all the processes...

'cause I thought if I was going to
school at the government's expense,

I should learn
how to do something.

But after I learned
the processes,

I couldn't think of a thing
I wanted to take a picture of.

The first picture
I remember giving away...

was a Maynard Dixon drawing
of an Indian.

And did you do it?

And I actually did it.
Yeah, I drew it.

And not only
did I actually draw it,

it was my own Indian because... 'cause I checked
out a book on Indians from the library...

and then I drew a picture
of an Indian.

I used to actually do things...

before I found out what all
you could do with the machines.

Let's do this...
No, let's not do that one.

Ah! We can do the little
boy on the beach.

We can do Picasso's...

really unattractive sister
with a mustache.

Oh, it says "originals."
That's just for me.

You know, like,
so I'd be able to know...

what was the original one
from the one I ran off.

That's why I put a little "O" on
the back... "O" for "original."

I would use this
to blow it up 154 times...

so that I could paste it
onto a piece of wood...

that I got them to cut for me
at Lowe's...

'cause they don't have
a Home Depot in Laurel.

And...
But Lowe's is just as good.

You know, maybe bang up
the edges a little,

and then you're in business.

I already stained it
with instant coffee.

Now I make it look
like thick paint,

then simulate paint strokes
with that stuff I got.

It's difficult,
'cause I-I-I don't know...

whether he used a knife
and scraped around her...

or anything.

It's the parts where it's real
dark... and the eye will be deceived.

You know, heaven only knows
how he painted it.

They're not gonna know either,
so...

I chose this room
for my paintings.

You will find a somewhat, um,
varied selection...

from the chiaroscuro
of the Dutch masters...

to the symbolic fantasies...

The only reason
I would've known...

about Picasso
and his Blue Period...

would've been
because I saw Gambit.

She was just showing off
her knowledge.

Picasso, and one of his
best, I always think.

Oh, the Blue Period.

The kids that I'd have been
in class with,

when they daydreamed,
they'd think,

"Gee, wouldn't it be cool to be
like those artists in movies?"

But I always liked
the stuffy, rich art collectors.

They must be worth thousands.

Hundreds of thousands. Yes.

The patrons.

Those are the people
I used to daydream about.

So how long
have you lived here now, Mark?

Since the hurricane.
Since the hurricane.

Donna was the first caseworker
that I had.

My first one and a good one back
when I got out of the group home.

What is this sword?

That's Grandfather's sword.

And Dad's sword too.

See the "A.L."? Mm-hmm.

See? "A.L."

And so how are your two boys
getting along?

They're good. Growing up.

Do you remember
when I showed you...

the romance of the paper clips?

Yes.

It inspired you.
It inspired me.

So how have you been feeling?

Pretty good. Pretty good.

Taking care of yourself? Yeah.

As you can see. Yes.

How are you doing on your medicine?
Are you taking it?

Oh, yeah. Definitely,
definitely.

So do you get out much?
And of course...

Do you go out to eat
or do much in the community?

Mmm.
Or do you mainly stay at home?

Uh.

In the Metropolitan.
In Atlanta?

Yeah.

Oh, I changed
my name, you know.

So you gave them an icon?

Yeah.

You told them
that you lost your sister?

Yeah. I think it
might be better...

not to mention
my mother anymore.

For a while.

Okay. Oh, I'll show
you Mother's picture.

That's Mother when she was 17.

Mm-hmm.
I did that in high school.

Did she pose for you,
or did you just do it?

- No. I did it from that photograph.
- Okay.

Mark is one of those people who,

you know, I think of often...

and worry that he's doing okay.

I'm really not sure
how I feel...

about the escapades
that he goes on.

But we want to protect
our clients' rights...

to live a productive life.

Unless he was a danger
to someone else or himself,

Mark is in fact
in charge of himself.

I was called by an editor
one day from London,

and she'd heard about Mark
and she said,

"Would you be at all interested
in looking into it...

'cause it sounds crazy
and interesting and strange."

And I got some public records...

of various numbers
of places he'd lived.

He'd lived in a lot
of different places,

and there were lots
of phone numbers listed.

And I tried ringing a few of
them, but I never got anywhere.

And so I thought, well, the
only way to do this is to go.

To go to Laurel.

And I thought, well, when I'm down
there, I'll sort of poke around...

and see if I can find his trail.

I went to see the curator
of the local museum in Laurel.

