Fake Certificates of Authenticity
Freemanart Consultancy - Art Authentication & Art Fraud Investigation Experts
Be very wary of fake works of art sold as authentic prints which are signed convincingly; Dali, Picasso, Chagall or Miro. They may not be.
As more and more bogus limited edition prints flood the art market, it's Salvador Dali, as number one in the fake limited edition print stakes followed by, Marc Chagall, Joan Miro & our old friend Snr. Pablo Picasso all over again. They are the top four most faked artists in print and the most regular fakes of type we see.!
How do you spot a fake Picasso print, a fake Dali print a Joan Miro or a fake Chagall limited edition print ?
Salvador Dali
In this report, watch $35,000.00 going down the drain as more fake Salvador Dali and Joan Miro limited edition prints emerge supported by bogus Certificates of Authenticity.
Written by art authentication expert David Freeman.
If you own limited edition prints that you have invested heavily in which are supported by flowery Certificates of Authenticity, (called COA's in the trade) like the one on the right below, it may be a wise move to do some serious thinking about the authenticity and legitimacy of the actual certificate of authenticity itself and not just the authenticity of the print or the legitimacy of that signature and get them thoroughly checked out professionally.
International art authentication experts the Freemanart Consultancy with bases in the USA, Canada, the UK, Italy, France, Spain and Germany, see thousands of works of art each year, including a myriad of limited edition prints and naturally, all are purportedly originals, printed by and of course hand signed by the artist himself.
Though frankly it has to be said that in many cases, the ink, be it of the print itself or the artists signature, has hardly had time to dry at the time when the print is bought by an unknowing investor!
Unless the fraudsters and dubious art dealers who encourage the manufacture of and sell these prints have a direct line to heaven and can get the deceased artist to sign the prints for them personally, both the prints and the so called 'original' signatures they purport to display are extremely questionable in the authenticity stakes.
But the fraudsters keep getting away with it.
Fake Dali, Miro, Chagall and Picasso limited edition prints come in all shapes and guises and are in most cases supported as being authentic and legitimate Dali's and Picasso's by believable, flowery certificates of authenticity, presented to you by 'highly qualified individuals' who are far more qualified in cleverly deceiving you than you think!
Recently, we had 3 totally separate authentication cases to review and each for individual clients who are not related in any way. With one exception. They bought them from the same source.
All came to us for reassurance that the art works they bought back in the 1980's as a sound investment for the future, are what they seemed to be at the time! Authentic.
Between them, our clients are now down $35,000.00 having bought fake prints supported by bogus certificates of authenticity like this one>
This is the first story about just two works of art both claiming to be Salvador Dali limited edition prints. Both prints are in fact fakes and with fake Certificates of Authenticity to give them believable credentials.
Titled: Santiago El Grande & St Jacques De Compostella by Salvador Dali the question was; were they legitimate Dail prints, or not by Salvador Dali at all?
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The Fake Certificate of Authenticity:
Joan Miro
Fake Certificate of Authenticity
Look more closely at this so called 'Certificate of Authenticity' above (right) and you will see that it has has huge loopholes in it semantically and in its clever design and layout. Problems which were never spotted or even looked for when the prints were bought.
The Certificate of Authenticity illustrated here, supports the authenticity of a Salvador Dali art print purchased by our client, a highly regarded American medical doctor who invested heavily in works of art purportedly by Dali, Chagall and Miro back in the 1980's.
These so called authentic Salvador Dali limited edition prints were purchased from an art investment company that our client believed were both reputable and responsible (The art investment company in question hailed from Quebec in eastern Canada which is all I can say due to the legal ramifications of naming them!) Clearly, they were neither reputable nor responsible art advisors, only to themselves. As they were responsible for defrauding hundreds of unknowing individuals out of countless thousands of dollars and got away with it.
With a view to selling his art investments one day and enjoying the long term profits promised by the art investment company in his retirement, the doctor turned to us for confirmation of the legitimacy and authenticity and for authentication of his limited edition Dali prints.
Below is the image of one of the Dali prints that our client bought.
It's title is recorded on the Certificate of Authenticity as;
"Santiago El Grande" Published by Magui in 1984
This piece of paper cost him a cool $6,000.00 back in 1980.
Santiago El Grande" Salvador Dali?
After some straightforward cross referencing and a study of the definitive Dali catalogue raisonne which records with absolute accuracy the legitimate graphic works and prints of Salvador Dali, the dreadful truth began to emerge.
*PLEASE NOTE: We have blocked out the name of the owner of the print which appeared on the Certificate of Authenticity for obvious reasons and also disguised the signature of the issuer of the authenticity certificate as well as the name of the company who originally sold the prints. This we had to do.
