"The
Art Of Deception" -
Part 1
Have you ever been in the market for a beautiful piece of artwork
to adorn your walls at the home or office? Have you ever wondered if the art
is an original painting by a great Italian master, or a copy from an unknown
artist who gets paid to recreate the originals? Leonardo DaVinci once said “Learning
never exhausts the mind”. In this, the first part of a series of
articles I will begin to tell you of the types of artwork that hit the black
market, or even worse, comes across your PC as an original on eBay, when in
all reality, it is a fake. I will go into the realm of art theft and how a
stolen original can make its way from thief to collector to auction and finally
to your wall. I will give you a few pointers as to what you can do to ensure
that the art you are getting is the art you paid for.
The first thing that you should remember is “Caveat emptor”,
which is Latin for buyer beware. Reproductions of original art have been around
as long as art itself. The process is quite simple. A young aspiring artist
will try to copy a master’s original. At first it is difficult, but as
his talent grows, so does the complexity of his art. The artist gets better
and better and eventually finds his own path. There are some artists however,
who find it better to keep copying the originals. They have found their niche.
They copy a Rembrandt or a Warhol over and over until it is an exact replica
of the original, yet there in lies the problem, it is only a replica. The artist,
no matter how good the piece then makes a choice; sell it as a replica or sell
it as the original to an unsuspecting consumer whether it is a dealer or a
collector.
There have been thousands of misrepresented art pieces sold over the years
with dollar amounts estimated in the billions being shelled out by unknowing
consumers who didn’t bother doing their homework. For example, within
recent years a Salvador Dali reproduction represented as an original sold at
auction for an estimated 1.5 million. It is very unlikely that the auction
house knew that the piece was a fake, yet it was so close to the original that
only lab testing confirmed the forgery.
What is a consumer to do? The FBI has a few tips which I would like to pass
on to you. The following is a list of simplistic things that all collectors
should know.
- “Get a complete provenance or chain of custody on each piece to find
out where the art came from originally. Was it obtained directly from an
estate, for example? This information provides a way to double-check the
piece’s history instead of just relying on the certificate of authenticity.
- “Research
the dealer carefully. Check the Better Business Bureau for possible complaints.
Find out if they sell only online or if they have a gallery.”
- “For
pieces of art you already own, you can go back to the gallery and ask for
provenance on your print. You can also contact artists’ foundations
which will do side-by-side comparisons with originals for a fee.”
- “And
remember, when you’re trying to find that one treasure
from someone’s garage, that’s when you’re more likely to
let your guard down.”
It is difficult to determine if a piece of artwork is a forgery when you
are buying on sites such as eBay, but there are still a few things to look
out for. The sellers who are putting the forgeries online for internet auctions
have a few traits that you can spot. They are using one sentence item descriptions
to describe the art as opposed to the long descriptive ones used in the past.
The descriptions could be as simple as “Oil on canvas, by so and so artist,
size of painting, signed and in good condition”. The majority of these
auctions are also marked as “Private”, which tells you that the
bidders’ identities are hidden. You will have no idea who is bidding
against you; in fact it could be the seller himself just to up the ante. This
does not mean that every auction that is held online in such a way is a fake,
but once again it is up to you to keep your wits about you.
Auction houses or antique shops are a different story all together. Most
reputable establishments can be checked very easily these days. Due to the
forgeries that have hit the streets via the auction houses, the security measurements
have been increased dramatically. Artwork is commonly checked for age and authenticity
by professionals before the sale of most pieces at auction. A paper trail of
the artwork is also checked to verify its’ authenticity. Antique dealers,
though privy to such professionals, rarely use them, but still keep true to
the paper trail that follows each painting sold. It has become more difficult
to sell forgeries as originals, yet a few may still be able to slip thru the
cracks. Paper trails can now be duplicated on the household PC, and a professional
forger can make it look as good as the real thing, but such cases are rare
and usually for artwork well within the million dollar plus range.
I cannot stress enough the importance of knowing who you are buying from.
Look into the dealers’ background when purchasing anything of high value.
It only takes a short time to do this, but you will be very happy you did.
Not only will you find out if he/she is legit, but you will now be able to
begin your list of trustworthy dealers that you can come back to time and time
again without worry, and begin a friendship of a lifetime.
n my next article I will go into the world of art theft, the reasons people
steal it, and what could happen if it is found hanging on your wall. Remember
the words caveat emptor or buyer beware.
Erik J. Ekstrom >>
Art of Deception - Part 2
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