Colette Loll

Dr. Colette Loll is the Founder and Director of Art Fraud Insights, a consultancy dedicated to art-fraud-related prevention initiatives, exhibitions, lectures, training, and specialized investigations. She has been involved in several independent projects in fine art forgery and art forensics including serving as a lead researcher in attribution and authentication investigations, conducting forensic investigations for private collectors on suspected artworks and artifacts, participating in documentary film projects, and curating several exhibitions. Her more recent exhibitions, Intent to Deceive: Fakes and Forgeries in the Art World and Treasures on Trial; The Art and Science of Detecting Fakes received acclaim and extensive coverage in local, national, and international media.

In addition to lecturing widely at universities, museums, and forensic institutions in the U.S. and Europe, she also has trained Federal agents in forgery investigations for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cultural Heritage Protection Program. Dr. Loll also works closely with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Art Crime Team to train international law enforcement teams on strategies to combat cultural racketeering. Dr. Loll serves as a thought leader, market consultant, and strategic advisor to several technology companies applying solutions to solve the prolific problem of art fraud and illicit trafficking. In this capacity, she has collaborated with several NGOs and funding organizations on projects to apply traceable forensic markers to museum collections at risk.

Colette Loll’s nonprofit affiliations include serving on the Culture Under Threat and Financial Crimes Task Forces for the Antiquities Coalition, drafting strategic recommendations for the market, law enforcement, and government to combat the illicit trade in antiquities, and associated cultural racketeering. To this end, she also serves as a Senior Advisor for the SmartWater Foundation, committed to securing at-risk museum collections in conflict zones.

Dr. Loll holds a master’s degree in Decorative Art and Design History from George Washington University and a Doctorate in Liberal Studies from Georgetown University. Her dissertation research focused on the creation of new protocols for the scientific interrogation of questioned ancient texts, and the cognitive distortions and ideological biases that contribute to non-evidence-based conclusions of authenticity.