It's because we would like to avoid getting sued for either the breach of the copyright of the certificate of authenticity or for defamation of the issuers character by naming the company who sold the fakes! Nice?
Now, the Dali catalogue raisonne documents and records all legitimate, licensed or authentic works by or after Salvador Dali up to 1980. A critical year
That's because few sensible people in the industry rely or bother with the published catalogue raissones after 1980 and that's because after that year, if a work bears the signature of Salvador Dali, most respectable auctioneers & dealers are more than sceptical of it's authenticity.
So WHY sceptical you ask?
Salvador Dali did not sign any prints after 1980!
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Print number 2 - Dali's Shakespear.
The records tell us about this particular print in its 'legitimate' form .
"Salvador Dalí": Catalogue Raisonné of Prints II : Lithographs and wood engravings, 1956-1980 / edited by Ralf Michler and Lutz W. Löpsinger; with a foreword by Robert Descharnes.
Published by: Munich ; New York : Prestel, c1995."
IT CONFIRMS: The correct and original title of this print as:
'St Jacques De Compostella' Executed in 1958.
Size 580 x 43.7 mm. Printed on Japon paper.
It also tells us that there were only 3 official editions of this print made:
Edition 1- Is numbered in Roman Numerals 1 to XXV (1>25) printed on Japon Nacre paper.
Edition 2- Is numbered 1-50 and printed on Arches paper.
Edition 3- An additional impression numbered 51 to 172 was then printed on Rives paper.
There is also an Appendix attached relating to this work which reads:
"In 1981, at least 3 x 300 copies (unofficial reproductions) were made on various papers with wide margins and forged Dali signatures"
So is this print a real Dali - Shakespear as
claimed on the certificate of authenticity?
Yes it is But it's also a repro!
The Magui ART FRAUD CASE:
In 2004, the Federal Trade Commission filed against the publishers of this work: Magui Publishers Inc.
It's now a matter of public record and so can legitimately become a part of this article if only as an illustration:
Entered into the Federal Register Vol 69. No 42. Wed. March 3rd 2004
FTC vs Magui Publishers Inc., 1991-1
Trade Cas. CCH 69,425 (C.D. Cal.March 28th 1991)
The FTC ( Federal Trade Commission) alleged that defendants violated the FTC act section 5 by falsely representing that Salvador Dali had a role in the creation and production of this artwork, when in fact Dal was physically incapable of participating in the production of print editions of his work and that the art prints were the work of the named artist or that they were authorised by the artist; order prohibits defendants in marketing any artworks, from falsely representing that any artwork displaying an original signature or edition size designation is the work of a particular artist.)
FTC v. Magui Publishers, Inc., 1991-1 Trade Cas. (CCH) 69,425 (C.D. Cal. 1991) (deceptive certificates, promotional brochures and signed prints provided to retailers who passed these items on to consumers), aff'd, 9 F.3d 1551 (9th Cir. 1993).
FTC 1991
The Commission obtained a judgement against Magui Publishers and its owner for producing and distributing fake prints by Salvador Dali.
The court ordered the defendants to pay a whacking $1,960,000.00 "in disgorgment of unjust profits of distributing fake prints and permanently enjoined them from making any false or misleading claims or unsubstantiated representations about artworks by Salvador Dali or any other artist."
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The clever stuff.
So, what were the missed warnings and what can we glean from a bogus certificate of authenticity?
1/ The official title of the Dali print shown above and the official catalogue raissone entry are entirely different.
Bit of a give away really and easy to spot.
There's a marked difference between St Jacques De Compostella and Shakespear is there not?
2/ The bogus certificate of authenticity openly admits however that this print: Is a 'NEW' and original Etching.
It doesn't say that in fact it's a reproduced photo lithographic variation of an etching though.
Comment: Yes, true to say, it is new and its 'original' too. VERY original - But not an original by Salvador Dali.
It's an original created by the publisher!
It's a brand new Salvador Dali limited edition print. It's 'their edition' and one with a title which does not appear in the catalogue raisonne! So they are entirely right in saying 'it's new' and it's not illegal to put that on the certificate. They are being open with you.
3/ The certificate of authenticity also tells us that the print is actually one of an edition of 334.
Well, in the official records, there is not an edition of 334!
Cleverly, the fraudsters have admitted on the certificate of authenticity that this edition is one of an edition of 334 and of course it is indeed one of an edition of 334 limited edition prints. But it's one of 334 prints which are all new and have been photo mechanically reproduced, re- sized, renamed and authenticated by someone who does not tell us his name, position, qualifications or address Someone who just gives us a scribble of a signature at the bottom of the certificate of authenticity which seems very convincing!
