Karl Feoder Sim, also known as Carl Feoder Goldie (6 December 1923 – 21 October 2013) was a New Zealand
art forger
Art forgery is the creating and selling of works of art which are falsely credited to other, usually more famous artists. Art forgery can be extremely lucrative, but modern dating and analysis techniques have made the identification of forged art ...
, and the only person convicted of that crime in New Zealand.
Early life
Sim was born in
Mangaweka
}
Mangaweka is a township on the State Highway One (SH1), Manawatū-Whanganui region, in the North Island of New Zealand, with a population of just under 200. It is between Taihape to the north and Hunterville to the south. The Rangitikei River ...
in the
Manawatū-Whanganui
Manawatū-Whanganui (; spelled Manawatu-Wanganui prior to 2019) is a region in the lower half of the North Island of New Zealand, whose main population centres are the cities of Palmerston North and Whanganui. It is administered by the Manawat ...
region, and attended Oroua Downs School. His artistic talents were discovered at Palmerston North Technical School, where from the age of 14 he learned under H. Linley Richardson. Richardson had him learn by copying other artists, including old masters and Charles F Goldie. Sim later worked as a "well diviner," choosing the best place to dig a well, in the Manawatu in the 1950s. He also used his artistic skills working as a
signwriter
Signwriters design, manufacture and install signs, including advertising signs for shops, businesses and public facilities as well as signs for transport systems.
Signwriting today
Traditional signwriters use methods closely related to th ...
.
Forgery
Sim noticed his art from school being auctioned off as originals of other artists, and from there started forging on purpose. He would forge artists such as
Frances Hodgkins
Frances Mary Hodgkins (28 April 1869 – 13 May 1947) was a New Zealand painter chiefly of landscape and still life, and for a short period was a designer of textiles. She was born and raised in New Zealand, but spent most of her working l ...
,
Colin McCahon
Colin John McCahon (; 1August 191927May 1987) was a prominent New Zealand artist whose work over 45 years consisted of various styles, including landscape, figuration, abstraction, and the overlay of painted text. Along with Toss Woollaston and ...
, and Charles F Goldie, He started selling forged paintings and drawings in his 40s, out of his antique and wine shop in Foxton. By selling the artwork through his shop, it created provenance, bolstering the claim of authenticity. By signing the artist's name on the pictures, he sold them as original, genuine pieces of art. He even managed to sell off a van Dyck for around $600. Eventually the amount of art coming out of his shop raised suspicions, and the police raided it and arrested him in 1985. Sim had gotten caught with spelling mistakes in some signatures, specifically with
van der Velden Van der Velden is a Dutch toponymic surname meaning "from the fields". In 2007, there were over 10,000 people with this name in The Netherlands. He was convicted of 40 counts of forgery and sentenced to 200 hours community service and a fine of $1,000. Afterward he changed his name to Carl Feoder Goldie, so he could legally sign his work as ''CF Goldie''. Following his conviction he continued to forge art, using associates to sell his forgeries through auction houses in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom until shortly before his death. He was responsible for a set of six forged artworks attributed to
Paul Gauguin
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...
displayed at an Auckland exhibition in 2000. Though one auctioneer claims his fakes were obvious and wouldn't fool experts since he used the same techniques and pigments in his forgeries.
Later life
Sim was guest of honor at the inaugural 'Mangaweka Fakes & Forgeries Festival' held in 2007 in his birth town. He appeared again as prize presenter in 2011 at the now two yearly event, and was planned to appear at the 2013 event in November, before his death in October of that year. In 2007, he was named the 8th greatest art forger in the world.
He wrote a book in 2003, called ''Good As Goldie'' (), later republished as ''C F Goldie and the Creative Art of Forgery'' ().
He died on 21 October 2013 at
North Shore Hospital
North Shore Hospital is a large public hospital in Takapuna, New Zealand, serving the northern part of Auckland. Located on Shakespeare Road near Lake Pupuke, it is administered by the Waitemata District Health Board, which provides health servi ...
, Auckland, New Zealand. A couple purchased his old flat and turned it in an antique shop named Goldie's Junk 'N Disorderly to keep his legacy alive.