FRAUD: Art Fraud
is not
restricted to the individual. Art Fraud is also seen within the larger art
community based more on the neglect of expert
responsibilities
JMW Turner
the source fraud: art fraud
Art Fraud of the Highest
Order
How
much distortion of Art History is due to aristocratic influence and
governmental self-serving regulations? Certain customs and laws control the movement of art in order
to protect tourism, jobs, and financial benefits that derive from historic art.
Top level control groups understand that historic art is big business by virtue of the prices that rare artworks command and national tourism that concurrently follows supportive publicity. Individuals act out their roles within this schema in accordance with customary precedence, and often, do not realize the larger implications of their actions, or inactions.
In addition, there is a constant fear held by subservient officials, curators, and educators of being reproached or sued for decisions made or opinions offered to the general public; and therefore, there is a tendency to distance themselves from newly discovered or re-discovered historic masterpieces. Many such artworks remain in limbo without proper attributions, or are given deprecating ones at best.
There are many subsidiary tentacles of this beast that baits the modern day connoisseur.
The Bigger Problem…
Ultimately the bigger problem is one of fundamental social issues, ones that revolve around politics and economics. The main dilemma as it pertains to Art History is that one of the most dependable ways by which any culture records its general history and long term history is through tangible artifacts such as art. Because much of ones learning is born of past experience, it sensibly follows that truth and accuracy of historical and art historical records equate to accuracy in contemporary decision-making.
Self-serving interests of the individual are what motivate political decision-making. Whether a country’s control group is an old boy’s club, aristocracy, or corporate board network, the result is the same—Reciprocal Patronage.
Reciprocal patronage is not an altruistic standard; it often leads to deception and injustice. As a result art historical accuracy is subordinated to the desire for short term gain. Economic concerns over tourism and the allocation of individual benefits, and those related to individual and national prestige are the major forces that are presently driving a wedge of deception between truth and history.
In this day and age the term art expert is surely sterile
Deposition, tiny
17th century oil on copper
The complexities of art appraisal, art evaluation, and art authentication are such that most of those with an advanced understanding of the art world are loath to get involved unless they have something to gain.
In the museum setting experts are most often unwilling to speak out in support of a newly discovered or re-discovered painting because of orders from senior institutional bureaucracy. Terms and expressions such as society, institute, community of experts, research project are somewhat euphemistic. Members of such self-supporting groups are in fact allies in a battle against litigation first and foremost.
Most museum curators and institutional experts have little to gain and a lot to lose if they wrongly accept a "dud" as authentic; and thus, in an attempt to distance themselves from responsibility they more often become an obstruction to those seeking a proper identification for their art work. Ultimately, it is important to remember that a picture is often condemned for more complex reasons than because it is spurious or fake. The following are areas that must be fully considered when assessing authorship:
Art
World’s Dirty Little Secret
r malcolm setters / graham setters
"'In 1987, Sotheby's paid out-of-court damages to the original owner of a Sebastiano del Piombo portrait knocked down for £180 at auction in Chester. It subsequently sold for £330,000 in London, and - after being cleaned - for a reported £6.5 million to the Getty (where quite a few rediscovered masterpieces end up).' (Ian Warrell/Warrell, The Age, AU 2002)
"Even as early as 1931 Walter Bayes found that the legal fears of one influential official over authenticating paintings drove him to incompetence. When Bayes asked: “Millionaires… must tremble at your nod,” the reply came: “If you knew my boy… how much it is the other way round. The interests concerned are so great, and money can do such strange things, that I find it generally safer to hold my tongue." (Walter Bayes, Turner, A Speculative Portrait, p5)
It is clear that an art expert must tackle diversity!!!
What one should look for when acquiring artwork: Quality... originality... support... rarity... condition
Quality might best be defined as the ability of an artwork to rest comfortably within its format. This takes skill and practice on the part of the artist, and it is the 'master' with the greatest ability to present a bondable unity for the viewer who gains 'genius' status.
This is surely a two-way process by which the viewer must also have the harmony of spirit to appreciate the artwork.
Originality brings the artwork as close to a creator's genius as possible. Firstly the object must be done by the hand of the artist as opposed to a reproduction; and secondly, it should be as central as possible to one of the artist's most innovative periods.
Support for an artist can come in many ways, some orthodox and others revolutionary. The orthodox ones might include: prizes, medals, and professional designations from institutions (for example: JMW Turner RA, or James Orrock RI, ROI). Institutions by virtue of their bureaucratic nature tend to reward traditional artists as opposed to the most innovative ones. There are many more traditional artists.
The French impressionists won very little orthodox support, but were very revolutionary. Price listings for their work and the volume of literature about them attest to their posthumous importance. Turner was also revolutionary and this is what bolstered his fame; much more-so than the support he received from the Royal Academy R. A.
Rarity is a result of limited supply and this in and of itself will increase the price of an artwork. If the art and historic value of an item is great, and the supply is limited, competition will make such work hard to find.
