The Man Who Hand-Scarred a Masterpiece - Found in a River

The Man Who Hand-Scarred a Masterpiece - Found in a River A stolen panel wrapped in polyethylene, three stones set on top, and a river where a fishing trotline pulled up an eighteen-by-twenty-four inch painting - could a forger really hand-scar thirty years of craquelure to fool an institution? The discovery forced conservators to confront a sixteen-month process of needle-guided cracking and a replacement that had hung unnoticed for sixty-one years; who planned it, and why did he leave the fake in a river to be found? In this episode, we follow the timeline from the April ninth, 2019 river recovery to the laboratory survey and the moment the collections director stood before two identical panels, asking whether the museum had been living with the wrong painting for years. The episode covers the recovery details, the conservation analysis, and the biography of the man who built the forgery - and asks what the case reveals about vulnerability in small institutions. Person: Megan McCarthy Date: April 9, 2019 at 5:47 AM Location: Caswell River Person: Paula Clark, age 52 in 2019 Person: Philip Murphy, age 51 - The recovered wooden panel measured 18 by 24 inches and was wrapped in three layers of polyethylene. - The fake was wedged between two flat stones with silt around their bases, indicating the stones had sat there for months. - The institute's original panel had hung in the Avery-Stokes gallery for 61 years and passed a condition survey eight months before the discovery. - The forger spent 16 months inducing craquelure by hand with a needle and worked four months laying an eight-layer ground before painting. - Philip Murphy had been inside the Avery-Stokes building four times on routine maintenance jobs prior to the panel switch. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].