PICASSO MEETS CEZANNE . . . ON THE STRIP

Jacques Harvey, the rich and famous art forger to the stars who creates “homages” to the masters by replicating their techniques, will try to outdo himself today.

He’ll unveil five billboards on the Sunset Strip that advertise his latest project--a 6x10-foot painting called “The Dream of a Forger”--in what his publicist calls “probably the most expensive example of self-aggrandizement of an artist in the history of local billboards.”

The painting, commissioned by a mysterious patron whom Harvey won’t identify, incorporates 35 famous art images (Mona Lisa, a Degas ballerina, a Renoir nude, etc.) in an outdoor setting (a boat scene reminiscent of Monet, a Van Gogh sky, etc.).

The series begins atop a market at Sunset and La Cienega and ends at Sunset and San Vicente. The first four billboards will show off four sections of the painting and include holiday greetings; the final billboard (40x16 feet) will depict the total work.

Harvey said the project cost more than $100,000 and took 650 hours, all altruistic: “This is my gift to the public, a new way to show art to the public. I don’t need the publicity. I have work (lined up) for a year. I know it’s difficult to believe, but it’s true.”