Fake!

Art forgeries can be bought almost as easily as genuine pictures by high-priced painters--and cheaper, too. The many shady dealers who handle fakes stay on the near side of the law by being careful not to state in so many words that the pictures are authentic. But recently a Los Angeles dealer named Roy Goldenberg got careless, advertised five patent fakes as being the works of Degas, Manet, Dufy and Rosa Bonheur.

This irked one of the West Coast's most reputable dealers, burly, bearded Frank Perls of Beverly Hills. Perls first warned Goldenberg. got some "dirty words" for his pains. Then Perls turned to the district attorney's office, rounded up such experts as John Rewald and Frederick Wight to testify at Goldenberg's trial. Last week Dealer Perls won his point. Found guilty of violating California's business and professional code, Dealer Goldenberg faces up to six months in jail and a $500 fine. It was the first conviction of an art-fake peddler in U.S. legal history.

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