<div><p>Executors of the work of Frida Kahlo have filed a criminal complaint charging that many personal notes, drawings and illustrated letters of the celebrated Mexican artist published in two recent books are fake.</p><p>A committee of 15 art experts "have concluded that a great majority are not by the artist's hand," said Jose Luis Perez Arredondo, of the Central Bank of Mexico, the executor of the artists work.</p><p>Kahlo, who died at age 47 in 1954, was declared an "artistic monument" in 1984, and so her works are protected under Mexican law.</p><p>The complaint, while not singling out any individual, is directed at the documents and works reproduced in "Finding Frida Kahlo" and "The Laberinth of Frida Kahlo: death, pain and ambivalence."</p><p>James Ols, an American expert, said the works presented in "Finding Frida Kahlo" were fakes.</p><p>"After verifying the documentation in this deluxe book published in the United States, we as a group of 15 people, who have all worked on exhibitions, books and articles of Frida Kahlo's works, have come to the conclusion that these documents are fake," he told the press.</p><p>Sotheby's auction house has withdrawn the documents from their catalogues, "which they would not have done if they were originals," he said.</p><p>An estimated 400 to 500 works falsely attributed to Frida Kahlo are in circulation around the world, a high number that reflects the high prices her works command.</p><p>Her painting "Raices" (Roots) sold at auction in New York in 2006 for 5.6 million dollars, a record for a Latin American artist.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=59577208&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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