The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1905-12-14
Art FORGERIES N PARIS
An Account of the Traffic in
Spurious Paintings
AMERICA THE MARKET

Methods Of Secret Syndicate of
Dealers Exposcd-FaCtoric THAT
Turn Out Fraudulent Pictures
Many Shipped to This Country
Tricks to Give Aged Appearance.
\ curious and instructive account
- the traffic in spurious works OF
as conducted by the most expert
practlced hands In Paris, is con-
Nuted by M. Ch. Franche in re-
.'ut issue of the Revue Internatlon-
a,a des Fabrications.
As the article deals largely with
the so-called dealor expert, a few
words concerning the qualities and
functions of that important person
age may be necessary to elucidate
the facts gathered by NJ. Franche
and make their significance clear
TO American readers. To begin with,
it must be understood that the gov
ernment does not, as many are apt
70 believe, hold itself responsible for
the authenticity of the articles sold
at the Hotel Drouot.
The official auctioneer (commis-
SOL u lIl leN VI ma. bts anu lltNutul-
ly Is, ignorant of art and all things
related to it, nor does he concern
hi self with the appraisement and
pulling Of the goods sold that task
falls to the lot Of the expert who Is
chosen by the seller for his own
benefit and the protection of the
bidders. It is the expert who COM
piles The catalogue, presides at the
sale and estimates the value of the
various articles.
The discoveries of NJ Franche
show that there exists and has ex-
fsted for many years a kind of Sc
cret syndicate of the more profit
gato dealer experts, whose object
is 10 monopolize the trade In works
OF art and not only to countenance,
but actively to encourage the pro-
duction and propagation OF fraudu-
lent limitations to serve their own
ends.
Controlling every event at the
Hotel Drouot, the dealer experts
says NJ. Franche, ARE in a position
which enables them to instigate the
seizure of pictures by pronouncing
them spurious, and so they declare
their vigilance by discrediting such
rs do not bear their stamp, thus
achieving by ingenious II ignoble
-7eans practical control of the sale
the works OF art
ere is a typical example OF the
hods employed by the dealers
spurious goods:
ne proprietor Of shop in Paris
ing procured four landscapes by
1c-ot Daubigny, Diaz and TIL.
Rousseau hired a good copyist, who,
m return for comfortable lodging
M the country with salary Of 5000
u month, undertook to make twen-
ey-fve copies with slight modifica-
mons of each Of the four canvases
In ten months the task was finished
b the satisfaction of the employer
and the hundred pictures we're sent
10 this country and sold at a high
price as originals from one noted
collection or another.
An important consideration In
yuch cases is the necessity of imita-
ting the patina Of old pictures with
artificial cracklings and so forth.
Various methods are employed with
mis- end in view.
Saffron bistre, black coffee and
licorice are favorite applications as
q preliminary TO vanishing. Some
add a fatty oil to the varnish, or
a mixture of bitumen, yellow lake
and red ochre, which gives 1t some
thing the appearance of old varnish
In doctoring paintings which are
wholly modern, the following pro-
cess is held to be effcacious: The
painting Is first vanished with
white OF egg and then powdered
over lightly with very fine coffee
grounds; on this preparation Is
spread a thick coating of paste.
which is dried before a hot fire, and
then superimposed by second and
finally third coating.
After an hour or two the canvas
Is cleaned with sponge, and an eX-
cellent result Is often revealed,
though failures are not by any
means uncommon. In successful
cases the white of egg produces an
excellent imitation of the cracking
of old varnish; the coffee stains re-
semble the damage done by flies,
and the action of the paste on the
pigments is not unlike that of time
and exposure.
The application OF little yellow
varnish qualities the canvas under
treatment to the rank of an Old
Master and In eight or ten months
1me 1t will be in a At state for ad-
mission to the Hotel Drouot, 1t
should be mentioned, by the way,
that experienced dealers always en-