Los Angeles herald., 1910-07-03
SHOWS Up FAKES
IN OLD MASTERS
'GiI Bias Tells the Story of Fraud
Among Artists of Mod
ern Times
KNAVES IN ART CIRCLES
Dealers Schemes to Boom Stock
of Pictures Disclosed
by Writer
KNAvES IN ART CIRCLES

PARIS, July Am amazing tale of
the art OF bluff and of bluff in art is
told in the Gil Bias and if only one
half of 1t is true art dealers, critics and
artists. are most of them frauds, and
the great majority Of the public is
gulled. How to boom a picture is
the art of bluff described. "The seri-
Gus and sincere artist is now an
anomaly. He and his paintings are not
wanted. He has only two ways of
making a living-either to paint faxed
old masters or to paint mad pictures
of his own" The tricks of the trade
in spurious old masters are so we'll
known that they no longer require
showing up. The picture, once faxed,
is sent up In value by being bid for by
accomplices at auction sales, or in
troduced into retrospective shows got
up for charitable purposes, out of
which it energies with more or less a
stamp of authenticity. There certainly
have been of late years some exhibit
tions of the kind in Paris, at which
even the not very expert eye could pick
out obvious forgeries.
The art of booming a new "mad'
painter, who is not really mad at all,
but pretends to be, is we'll known, and
the writer reveals it's methods in de-
tail Nearly all experts and two
thirds of the art critics are parasites
who pocket 10 per cent of the value
of all the pictures they judge or criti-
cise," is his predatory remark.
The dealers method for booming a
new painter, then, is this. He catches
him as young as possible, preferably
at an exhibition of the widest canvases
at the autumn salon or the Paris Inde-
pendents and commissions him to
paint a hundred pictures in year
1tc nil h.
out looking at them, and sends them
one by one, or in twos and threes, tc
the Hotel Drouet at judicious inter
walls. What the pictures are is not OF
the slightest importance. The dealer
has confederates who raise the prices
at each sale, and he buys them himself
After few months the young art
lists canvases have a market value
A few months after that more judi
cious booming has turned him into
modern master. The latest form of i'm
pressionism must be called by some
other name. for impressionism is out
O fdate. At the same time the critics
! have to be captured, and this is how
it is done: The critic Is shown some
| fearful daub, worthy to have beer
| painted by a donkey. He utters cries
| of horror The dealer says: What
You don't like it? Take it home witt
you as a favor to me and keep 1t fol
six months. Then you will see.' lr
due course an art amateur calls apo
the critic shows him the picture.
"what masterpiece! The most
modern thing in art l have seen for q
long time" The critic begins to agree
Another visit from another enthusias-
tic amateur is enough, and he writes
a column of panegyric upon the new
master. Both new master is doomed
and becomes the vogue. Wealthy anc
simple-minded amateurs sell theii
Corots and buy up collections of the
new masters works The new master
makes about 10 per cent profit and the
dealer 90 per cent on the transactions
The artist is at the mercy of the
dealer, for the latter has an infallible
weapon against him. If he grumbles
the dealer floods the auction rooms
with a hundred or so of his master
pieces at one go, and gives all his AGO
lytes orders not to bid. The picture
sells at 5 cents and the artist is done
for. If half of these revelations be
true the art world is mostly composed
of knaves and the amateur public o.
fools