The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-02-08
FRAUDS IN WORKS OF ART.
Even Connoisseurs Are Sometimes
Deceived by Good DRnbs.


From the Chicago Chronicle.
The extent of the frauds perpetrated
by importers of putative works of art
is but imperfectly understood. That
the perpetrators find the business a
profitable one is proved by the extent
Of the business and the rivalry that
exists among those engaged in 1t. An
expert in the judgment of paintings
was talking with a party of friends
the other day and he stated that to
his personal knowledge nearly so per
cent. of the old paintings in the collec-
tions of rich men in America are bogus
and were manufactured in Paris and
London, where dealers keep many men
continuously employed turning out
masterpieces" which are later sup
piled with credentials and sold at
high prices.
The artist. in question has spent
many years in the study of paintings
and has devoted much time to the re-
storing of pictures, so that he is well
acquainted with the characteristics OF
the masters and has also in the way
of his employment been intimately as
ISOLATED with the dealers.
"The manufacture and sale OF old
paintings" said he, lis one of the most
pTOHIdDlG III tAiC NCAiN, NAAO
if many of the men in America could
but learn the real value of some of
their high priced collections there
would be a great drop in the Ameri-
can masterpiece market, for 1t can be
called by no other name.
1.-THE work is carried on so cleverly
however, that it is almost impossible
to tell the false from the genuine, and
only. the dealers can make positive
.. g.. I an from
a close study of most of the collections
in America, that the greater part Of
the paintings are mere copies. Some
of them are so crudely done that any
expert can detect the fraud, while
others are so nearly like the genuine
that the dealers themselves do not
know and are forced to put private
marks on the paintings in order TO
avoid buying them in again for the
real thing.
1T is very seldom that a genuine old
painting gets on the market, for they
are now all either in the government
collections or in the gallreies of royal
families, and not for sale. When a
real masterpiece is offered. abroad 1t is
invariably bought by the state, so that
it can be seen at once how little chance
the works have of getting to Ameri-
ca, no matter what prices are offered.
Yet you will find masters in the house
of nearly every wealthy man in Amer
lea. One of the very few genuine
pictures recently brought into Ameri-
ca is the Gainsborough that J. Pier
pont Morgan bought in England.
| "Of course, purchasers will not buy
these paintings at a high price with
out some papers showing that they
are real, but the supplying of these
papers is a very simple matter for the
dealer and they come with the paint
ing like a dish with a pound of tea.
To take an instance in point, l was
looking over a collection in this city
and the owner showed me painting
credited to a celebrated artist, of
which he was very proud; he gave me
a whole list of data concerning ii
of the picture.
THE papers were all right, but 1t
so happened that the original to which
they applied was in the mansion Of
member of the English royal family,
and l had examined it recently my
self. The picture in America was
only a copy, and not very good one
at that, for the paint was blistering
and the whole thing had cheap air.
1t was not worth cent over $50, yet
the capitalist had paid nearly $4,000
for 1t.
This is only one incident out of
many could expose many of the
frauds, but it would only break up my
business, and / probably would not be
believed Dealers who sell these old
paintings hang together and experts
called upon are with them, so that ii
is practically impossible to get an hon
est opinion from anyone about a paint