Condition is a relative term. How old or fragile an artwork is will determine the amount of degradation or damage that is acceptable. Seldom does one find a Renaissance sculpture or a medieval picture unscathed. Conversely, experimentation with untested media has resulted in substantial conservation problems for modern works.
IMPORTANT
POINTS TO CONSIDER WHEN CHOOSING A TREASURE
SIZE:
- Is it portable?
- Is it easy to store?
- Is it easy to protect; does it fit into a vault or safety deposit
box?
- Lifestyle; do you have
a small or large home, apartment or country estate?
DURABILITY /
FRAGILITY:
- Consider the proposed use of
your potential new treasure, and if it is suitable for its new location and
purpose.
- Shipping; will it require
special packaging?
- Longevity; is it subject to
environmental degradation?
POPULARITY:
- This is good for immediate resale.
- Conversely, as an intermediate to
long term investment, popularity is a negative factor (a fad soon passes).
PROVENANCE:
- Is the piece from an important
collector, dealer, collection? It helps to establish authenticity and gives the
piece prestige. Although celebrity of a former owner may perk interest
presently, memories of famous people fade, reducing the effectiveness of this
factor long term.
- It can prove helpful if a
piece has at one time sold through a major auction house.
- Collect as much literature and
history on a piece after acquisition; this will prove invaluable if resold.
PRICE:
- The dealer motto: “buy low/sell
dear”; if you choose the right dealer he/she will help you accomplish the same.
- Predict popular trends before they
become full blown.
VALUE:
- Is the piece important enough to
interest major dealers, museums, or major auction galleries?
- If an item is part of a collection,
lesser important pieces are acceptable additions.
AUTHENTICITY:
- Is this easily established?
- Have similar items sold at major
auction galleries?
RECOGNIZABLE:
- Recognizable items are easier to
classify and therefore, often develop into unquestioned commodities.
-
Helpful
for authentication.
- It is more difficult to find
recognizable pieces, because most have already been discovered.
DEMAND:
- Is the item attractive to nations
with strong economies relative to ones own? Presently some of these are USA,
Germany and Hong Kong.
CONDITION:
- This is important but is relative
to age, material, and rarity.
AESTHETIC:
-
If
your object is aesthetically appealing, then your potential new treasure will
command greater appreciation.
- Has your potential treasure been produced
by a skilled artisan, craftsman, or talented artist?
- Decorative quality increases demand and
raises price.
CULTURAL:
- Historic (appreciated by scholars and
connoisseurs)
- Heritage and sentimental value
- Educational value
- Cross-cultural appreciation
PSYCHOLOGICAL
/ MARKET FORCES:
- Negative and positive publicity
- Ivory collecting; what are the legal
consequences? Although an important historic carving medium, recent negative
attitudes towards its use have been very influential politically and socially;
which in turn has affected its desirability as a collectable. Gun collecting is
affected likewise.
- Impressionist paintings, the Art Deco
style, Ming porcelain and the like; recognize how publicity has reinforced the
popularity of these and other collectibles.
SENTIMENT:
- Heirloom
- Heritage
art
appraisal and art authentication of European and American Master
paintings, art appraisal,
art value, art authentication, fine art appraisal,
art appraiser, finrt appraiser, estate appraisal, estate
appraiser, painting value, painting appraisal, painting appraiser, online art
appraisal, online art appraiser, online fine artaisal
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Art World’s Dirty Little Secret
Terms and
conditions J.M.W. Turner
Site criticism is appreciated at
jmwturner@shaw.ca
Penticton
© setters 2003, Rescuing Turner: The Art Project &
http://www.jmwturner.ca
Institutional evolution Tribal Instincts Art Expertise Art versus Science
Source:
JMW Turner Joseph Mallord
William, National Gallery of Canada
Metropolitan Museum of Art Museum of Modern Art the British Museum art museum art history
Christie’s Sotheby’s Tate
Gallery art world painting old master paintings
sea piece Shipwreck Martin Butlin Wildenstein
Institute Yale Center
British Art The Getty Getty Research Institute provenance Clore
Gallery Tate Gallery
Turner Gallery curator museum antique forensic fingerprint conservator International Foundation for Art
Research
IFAR English landscape art historian art criticism IIC
CCI Canadian
Conservation Institute McCrone Research
Institute artist artists pictures paintings gallery galleries drawing picture biography collection archive history
of art discovery discoveries discovery ca discovery
forensic science Tate Gallery London the tate
Turner Society Turner Society News
TSN old
master masterpiece Rembrandt Picasso Francoise Boucher Monet Boucher
Claude
Monet
Angelica Kauffmann Murillo Whistler James McNeill Whistler Rubens Peter
Paul Rubens Renior Claude Titian Joshua
Reynolds fakes forgeries
connoisseurship connoisseur
art
expert renaissance Getty Museum James
Orrock
Orrock
Sir J.C. Robinson
Turner
portrait John Paul
Getty Agnew Agnew’s antiques research specialist consultant expertise professional expert
witness Oxford Cambridge Frick Collection curator Andrew Mellon Goya Manet Emily
Carr Manet Durer Albrecht Durer Peter Paul Rubens
