EXPERT IN THE FINE ART OF AUTHENTICATION

Freemanart Art Authentication Experts

Case Study:

Paul Gauguin Watercolour - 2 Tahitian Women

Beyond  Wildenstein

Discovering Gauguin

Fake Paul Gauguin watercolour

<  Now, if ever this painting had any chance to be an authentic Paul Gauguin watercolour, then it would have originated from within Gauguin's creative period somewhere between 1890 and 1900. That's when Paul Gauguin was working and living in the Polynesian islands of Tahiti.

 The number of paintings Paul Gauguin painted of Tahitian girls wearing the red floral Tiare motif on a sarong, is indeed more than many and whilst on first inspection it is easy for some to say  that for Paul Gauguin, this painting is just not good enough to be by him, there are times when art authentication experts have to ' absolutely prove ' the issue of authenticity either way.

A Gauguin fake it may be but perhaps it could be an authentic work by Gauguin?

So let's look at why this Paul Gauguin water color on the left is not and cannot possibly be by Paul Gauguin.

Interestingly, a lot of information comes from an inspection of the back of the picture, applying some simple logic and a slightly deeper more forensic approach into a Gauguin fake.

 > On the right, the paper on which we are lead to believe Paul Gauguin painted these two Tahitian women above is executed on Ingres paper.
Ingres paper has a definitive pattern of lines as you can see, created in its manufacturing process, seen on the right.

 Artists the world over and including Paul Gauguin himself have chosen and used Ingres paper by preference, certainly for drawing on but seldom for painting. Particularly not with watercolor as Ingres paper is too absorbent and can buckle easily.

 So what else does the back of the fake Gaugins & its paper tell us?

 Look at the bottom right corner in the image to the right. It's trimmed and rounded as were the other three and there is discoloration from the edges of the page seeping towards the middle too.

Dirty marks which go all the way around.

^ The overall size of the so called Gauguins' paper is 8  3/4  x  11 1/4 inches.

Note: That's Imperial measurement and not Metric.

 Paul Gauguin received all his paper which was supplied to him direct from Vollard in France & so the paper would be cut and measured in metric measurements. Paper measuring 8  3/4 x 11 1/4 inches is a very specific size too.  It's called Demi- Quarto & is specifically used to describe a size of paper that is used in a book. Which would account for the machine rounded corners and the age marks which appear all around the edges of the paper too. Discoloration caused by impurities seeping into the paper from the outside in.

 To further prove the point, look at the image below which shows the right hand edge of our not so Paul Gauguin watercolor's paper.

The blue arrows below, indicate some of the regular  1   1/2 inch holes which the books binding string went through. Clearly you can see where the blank, Ingres paper was torn from the front of an old book to be used to create a new Paul Gauguin painting on. It's an old trick of the art faking trade.

 Above: Right hand edge of the fake Paul Gauguin wate colour paintings' paper.

< Detail of Paul Gauguin fake watercolor.

Top right centre.

< Where the red arrow points on the Fake Gauguin watercolor painting to the left, is a thicker area of paint or 'impasto' in which some  residue and in particular, paint brush hairs were embedded. Upon further inspection under the microscope, some interesting features can be noted!

Forensic photographic detail of Paul Gauguin fake watercolour, embedded residual paint brush hairs

 Synthetic, smooth surfaced filaments, as photographed in the purported Paul Gauguin fake painting above and used in paintbrushes,  are produced by extrusion. Thus giving them the regular, tubular & glassy appearance and not the 'thick to thin' and 'scaly' form of a natural animal hair, such as the preferred artists brush made from sable. Much like those below.

Acrylic is also a product of the sixties and not the 1860's but the 1960's so our friend Mr Gauguin could not have possibly painted this picture even on a bad day .   He died sixty years earlier than it's invention.

Below: Microscopic imaging of sable brush hairs.

Paul Gauguin signature on fake watercolor drawing of 2 Tahitian women

Microscopic imaging of sable paint brush hairs not evident in the Paul Gauguin fake painting we examined.

The deliberate application of a fake Paul Gauguin signature to the painting:

The Paul Gauguin signature taken from the fake watercolor drawing shows clear constructional differences to the image of a legitimate Paul Gauguin signature which are self evident >

Legitimate Paul Gauguin signature

 Art authenticators and art fraud investigators the Freemanart Consultancy use forensic analysis, academic study & sound investigative procedures to investigate & pursue the authenticity of hundreds of paintings, drawings and prints annually for clients all over the world and not just those executed or claimed to be by Paul Gauguin. Though we are currently working on a major investigation into a possible Paul Gauguin Tahitian work which has recently surfaced in the USA..

The investigation procedures now demand forensic, chemical and spectographic analysis of the pigments and a good look at what lies beyond the paint.

A fake Gauguin or a long lost authentic Gauguin is yet to be seen but with forensics, the truth will out?

 Clearly the Paul Gauguin painting we investigated and discussed here was not by Paul Gauguin himself. Which right from the start was evident to us and will also be to many of you.  rankly, the quality of the application of the water color to the paper leaves much to be desired and bears an amateur, untrained or practised approach.

But not to a non expert eye, as was the case when our client bought this fake Paul Gauguin work believing it to be a real Gauguin painting it was indeed real and couldn't possibly be a fake Gauguin!.

His heart simply got the better of him and the simple question, "is it good enough to be by Paul Gauguin," was never even contemplated?

An expensive mistake!