They mentioned that they
sometimes saw him around town,

and I had an address for his mother's
apartment from the public records,

and so I literally
just drove around there.

It was a very strange place
for me.

I'd never really been to a small
town in Mississippi before.

I had been told
that he was schizophrenic.

Uh, certainly the way
that people talked about Mark,

they talked about him as if
he was somebody quite strange,

and I was a little bit nervous
about being there by myself.

But I rang on the doorbell.

There was a light on inside, and I could
hear this classical music playing.

But there was no reply.
Nothing.

By that time, I was really
getting quite obsessed by it,

and I'd spoken
to a couple of the neighbors,

and they'd talked about Mark
a little bit.

And so I really, really wanted
to meet him.

All afternoon, nothing.

I saw the light go on,
the light go off,

but it was just like he was so
obstinate, he was not gonna come out.

At dusk I drove away,
and I was really regretful.

I thought, "I'm never gonna
actually see him."

Literally the next week, I was walking
along the street and my mobile phone rang.

And I just...
I realized it was Landis.

And I thought, "Oh, my God.
He's calling me."

The point at which you realized
that you had been discovered,

when did that happen?

See, it's the Financial...

I remember John was calling
all the time...

but I thought it was
something to do with...

wanting me to subscribe
or something.

I don't know.
He's such a gentleman.

Fair play and a straight bat.

They don't really think
about it much, you know?

'Cause I always knew
they'd find out sooner or later.

I mean,
they're always going to.

You know, it's either today
or might be 10 years...

or maybe 20 years or 30 years.

Sometimes I used to think... Until a
couple years ago, I used to think,

"Why not just spend the rest
of my life doing this?"

It's clearly my... my,
uh... my calling.

That was my idea
to put the raincoat on.

Like on all those movies where some
shifty-looking guy comes up on the street.

"Moi, Mark Landis, peintre,
et philanthrope."

I like that.

Actually, I didn't read it
that closely.

In some ways, Mark was unlucky
that he provoked Matt Leininger...

because he has been doing this
for decades...

without anybody
really getting on his trail.

And it was Matt that really took
offense at what he'd done...

and decided
that he would get him.

Hey, Katie. What?

Look at this.

Who's that?

- That's Mark Landis.
- Yeah, Mark Landis. That's right.

Are you crazy?

Am I crazy? Mm-hmm.

Um, no.

Look at this.

Mark Landis. And who's that?

Mark Landis.

You don't like
Mark Landis anymore?

Well, I was frustrated
with Landis...

and angry with him when I
first found out about him,

but I'm not mad
at Landis anymore, no.

But are you mad at girls
and the boys at your old job?

Am I mad at the guys
and girls at my old job?

Mm-hmm. No.

That's in my past, Katie. I'm not
gonna let anything like that...

Can you put that back in there
for Dad if I hold this up?

Here, slide it in real easy.

One of the first things
Mark said to me...

when he'd admitted
what he'd been doing...

was that he was worried that he will
simply become too well known...

that nobody will let him
in a museum ever again.

I remember
I was trying to think...

of things
that might calm me down.

I went to the emergency room,
and I got whatever that is.

Made me throw up.

"Lorzapam." Yep. "Lorazepam."

Yeah, and then I thought...
I noticed on TCN,

they were always having
cigarettes to calm down.

And I was sort of desperate, and I
thought I would try a cigarette.

But of course I wasn't
doing it for...

You know, all these influences
kind of get to you, you know?

And they always recommend
"Have a cigarette." You know?

And I thought maybe it will
help to calm me down...

so I don't keep pacing
up and down.

I'm guarded about anything...

that casts aspersions on...

your integrity.

And, uh...

And that's dishonorable
and unethical.

Didn't have much
of a reputation, but...

Well, you know it...
really got ruined,

uh, uh, more so
than they thought even.

I worry that it's...
I'm going to be...

I'm going to be like Dad...

as a crook and a drinker
and a smoker, you know.

Which is all pretty bad.

It's pretty negative, you know?

That, uh...

Necessity is
the mother of invention...

sometimes the stepmother
of deception.

That pretty much
takes care of things.

Lights! Turn on the lights!

I can't believe that Professor Bowen and
Carlotta would purposely deceive us.

Necessity, mother of invention,

but sometimes
stepmother of deception.

Mark?

Hey. Hi.

Okay. 122.

How's your appetite?

Pretty good.

Any suicidal thoughts? No.

Wanting to hurt anyone else? No.

Are you hearing voices
or seeing... No.

