The San Francisco call., 1910-07-24

been busy with them, and so on down
the line.
But the ingenuity of the forgers is
beyond belief and so successful are they
that even the wisest old connoiseurs
are completely fooled The recent old
master expose in New York, where men
or equal experience would testify fatty
against each other as to the originality
OF a painting, even by an artist only
dead a year or two, would Indicate the
frailty of mems judgments and the un-
reliability of expert testimony when it
comes to old masters.
The green goods man and all round
bunko steerer banks on the chagrfn OF
his dupe keeping him quiet when he
dlscovers his loss. No man is anxious
10 De shown up for sucker, and thus
many man who has been swindled by
some eomeon game pockets his loss
and keeps mum and the faker goes
Tree. II is this same silence on the
part of the purchaser of a fake old
master that-makes the selling of spu-
rlous old masters such a safe game.
A friend of wealthy New York coll
lector of paintings went to him and
clearly demonstrated to him the fact
tnat, In selling him a painting by Sir
Thomas Lawrence. the picture sharps
had done him out OF sr0, 600 What did
the collector dos Prosecute the takers
in an endeavor to get back his noonav7
No. That would have held him mn -
rldicule- He did nothing, the fakers
olsposlng OF painting worth at most
SlO0 fqr many hundred times the
amounT and going scot free
instances have been known when a
couector has gone on for years buying
ana add1ngsto his collection of old mas
: sefs' paying enormous prices and liv-
ING In pictorial fools paradise. only
some day TO have a man whose expe-
rience and Judgment was really worth
something come In and. passing upoA,
painting after painting, pronounce the
Iorger1es. the frames being OF more
value than the paintings.
An Old master may be near old
master and may be genuine one. 1t
Is case or caveat emptor. You paw
your money and you take your chance.
Inc galleries of Europe even get
FOOLED with all the expert talent AZ
their command Some years ago. in
purchasing an old master from the
Blenneim collection, the National gall
!ery OF London took six months to sat
isfy itself that the painting was be-
yond all doubt an original from the
hand or It's reputed master. So the
buying OF old masters is a gamble
arter all Sometimes you strike IL very
rich. The smuggling of fine old paint-
lngs out OF Italy is a science. and in
the olden days. when a painting was
ton the old pictare was placed over
fresh canvas stretcher. new can
vas stretcher over that and a Land
scape or any old thing painted upon II.
and so could 1t pass muster in its rrav-
els 70 a profitable market in France
or England In some cases the old
painting itself would be pafntsd over
the new paint being susceptible to the
removing action of weak alcohol that
the old nard paint couple OF centuries
old would resist, 1t was an easy matter
TO restore the genuine old master to
its primitive condition when IL reached
Its destination.
Collectors have gone into pawnshops
and found an old painting. taken it
nome and. on cleaning 1t up. turned
daub into gem OF art worth thou
sands OF dollars as the superimposed
paint was washed off.
But, at best. the purchase OF an old
master Is much like marriage-a great
lottery You may draw prize An the
way of the genuine article, and you
may not.