tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post8849593915588101925..comments2024-03-29T15:04:20.549+11:00Comments on ART and ARCHITECTURE, mainly: German Expressionist art - fakes!Helshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-74672958355506095232014-01-24T16:32:30.093+11:002014-01-24T16:32:30.093+11:00John hopper
You noted that you actually like the ...John hopper<br /><br />You noted that you actually like the fakes and wonder if they may be collectibles in their own right. Although over 2 years have passed since then, I have continued to think about your question.<br /><br />My next post is called "Elmyr de Hory - best art forger ever?" It follows Keats' line about why fakes are the great art of our age.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-83980998074907311702013-11-25T14:01:28.619+11:002013-11-25T14:01:28.619+11:00Kaare
absolutely true. I would go even a step fur...Kaare<br /><br />absolutely true. I would go even a step further and say that fakes would not work if the faker _himself_ was not a very talented artist. The paintings MUST be skilfully crafted, attractive, colourful etc otherwise noone will want to look at them.<br /><br />But if a gallery paid $10 million for an original Kees van Dongen and found out that it was actually painted by ordinary old Fred Nurk, the gallery has done its investment in cold blood. No insurance company will cover them for a fake.<br />Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-75352114051472521192013-11-25T13:43:22.631+11:002013-11-25T13:43:22.631+11:00The real question here is, what is art and what ma...The real question here is, what is art and what makes it valuable? Obviously not the work itself, but who created it. It is the name of the artist that sets the value. If it were the picture that had the value, if it were the fantastic faces of these women that enchanted art lovers, it would make no difference who painted it. Kaare Host.Kaare Hostnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-82662710325240786762012-09-21T20:45:18.906+10:002012-09-21T20:45:18.906+10:00In a way, for an art-lover like myself, decorating...In a way, for an art-lover like myself, decorating our home is quite easy. I just please myself mostly, with my poor husband going along with most of my choices. I am always collecting beautiful things, like handicraft decorative pieces, little sculptures and hangings.<br />And I simply hang lovely paintings in all our rooms. Not all are originals of course, as who can afford many of those.<br />I order many prints on canvas from <a href="//en.wahooart.com/" rel="nofollow">Wahooart</a> who have a vast collection of images from Western art, that you can choose to make economically-priced prints like this <a href="//EN.WahooArt.com/A55A04/w.nsf/Opra/BRUE-5ZKCMX" rel="nofollow">Interior in Aubergines</a>, by Henri Matisse, from there.scott davidsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07185110800919351863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-18022925273571833772011-11-12T17:21:49.657+11:002011-11-12T17:21:49.657+11:00Beltracchi is far from being a lone hand, of cours...Beltracchi is far from being a lone hand, of course. I have just listened to a Radio Netherlands interview with Geert Jan Jansen (born 1943), a Dutch painter and art forger. <br /><br />His first success was forging a work by Karel Appel; he remembered sitting in the auction house, nervously waiting to watch his "masterpiece" go to its new home. <br /><br />Jansen was very proud of his art; he was so excited by seeing his so-called Picassos, Dufys and Miros etc in galleries and homes that it became addictive.<br /><br />Jansen was sentenced to one-year of gaol time and five more years suspended sentence. But even now he is proud that the majority of his fakes remain totally undetected.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-14515121618459371522011-11-10T04:47:19.538+11:002011-11-10T04:47:19.538+11:00Emm
It is a very brave person who is prepared to ...Emm<br /><br />It is a very brave person who is prepared to tell a major world auction house (or an important gallery) that they may be dealing in fakes. Or that art works they sold, in good faith since 1980, probably cannot be trusted.<br /><br />Most people would keep their opinions to themselves.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-66922653329517862542011-11-10T02:03:20.215+11:002011-11-10T02:03:20.215+11:00This is just amazing. Can you imagine being that ...This is just amazing. Can you imagine being that lone dissenting voice, claiming that this multi-million dollar artwork is a fake? It took talent to pick it up but bravery to follow it through!Emmhttp://missus-emm.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-12848411013828734472011-11-06T10:35:26.370+11:002011-11-06T10:35:26.370+11:00John