How's your mother?
She still with you?

No. No?

Um, she passed away. Oh, I'm sorry.
I didn't know that.

When did she pass away?

Two years ago. Two years ago?

I didn't realize that.
I'm so sorry.

I think I met her back
when Katrina came through.

I thought I told you. The what?

I thought I told you.
Well, that's all right.

I'm sorry.
Don't worry about it.

How are you doing since she's gone?
Oh, okay.

I got addicted
to being a philanthropist.

When you're doing it
or something,

uh, you kind of believe it...

while you're giving things away.

You believe it
while it's going on, you know.

Like a part. Like those guys
on... that are really good at it.

You know, good actors,
you know, those ones.

Not that I think of it as act...
being an actor,

but in any event,

I just wasn't really used to
having anybody treat me like that.

Actually,
I wasn't used to it all...

Used to.
I mean, it seldom happened.

Let's put it like th...
Let's put it like that.

Seldom happened
that people were nice to me.

¶¶

I kind of have a feel for the
way that things should flow.

Okay. Possibly this
wall and this wall...

will be little snapshots
of notable figures...

that demonstrate what is different
about his particular case...

Okay. Versus other forgers
of the past really.

Aaron Cowan and I
used to be coworkers...

at Cincinnati Art Museum.

And he read the story
in the New York Times.

And he says, "Have you thought
about doing an exhibition?"

I said, "Absolutely, and I believe that
I could get the lenders for the show,

but I don't have a venue."

Up on the east coast,
he went further north.

He skipped Texas.

Yeah. That's interesting.

That is interesting, isn't it?

The show focuses on...

using a predecessor's work
as inspiration...

versus simply plagiarizing
the work.

Throughout here, we'll be
showing the different...

gifts that he made
in the different locations.

So it is literally a timeline.
Potentially, yes.

Wouldn't it be great to get these
forgeries together in one place...

and then invite Landis
as guest of honor?

At that point, it sort of brings
us up to the point at which Matt,

uh, discovered the forgeries
that they had. Okay.

It's not going
to glamorize Landis.

It's going to be about educating and telling
people don't take things at face value.

Do your due diligence,
and here are examples...

of some of these institutions
that, um... that were duped.

So how do you feel about, uh,
there being an exhibition?

Uh, well, I-I...

I think that's pretty nice
of you.

It's, uh, uh...

I'll send you
some good things...

'cause you can't have
all that much space.

So you wouldn't need that many.

Oh, we've got a pretty good...
good-sized gallery here.

- Oh. Well, all right.
- You might be surprised.

'Cause I can send you
some good things I did.

I did things that were
pretty bad, but I was...

I mean...
I mean the pictures, you know.

You know what I mean.

Okay, I'm gonna write down
this FedEx number.

¶¶

Hi, Matt. How's it going?

Good. How are you?

I cannot believe this.

There's
the Alfred Jacob Millers.

I didn't think
they were so small.

Geez. He just went all out.

See, this is an older paper. I
mean, you can't distress foxing.

You know, you can't make paper,
you know...

That's what that is.
That's foxing in the paper.

Where he got it, I don't know.
All I can say is what I know.

What is this?

Oh, Landis. Landis.

It'd be really interesting to peel this
back and see if it smells like coffee.

And Dr. Seuss.
My daughter would love this.

She loves Cat in the Hat.

Unbelievable.

A treaty warrant? Treasurer
of the Republic of Texas?

Mm-hmm. Are you serious?

This is a f... This is a
forged official document.

Oh, yeah.
I totally see the pixels.

And there's more coming?

That's my understanding.

How many do we have here?

Well, we're just
going through 'em now.

You gotta turn it. Oh, you turn it.
Okay.

All right.

Oh, yeah, look at that.

See, everywhere
where there's not paint,

that's the digital reproduction
underneath of it.

Have you looked at the Picasso
underneath the black light?

Nice.

There you go.

There it is there. Look at all
that throughout the face.

Yeah.

Now let's go down
to the signature.

It's not that fluorescent.

You know, when you're receiving
works like this,

you have got to scrutinize
the gifts.

I mean, you have to be careful. You
have to do your due diligence.

So it's a men's
38-regular jacket.

Well, it definitely shows his
size, and he is a little guy.

I think she's got a problem.

Ethel's got her hair all skinned
back like a wet Pekingese.

Well, now that you
have been discovered, um,

do you plan on continuing
to gift?

I-I kinda had... thought
I'd wanna think about it.

