WIESBADEN.- More than 1,800 works seized by German authorities in 2013, amid investigations into forgery rings operating throughout Europe, have been accepted as genuine, following an extensive five-year investigation into their authenticity.

The collection, including works by Kasimir Malevich, El Lissitzky, Vladimir Tatlin and Natalia Goncharova, has now been returned to renowned collector Itzhak Zarug after a thorough examination by the German police and more than 10 expert witnesses. The investigation declared that all allegations of forgery were unsubstantiated, lifting a damaging taint on the value and prestige of the Zarug collection.

German state prosecutors leading the investigation first withdrew the central indictments on 7th February 2018, a U-turn which was officially confirmed in today's judgement.

Mr Zarug was arrested in June 2013 following raids on his apartments and galleries amid investigations into an alleged international art forgery ring. All allegations have now been dismissed in the face of overwhelming evidence which both exonerates Mr Zarug, accepts his collection as genuine, and rejects the existence of an international art forgery ring.

During the trial, the German courts heard incontrovertible scientific evidence following extensive scientific and art-historical analysis The German authorities also requested assistance from authorities and experts in Israel, France Spain, Switzerland and the UK, with each country undertaking their own investigation in the Zarug collection and finding no fault.

This included verification from leading independent art authenticators, following careful analysis and chemical testing. Two of the experts involved in this case were Dr Erhard Jägers, a leading chemist, specialising in the analysis of works of art and a director of the Microanalytical Laboratory in Borheim, German, as well as distinguished Russian avant-garde scholar and President of the International Chamber of Russian Modernism, Dr Patricia Railing.

Of the 1,800 paintings in the Zarug collection, only three works (two canvasses and one on paper) were confiscated by the court pending because of question over pigment samples. Mr Zarug intends to appeal the decision.

Speaking today, Mr Zarug said: “Reason and justice have prevailed, and my pictures can at last be enjoyed without suspicion or concern. I am pleased that the allegations against me and against my pictures have been proven to be unfounded.

We wish to thank the German authorities for the diligence, objectivity and intensity of their investigation into my collection. The degree of thorough scientific and historical analysis can leave no doubt that these paintings are true and genuine masterpieces of the Russian avant garde.

If only the same diligence had been evident before I was arrested 3 years ago, we may have been spared this ordeal. Issues of authenticity are rampant in the market for the Russian avant-garde, but it is no excuse for a witch-hunt.

We recognise that there is plenty that must be fixed and improved in the way this corner of the art market operates, and it my hope that we can learn from the successes and failures brought to light in his case over the past 5 years. I hope my struggle will serve as an example to the art market that exercising caution is not the same as indulging in gratuitous allegations in the hope of exposing the next great scandal. I hope that I can now move on from this matter and be able to focus on bringing a fascinating period in art history to more people.”

Dr Erhard Jägers, one of the chemical experts called on by the court to analyse the Zarug collection, added: “We have examined a large number of paintings of the Russian avant-garde belonging to the Zarug collection. In the course of the court proceedings, the results were verified and confirmed by different public institutions. It appears therefore that both the collection of the analytical data with the help of state-of-the-art equipment and their interpretation based on our long-standing experience were of excellent quality.”

Israel-born Itzhak Zarug is one of the world’s leading Russian avant-garde collectors. Works in his collections have been displayed in some of the world’s most prestigious museums and sold to private collectors and dealers around the world.

As one of the great collectors of the 20th century, Zarug is often compared with George Kostakis and Nikolai Khardzhiev, two of history’s leading collectors of the Russian avant garde. Considered a pioneering art dealer, Zarug is credited with opening up the Russian art market to Western audiences following the opening of the former Soviet bloc in the 1990s. He has sourced and sold works by Kasimir Malevich, Vladimir Tatlin, Natalia Goncharova, Popova and others.