At Sotheby’s he became notorious for identifying and calling out fakes. He would stride into the salesroom, hurricane-like, and point to Renoirs and Pollocks. “That’s a fake. That’s a fake. That’s a fake.” He would also find fakes outside the salesroom, such as the golden eagle necklace, of the Veraguas culture, which researcher Estelle Neumann wore “flapping between her breasts.”