I was not sure how seriously the German cour...John<br /><br />I was not sure how seriously the German court regarded the 14 charges and what sort of gaol sentences the artist and his 3 accomplices would receive. <br /><br />Spiegel International 27/10/11 reported: Wolfgang Beltracchi = six years in gaol; his wife Helene = four years; her sister Jeanette = a suspended 21-month sentence and accomplice Otto Schulte-Kellinghaus = five years.<br /><br />If they actually do spend those years in gaol, it will suggest that the crime was taken quite seriously by the court.<br /><br />NB Spiegel International also added that old criminal police investigations in Berlin suggest that Beltracchi had passed on at least 15 forgeries by the 1980s, which the accomplices had then sold. They could not be charged with these crimes as they had already exceeded the statute of limitations period.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-16756746338401651502011-11-06T01:24:49.155+11:002011-11-06T01:24:49.155+11:00I actually like the fakes and wonder if they may b...I actually like the fakes and wonder if they may be collectibles in their own right, probably so. As you say, there is a big difference between merely copying and producing a 'long lost' piece. A very skilful and creative artist would need to be involved. However, they will pay the price for embarrassing the rich and famous who could probably afford to shrug it all off, admit that they admired the painting irrespective of the provenance and just told the world that they owned a genuine fake, I know I would.John Hopperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13495250254811460833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-42812333921823677112011-11-06T00:38:46.997+11:002011-11-06T00:38:46.997+11:00Jack
MoMA says the following:
Alfred Flechtheim (...Jack<br /><br />MoMA says the following:<br />Alfred Flechtheim (1878-1937 opened his gallery in 1913. He became known as the leading dealer in Germany for modern art, much of it obtained through his friend Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, the eminent Parisian gallerist and German émigré. Flechtheim exhibited a select number of Expressionist artists, including Ernst Barlach, Max Beckmann, George Grosz, Paul Klee, Oskar Kokoschka, Wilhelm Lehmbruck, August Macke and many other now less familiar German artists. Highly successful, particularly in the postwar years, he moved his primary operation to Berlin in 1921, and opened branches in Frankfurt and Cologne in 1922.<br /><br />Art Knowledge News said: The heirs of George Grosz, a famous Weimar period artist and relentless critic of the Nazis and German military establishment, filed suit in New York in 2009 against the Museum of Modern Art for refusing to return three artworks created by Grosz and left when he fled Germany in 1933 to avoid Nazi threats. The artworks were left behind in Germany with his Galerist Alfred Flechtheim. Eventually Flechtheim was also fled Germany in 1933 due to Nazi persecution and the artworks were lost after Flechtheim's death.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-46186095781910393342011-11-06T00:26:08.856+11:002011-11-06T00:26:08.856+11:00Dr Doolan
I suppose this story only serves to inc...Dr Doolan<br /><br />I suppose this story only serves to increase peoples' scepticism about any newly discovered work of art. Partially this is a good response and will force the galleries and auction houses to check and double check. <br /><br />But partially it is so cynical that even if the new Leonardo painting is proven by the National Gallery London to be 100% right, people will still reserve judgement.<br /><br />I wouldn't like to be a gallery that paid $50 million for a work of art, only to find out years later that it is actually worth $12,000.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-62871847533429646012011-11-06T00:16:48.190+11:002011-11-06T00:16:48.190+11:00Hermes
I will be in Vienna, Prague and Budapest n...Hermes<br /><br />I will be in Vienna, Prague and Budapest next July, Qantas willing. I have made a note for myself to check out The Museum of Art Fakes in Vienna, and will do some reading before I leave home.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-69972439205194849972011-11-06T00:12:29.669+11:002011-11-06T00:12:29.669+11:00We discussed Flechtheim in class, especially in co...We discussed Flechtheim in class, especially in connection with the German expressionists. And Kahnweiler. But we discussed their galleries and patronage pre-WW1, way too early for this story.BigJacknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-27811328680521141942011-11-05T23:35:59.897+11:002011-11-05T23:35:59.897+11:00A fascinating story. Let's hope that the &quo...A fascinating story. Let's hope that the "new" Leonardo painting, about to go on exhibition in the National Gallery London next week for the first time ever, will not turn out to be a forgery.P. M. Doolanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16673509230835222713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-25928763949930134602011-11-05T21:11:41.681+11:002011-11-05T21:11:41.681+11:00You must go Helen that is a question whose answer ...You must go Helen that is a question whose answer is worth knowing. I have a horrible feeling some fakes are becoming art in their own right.Hermeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00968366076064269729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-83023691072537407152011-11-05T19:24:25.447+11:002011-11-05T19:24:25.447+11:00Hermes,
excellent!
