Gallery Fake

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Gallery Fake
ギャラリーフェイク (Gallery Fake)
Genre
Manga
Authored by	Fujihiko Hosono
Publisher
Serialized in
Original run	–
No. of volumes
TV anime
Directed by	Akira Nishimori
Studio	Shogakukan
Network	TV Tokyo
Original run	8 January 2005 – 24 September 2005
No. of episodes	37

Gallery Fake is a Japanese manga by Fujihiko Hosono.

On a wharf, which faces Tokyo Bay, there is a small gallery named Gallery Fake. The owner of the gallery, Reiji Fujita (藤田 玲司 Fujita Reiji), once was a curator in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. He was a learned curator with remarkable memory, keen aesthetic sense, great skill for restoration of paintings and knowledge of many languages, so he was called the "Professor." However, because of a trouble at the workplace, Fujita was forced to quit the museum. Now, he is an art dealer, who sells paintings, authentic along with fake ones, at extraordinary prices. His motto is "One without aesthetic sense can't help being cheated out of his money. And by being deceived, one may learn to distinguish real ones from the counterfeit."

However, Fujita is not a villain. He truly appreciates art and the artists who spent their lives to create it. He is not someone who just earns money by selling fake paintings. Sometimes he takes away paintings from a wicked politician who considers art only as means to exchange bribes. Sometimes, he tries to restore destroyed paintings. Readers get to like him for his passion and true love for art.

Fujita's adventures with his assistant Sarah take readers to every corner of the world, from Rome to the Amazon, and through every field of art (from Western paintings to Japanese sabers). By reading this novel, readers get to learn about many more things than just Western paintings and sculptures. In fact, what makes this comic interesting is the diversity of the art Fujita pursues. People who are interested in Japanese art can learn about Japanese art like pottery, katana (sabers), and ukiyo-e (traditional woodblock paintings), all of which are now highly rated worldwide.

The author Fujihiko Hosono has drawn many other manga, but this work is considered by some to be one of his best. There are many short episodes with varied fields of art; therefore, you can enjoy the world of Gallery Fake, starting with anything you know, from Vincent van Gogh to Leonardo da Vinci!