There just isn't anything
to do, you know?

You just sit and watch TV,
you know, and...

Uh...

Well, you've done it
pretty recently, haven't you?

Oh, yeah. I know, I know.

I know
what you're talking about.

Yeah, I went
to a bunch of places that day.

I should probably
be clear with you.

I personally do find
what you're doing to be wrong,

but I don't think that you're
doing it in a mean-spirited way.

But I certainly have to ask you
if you would consider to...

to stop doing what you're doing.

Where's the thing...
Where's the thing you put...

I went out and smoked anyway.

It's all this...
not-eat fasting, you know?

Wow, I gotta sit down.

This time what's wrong with me?

I don't see
why I am so keyed up now.

Still, what's wrong with me?

Like, you know, all those science
fiction shows, you know?

People would be better off if they
could be proper Vulcans, you know?

I mean, the real thing,
not like on that show.

You know, and not have emotions,
you know?

Then you wouldn't get
so upset by things.

But it'll probably be
a million years before...

human beings evolve
to that point.

That's not too bad.

Well, he didn't get
in trouble for it.

He's just kind of famous for it.

But you can see through...
But you can tell...

a lot of difference.

Wow, that's amazing.

...that his work
is just pretty stunning.

As a painter and a draftsman,
he's really quite talented.

I don't know what to expect,

and I don't know
what his expectation is.

When I see him,
I just don't know what to say.

'Cause I... I mean,
honestly, I-I-I...

I don't know if even... if I want
to say, "Good to see you again."

I think it's just gonna be,
"Hey, I'm Matt Leininger."

Oh, don't feel like
you even have to say anything.

I don't think, you know? It's,
uh, short and honest, I guess.

How are you?
Nice to see you again.

Nice to see you. Hi.

Nice to see you. Hi, Mr. Landis.
How are you?

Are you Aaron? Good, thanks.

You're-You're Aaron?
I'm-I'm the dean of C.C.M.

Uh, the conservatory of music.

Holy cow. He made it here.

You look like an artist,
all right.

Yeah. You sure do.

I know you were... You're-You're
an artist from central casting.

You know?

Well, you're quite
an artist yourself.

You look like a...
like-like a beatnik artist.

He'll be out there for two hours speaking
'cause nobody can get a word in edgewise.

I bet you designed it. She did.

I made it. I made it, and I made these.
That's really nice.

Oh, and you did the ear... You
mean, you actually made those?

Yes. By hand with a
coping saw, soldering.

Well, that's...
The stone I found on...

I'll tell you... I tell you, arts and
crafts is just the greatest thing.

And watch TV
when you do it too.

May I... say something to you?

Oh, yeah, sure.
I'm very straightforward,

and I'm not trying
to be offensive either.

No, she's never offensive.

But your work is so nice...
It's amazing.

Why don't you just do it yourself
and put your name on it...

Oh, yeah. Rather than
copying somebody else?

Well, I did The Young Virgin.

Oh, you did?

So you're gonna give me a tour?

Uh, cer... Certainly.
I can take you around.

I think that you
should probably...

Nobody ever looks like what
you think they'll look like.

Well, I had the good fortune of
seeing photographs of you beforehand.

Uh, uh, Mr. Landis, uh, you might be
interested to meet this gentleman.

This is, uh, Matthew Leininger.
Hi, I'm Matthew Leininger.

Oh, nice to see...
Nice to see you again.

Yeah, nice to see you too.
It's been about five years.

Did you have safe travels?

I'll tell... We... I couldn't have
talked to you for very long.

Couldn't have been
more than a few minutes.

Well, anyway, nice to see you again.
Nice to see you.

Nice to see you too. And, um...

Oh, we-we-well... You're gonna
give me a... give me a tour?

- You gonna come along?
- I would love to come along with you guys.

Oh, come along. Come along.

I'm terribly sorry if I...
But listen...

anything I can do for you, you
just let me know, you know?

You can stop.
Oh, yeah, definitely.

Hey, did I get
the colors right on that?

What-What are the real colors?

What... It'd be... On the Valtat?

It'd be kind of funny to know.

But I see that you used
the same colors...

that you did
in your Signac drawings.

Do you think that
reproductions in catalogs...

are true representations
of what the artist's intent?

Definitely not, because there's no
telling what the real colors are like.

Yeah. They always get it wrong.

Well, you know,
sometimes, you know,

reproductions in catalogs
can be true to...