The holes in the certificate of authenticity once again:
4/ The certificate of authenticity is carefully and illegibly signed. It's titled differently. (Most of course are and some with quite subtle differences like:'Napoleon' instead of Napoleon and the angels.)
The certificate of authenticity gives no confirmation of the Dali print authenticators name, his credentials, his address nor his qualifications to authenticate the print in the first place. None of this information appears on the certificate of authenticity. Neither does the certificate of authenticity bear a phone number.
Obviously the authenticator doesn't want to be contacted for any reason by anybody at any time!!!!
Helen of Troy from the Homage
a Homere Suite Real or fake?n
NEXT
A JOAN MIRO FAKE
Same company would you believe, same style of selling and dodgy certificate of authenticity. Same bogus titling and non conformity to the official size or numbering or entry in the Miro catalogue raisonne.
Invested & lost was $7,000.00 back in 1990!
Joan Miro. "Katalonian"
But this Miro print is signed (bottom right) so it must be OK I here you say?
Not so I am afraid.
Below, the real thing.
A 'certified as authentic' Miro signature from a bone fide and authentic Miro print of the same time frame.
Authentic Miro signature
COMPARE the two:
Just a tad different wouldn't you say? Similar enough but the construction does differ.
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So where do these fake prints originate from?
Remember; Bogus limited edition prints, if bought at a presentation are often seemingly supported in an ambiguous way. They may be offered on board a principal Caribbean holiday cruise line, or a major hotel chain where these 'investment opportunity presentations' often take place.
NOTE: These events are paid for 'by the presenter' and NOT sponsored by the venue holder or its owners. A clever ploy!
Because the stature of the hosts brand name and the nature of the venue gives you additional confidence to buy, many of us may feel that the cruise line or hotel itself is actually backing it !
It's almost a guarantee of respectability by the nature of it taking place there in the first place.
But sadly that's entirely your own interpretation.
The hosts of the art investment presentation, the hotel or holiday cruise line, are just selling the space for the event. Nothing else.
A very clever bit of subconscious marketing on behalf of the seller isn't it?
These prints may also sold through what is seemingly a 'reputable gallery' like these all were, or through a convincing and promising mail order firm. So it is easy to see how thousands of highly intelligent people made and still persist in making gigantic errors of judgement and in the process loose millions between them to these scams.
An
Here it is: A GENUINE - 'Fake' Miro signature
Fake Miro signature
Joan Miro Lithograph
Femme et Oiseau
Sadly, these very same works of art still appear regularly at auction, both on line (you know who with an E on the front ) and through auction houses in major cities in North America.
I find it infuriating that in researching this particular company (who took my clients for thousands) appear as entries on the internet search engines .
There are half a dozen search engine results for works of this kind, all supplied by this particular firm and all the prints and art products are supported by useless Certificates of Authenticity. (See below)
The auction house let out is always: "Buyer Beware"
So it's your own fault, that is if you don't check it out first before you buy it and they completely wash their hands of the affair if you get it wrong. And you will!
Do remember; if your purchase of a limited edition or an art print is supported by a Certificate of Authenticity (a COA) it is 'supported' as far as they are concerned, but it's not necessarily legitimate.
End of story.
Not quite:
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As I said earlier, it is extremely difficult to name any of the individuals particularly the sources of these art print investment purchases as it it litigious to do so.
However, it is both interesting if not intriguing that Web Site Statistics show many people in North America and Canada are using the following search strings on Google and Yahoo in order to ascertain information about their Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro, Marc Chaglall and Salvador Dali limited edition prints......
But we cannot fathom for the life of us why?
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These search string entries included:
Intercontinental Fine Art, Quebec and Montreal - Intercontinental Fine Art Quebec, Montreal Intercontinental fine art, Intercontinental fine art Picasso print - Quebec Intercontinental fine art - Dali limited edition print, Intercontinental Picasso prints, fake Picasso signatures, signature, Canadian limited edition prints, cruise line, cruise ship auction, Carribean cruise ship auction, Carribean cruise ship fine art auction. Picasso fakes, Picasso fake signature. Certificate of Authenticity, spotting a fake Dali. Picasso fraud. Authenticating Picasso print, fake Picasso signature.
Print signed by Dali. Picasso fakes
If you know any reason why these searches are so, we would be pleased to hear from you?
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Counterfeit prints are often so well produced that few people can tell the real thing from a fake.
Do remember to take professional advice before you buy.
Joan Miro Lithograph
Lezard aux Plumes
Original and authentic??? What do you think?
