Art Fraud Busted

Paul Somers, art curator at the Artful Dodger in downtown Harrisonburg, removes one of Rashidi Barrett’s paintings from the restaurant on Tuesday after it was discovered to be plagiarized. Barrett, a Norfolk artist, copied and took credit for the work of at least 10 artists from all over the world and sold them as his own. This piece was taken from Brazilian artist Matheus Lopes Castro’s T-shirt design called “The Optimist.”‘ (Photos by Nikki Fox / DN-R)

Paul Somers, art curator at the Artful Dodger, holds up a Rashidi Barrett painting that plagiarized Brazilian artist Matheus Lopes Castro’s watercolor called “Swing Me Higher.”