A series of fake artworks discovered in Ho Chi Minh City’s Fine Arts Museum has left international buyers in disbelief.

Art from prominent Vietnamese artists in the pre-war period has become increasingly coveted on the international art market, but both international and Vietnamese institutions lack specific authentication processes for Vietnamese art.

In a recent case, artist Nguyen Thanh Chuong attended an exhibition of Vietnamese artists at a Ho Chi Minh City museum.

He recognised a painting displayed as his own, but was stunned to find it marked by the signature of another artist.

The artist Nguyen Thanh Chuong, with a painting identified in a museum as the work of one of Vietnam’s best-known artists, Ta Ty, from 1952. Mr. Chuong, however, says he painted it in the 1970s. (Photo courtesy: The New York Times/ Quinn Ryan Mattingly)

It came to light that the 17 paintings in the exhibition were not created by the painters claimed.

But the man who owned the paintings and had paid to show them at the museum claimed they were originals.

A New York Times investigation reports that museum officials have trouble authenticating works due to the safety processes put into place during the war in the 1960s.

During this period, artworks were removed for safekeeping and copies were made in the case that the original was destroyed.

Over time original works disappeared and copies were passed off as originals.

This, and the absence of a database of materials used in pre-war paintings also hinders close analysis of artworks, all together adding to the confusion that results today.