I agree that copies, replicas...Hermes, <br />excellent!<br /><br />I agree that copies, replicas, reproductions and pastiches are, by definition, not deceptive fakes. The problem is that although they can be perfectly legitimate works in their own right, the distinction between a legitimate reproduction and deliberate forgery _does_ often become blurred over time.<br /><br />I too did not know anything about The Museum of Art Fakes in Vienna. They apparently show copies of paintings by Schiele, Klimt and Matisse etc, alongside fascinating details about famous forgeries. But was the museum's goal - to alert the art buying public? warn art criminals off their dastardly career? help art criminals become more skilled? or to laugh at the gullible wealthy families out there?Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-41313887290727540562011-11-05T18:34:11.543+11:002011-11-05T18:34:11.543+11:00Just for interest:
http://www.artiquesroadshow.co...Just for interest:<br /><br />http://www.artiquesroadshow.com/Fakesorfiction.htm<br /><br />The Wikipedia article on Fakes is very good and I didn't know about the Museum in Vienna.Hermeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00968366076064269729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-35338593383607420122011-11-05T13:29:45.194+11:002011-11-05T13:29:45.194+11:00Andrew
I am semi sympathetic to that view. But if ...Andrew<br />I am semi sympathetic to that view. But if I had spare money, I would rather invest in the visual arts (eg paintings, silver art, jewellery) than in stocks and bonds. At least you can have the joy of looking at your investments, while they mature :)<br /><br />Nonetheless people who buy art, for investment or any other reason, deserve to have all the information, before they buy. If they are told that a painting was NOT by an Old Master himself but they like it anyhow, they might certainly choose to buy the work and hang it on the wall.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-28521522297361642292011-11-05T12:08:43.160+11:002011-11-05T12:08:43.160+11:00I say, they are rather nice paintings. But I don&#...I say, they are rather nice paintings. But I don't have too much sympathy for those who buy art as an investment. Art is worth what it is worth to you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-16132416734609658952011-11-05T10:38:07.916+11:002011-11-05T10:38:07.916+11:00Hermes
The whole story has been fascinating *nod*...Hermes<br /><br />The whole story has been fascinating *nod*.<br /><br />If the report you read was true, it would totally undermine collectors' trust in the auction houses and curators. I would prefer to think that honest mistakes are occasionally made, but that tricksters and con men are the exception, not the rule.<br /><br />Anyhow, there is trickery and then there is Trickery. When Rembrandt ran a large art school, I can imagine that the students each did a different bit of each painting (the animals, the furniture, the architecture etc) while the master did the faces and signed the finished product. As long as we understand how his school worked, I would not consider the Rembrandt signature to be faked.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-14168743764768611402011-11-05T10:28:49.396+11:002011-11-05T10:28:49.396+11:00Jane and Lance
I would have to agree. Beltracchi ...Jane and Lance<br /><br />I would have to agree. Beltracchi said he began copying on a professional basis specifically because he loved doing the paintings. Nothing wrong with that! If he loved painting in the expressionist style and reliving the First World War era, people might be delighted to buy his works and to pay a fair price for them.<br /><br />Just because he is a con man, it doesn't mean he isn't a talented artist in his own right.Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-41258989644784582612011-11-05T05:34:44.190+11:002011-11-05T05:34:44.190+11:00Fascinating. I read a report the other day that th...Fascinating. I read a report the other day that thousands of pictures in private and public collections were fake but no one wanted to enquire too closely. Great post.Hermeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00968366076064269729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3067098918914268503.post-86039015642675075542011-11-05T01:41:33.191+11:002011-11-05T01:41:33.191+11:00Hello Helen:
How intriguing all of this is and how...Hello Helen:<br />How intriguing all of this is and how amazing that so many people in the chain could have been tricked. This is a scam of mammoth proportions but one has to admire the skill of it all. Clearly, this is no ordinary faker and, even more clearly, the plan of bringing the forgeries to market was cleverly executed.<br /><br />As you say, to own one of these works would be a delight.Perhaps if one becomes suddenly available at a bargain price we should snap it up and enjoy it quietly in our own homes!!Jane and Lance Hattatthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16831890261259302647noreply@blogger.com