A cross between Andy Warhol and Rasputin

The actor Steve Martin has found himself caught up in the biggest art forgery scandal in German history after it emerged he bought a painting "by" German-Dutch modernist Heinrich Campendonk, which turned out to be a fake.

Martin's purchase – he paid $850,000 and sold the painting for a loss at $500,000 to a Swiss businesswoman in 2006 – is just one of many believed to have been faked by a German forgery gang arrested by police last year.

"The gallery that sold me the picture has promised to be responsible to me, if I'm responsible, but it's still unclear," Martin, who is not accused of any wrongdoing, told the New York Times.