You could be forgiven for thinking that Manuella Guiragossian is reading from the pages of a crime thriller when she recounts some of her tales from the world of art authentication.

Over the past decade or so, while working for the foundation that preserves and promotes the work of her late father, the famous Armenian-Lebanese artist Paul Guiragossian, Manuella, along with other family members, has encountered more than a hundred fakes, uncovered genuine works that were stolen during the Lebanese Civil War, and even hunted down a thief who had stolen a Guiragossian painting—before negotiating its safe return. The latter was arranged without the help of the Lebanese police, something that Manuella made sure to tell the police chief afterward. “I was like a detective you know, like CSI,” she laughs.

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