The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-06-04
A R 7 GALLERIES
HOLDMANY
FAKES
French Expert Says 20 Per
Cent of Metropolitan Museum
Gothics Are Frauds.
BY ELSIE MCCORMICK.
Cosmopolitan News Service.

lible Americans have been sWlndled
out of millions Of dollars by the
purchase of spurious art treasures"
was revealed by several experts
here today, following the charge OF
M. Cornillon, Paris authority, that
20 per cent of the Gothic sculpture
in the Metropolitan Museum con-
sists of modern limitations. Other
Paris art experts have stated many
fake art objects have been sold to
John D. Rockefeller and other
American millionaires.
Though refusing to comment on
the Metropolitan case, Sir Joseph
Duveen, one of the worlds fore
most art experts, said today that
it is more difficult to prove the au,
thenticity of eleventh, twelfth and
thirteenth century sculpture than
of any type of art objects. He
called attention to the fact that
the Louvre itself was said to have
been deceived in regard to the
sculptures of Pathenay, medieval
figures and bas-reliefs, for which it
paid large sums of money. Some
had heads that the oldest inhabi-
tants of Pathenay declared were
modern improvements, while others
Lwere found to have been reconstruct
ed from the knees up.
One Of the favorite tricks Of un-
scrupulous foreign dealers, said
| Kraushaar, is to hang an "old
master in an ancient chateau, take
the prospective buyer to see it, and
tell him q story about the financial
straits of the owner. The surround
ings lull suspicion to such an ex-
| Hon 10 %0C he rNi0
ture without further Investigation,
quite unconscious of the fact that
it had been hung there day before
yesterday.
Take Modern Art.
Art-faking has gone so far that
it has even included alleged works
of contemporary painters, Krashaar
said.
THE trick of classifying the paint
ings of living artists gets by
frequently because of it's sheer
audacity," the expert stated. "Of
course it is often found out, but
by that time the dealer who con-
| summated the sale has changed his
address. A person is not nearly
so likely to investigate a modern
because he doesn't believe that any
one would be bold enough to fake
the works of a contemporary
painter Revelations in this field
| have Included number of spurious
works bearing the signatures of
George Inness and Eugene CarTierc.
"While I have made no personal
inves cation of the Gothic sculp-
lures at the Metropolitan, have no
doubt that museums all over the
/ United States have at least a few
spurious pieces in their collections.
| The vastness of the art-faking i'll
| dustry would make it almost inevi-
table,
| Howard Young, of the Howard
| Young Galleries, stated that in pur.
chasing a painting, the signature is
the last thing looked at.
| 1t was because he had declared
that reputedly medieval Virgin
and Child statue was modern im1-
tation that Sir Joseph Duveen was
recently made defendant in $780,
600 SANDER suit filed by George
Joseph Denote, art dealer with
offices in Paris and New York.
An Old Business.
1.-THE art-faking business is known
to be enormous" declared c. w.
Kraushaar of the Kraushaar Gal
leries. Although the Metropolitan
case has brought the subject into
prominence, the profession of max
ing spurious art objects is many
years old. There are artists in
France who devote all their time to
painting pictures or creating
statues that are later to be foisted
on credulous buyers as the work of
famous men. In making medieval
masterpieces, the artist uses an old
piece Of canvas, and then achieves
further aging by the careful addi-
ton of varniSh and tobacco juice.
Tobacco juice is also employed in
giving a broWnish tinge to statues"
When asked how frauds are dis
covered, Kraushaar replied that the
lmltators are becom. ng so expert
that detection is often extremely diff.
ficuIt.
1.-THE authorities cannot agree
even among themselves" he said.
There isn't man in America
whose word l would take on the
authenticity Of undiscovered
old master / am willing - be-
heVe in a medieval picture only if
it, has been before the public con
tlnuously for so many centuries
that it's history is an open book"
Signatures Meaningless.
olSIdLuISS nave Deen taxed so
OFTEN and for so long that they
mean nothing at ALL" he declared.
In determining authenticity, we
examine the brush-strokes. Just as
every child develops a handwriting
or its own, SO every artist has an
Individual stroke. This method Is
less infallible guide in the case of
the old masters but it is fairly
reliable among the moderns.
Il am certain that there is no
conscious taking in the high class
American galleries; it will be found
on investigation that practically all
owners of worthless art treasures
| purchased them abroad"
simultaneously with the sensa-
tlonaf statements regarding the
Gothic statuary of the Metropoli-
tan Museum. the American Museum
of Natural History discovered that
1t had been victimized in the pur-
chase of relics from Swiss Lake
dwellings. DR.. G.. w. Nelson, esso-
ciate curator of archaeology, stated
that some of the spearheads, picks.
| and arrOWheads recently imnorted