Rich No More

Mark Lass, plump, solemn and 61, claimed he had been a Red general. His brother Boris, 64, he said, was a concert violinist and had been the Soviet Union's top art official in the early 19205. They left Russia for Japan in 1926, taking with them 200 "masterpieces" collected by their mother. Settling finally in Manhattan, they became naturalized citizens in 1945. By then their collection totaled some 280 canvases, which they valued at about $25 million, included paintings with such signatures as Gauguin, Van Gogh, Soutine, Cezanne and Monet. But money was running out. Nine months ago they rented a Madison Avenue showroom, named it the Re-Mi Gallery, and put their canvases on sale. It was a bad mistake. Last week Boris and Mark Lass were indicted for attempted grand larceny.

Warned by the Better Business Bureau, police forwarded photos of two Lass "Picassos" to Picasso himself, and the master labeled both fakes. Museum experts declared the older pictures largely student efforts, with signatures clumsily painted in. The Lasses stood firm under fire, protesting that an international art cartel was out to get them. But the brothers' own art tastes seemed confused. "Picasso," said Mark Lass, "is a mere cartoonist." But when he was asked how much he would take for one of his "Picassos," he answered: "I would not sell under half a million dollars. I would destroy instead."

In fact, it seemed possible that their prospective customers were shrewder than the bumbling brothers. For in the nine months the Re-Mi Gallery was open, the Lass brothers did not sell a single picture.

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