Yeah. I just had to
guess, you know?

I've seen all this stuff,
to tell you the truth.

So you're not interested
in seeing this?

Nah. Is there anybody nice to
talk to like those other people?

Well, I'm nice to talk to.
Oh, yeah, sure.

Did I say you weren't? No.

I said, "Is there anybody
nice to talk to?"

Well, yeah, I guess it does...

I should've said, "Is there
anybody else nice to"...

Oh, yeah, there's a bunch
of nice people in there.

I'm not running for office.
Oh, I know.

I'm not a politician. I know.

I slip up all the time.

No, I think everybody
in this room is nice.

There must be somebody that...
Any art students around?

Oh, I'm sure. I'm certain many of
these young people are art students.

Let's talk
to some art students.

Why don't you guys go ahead,
and I'll catch up with you.

Are you an art student?

Oh, pleasure to meet you.
Nice to meet you.

Where are you from, Italy?
Iran.

Huh? Iran.

Oh, no kidding?

Wow. God bless.
You're an artist, right?

Yeah. Oh.

Hey, how are you?
You look like an artist.

I'm an artist. I'm the
dean of the college here.

Oh. I'm Mark Landis.
Pleasure to meet you.

Yeah, I know.
I'm happy to meet you.

Anybody... I-I get back, but...

What do you think
about your show?

Oh, it's real nice of you.
Thanks a lot.

Oh, you're welcome.

I-I'm not really an artist.
I-I used to...

Yeah, you are. I used to like
to do arts and crafts, yeah.

When I'm watching TV.
Got used to it, you know.

You should do paintings
with your real own name.

Yeah, oh, yeah.
Well, I used to.

And you should exhibit them in galleries.
I used to.

I did... I did that.

That's got my name on it.

Why don't you pick a church or a
scene that you're interested in,

paint it, and you can make five
paintings of the same piece?

I like pictures of saints and
martyrs and stuff like that.

And Joan of... She's our
patron saint, you know.

Looks like a lot of people
have been here.

You know how students are...
freeloaders.

At least they used to...
Okay, I'm a permanent student.

Are you a permanent student?

I'm a... I was a
nontraditional student too.

I never... I never got a degree.

I'm glad I... I'm lucky to
have a high school diploma.

But you must have been
very talented.

You probably were a little genius
when you were a little boy.

Here. Would you like a glass?

Eh, I never drink... wine.

Oh, you don't?

You saw Dracula.

You remember Dracula.

Yeah, I do. That's Bela
Lugosi's most famous line.

Oh. "I never drink... wine."

Hey. There you go.
You're welcome.

Well, nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you too.

Okay, bye. Bye.

Okay.

Yeah. Watch your step.
Thank you.

Well, Mark, I don't wanna take
any more of your time.

Hey, if I caused them any trouble,
I'm really, really sorry.

If they want me to say anything
or do anything... Well, it's...

I'm lucky to have
a high school diploma,

but Mother had pull.

Mother had influence, you know?

And...

Well, I'm sorry to hear
about her passing.

Yeah.

Yeah. You been
handling that okay?

Not really. Uh, but...

What about any other friends or
family that you've got for support?

No.

Well, look,
you just keep in touch with...

And look,
to tell you the truth,

I haven't been reading
your e-mails...

'cause I assumed they're more
than likely to be bad news.

Oh, yeah. Especially nowadays.
Like a bill...

or something from the I.R.S.,
so I don't open 'em.

So I never looked
at any of your e-mails,

but if you send me another e-mail
after today, I'll read it.

Okay.
'Cause we're all friends now.

Right.

I have no delusions
about being...

any sort of a serious artist,

let alone a great one.

No delusions whatsoever
about that sort of thing.

But I'd kind of like
to sort of be one.

I might say it gives you
a sense of purpose,

but that sounds pretentious.

We all like to feel useful.

Whatever ability we happen to
have, we like to make use of it.

So everyone's different,
and everyone's the same.

And there's three million
stories in the naked city,

and this has been one of 'em.

And that's...

That's kind of
the best way I can put it.

I knew I wouldn't continue
being a philanthropist.

And it's just as well, probably,

because I would from time
to time get carried away.

I happened upon this idea...

returning missing
or stolen artwork...

to their... owners.

Things I could actually do, which would
be small drawings and small paintings.

After all, a book that's had
a page torn out of it...

It is nice to be able
to put the page back in.

I'd like to go to
73rd and Park Avenue.