Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-12-28
Artist Had Weapon
Against Fake Sales

ers, | regret that the Louvre no
longer exhibits the Tiara. which rs
fine, anyway
The other instance is the Syrian
collection which has also been mat
ter for lawsuit this year Its finder
or collector seemed to me. when he
asked me to come and see before he
deposited il in the Museum, to be a
Levantine, perhaps Italian. who had
an immense love and great erudftiou
in all such art. Most of his pieces
perhaps all, must have been genuine
But the fear of fake is great SO il
was in Cicero's time. when he used
his oratory to break the political ca
reer of Nerres, a Roman office holder
who pillaged Sicilian collectors Of
Greek art works. And that is why
an art dealer who is competent ex-
pert and is considered honorable in
his dealings can always make a big
fortune.
Among rich American collectors. !
have always heard that the late Mrs
Sarah Cooper Hewitt had obtained the
closest acquaintance with the fake in
duStry in arts that interested her
This was not by sad experience in
buying, in which she was very sure.
but from trying to satisfy her cuFios-
ity. Thus she bought her way into a
regular factory where the manufac-
ture of old masters" was going on
For example, she saw the applying
of fly spots necessary to every well
bred and ancestored old painting
with coffee grounds.
1t is not ancient art alone that is
faxed. Two can work al that game
said the Alsatian painter, Henner. in
his old age in Paris. when he learned
that paintings by him. which he had
never touched, were sold in America.
SO when he painted a new picture.
he set up twelve canvases round his
studio and painted the same picture
on all-and sold them all That is.
twelve collectors have the same pic
ture and it is genuine in each case
| once bought in paris for pres
ent a pipe and cigarette holder with
curiously chased silver stems and was
told they were made by peasant art
lists in Bosnia. Some years after
ward l was in the Alps near cele-
brated monastery, which has in it's l.
brary some beautifully Illuminated
parchments. A workman in the viii
lage persuaded me that some very
pretty portfolios, which he had were
genuine copies, made by himself, Of
decorative patterns chosen in the
monks collection. l found later in
Vienna lots of such portfolios and
the shopkeeper, when / showed my
genuine copy, turned back the silk
lining and showed me his mark. He
added: TT is we who make that Bos-
MAN work of yours also"
In high dudgeon, l went back to my
furnisher in Paris and he said: so
the Vienna man told you that. Well.
here in my books are his orders for
your medieval portfolios and your
Bosnian pipes. They are all made here
in Paris-and much better"
Everybody remembers the director
of the Berlin Museum who persisted
in his belief that a delicate wax stat
uette was the genuine product of an
old master shortly after the year
1500-and then some one extracted
from its core a copy of the London
Daily Telegraph of a year near 1900.
No, Americans are not the only
ones. And even fake art is sometimes
more soul-building than the genuine
OF course, we should like to have II
labeled truly-but the American girl
is right. STERLING HELLO.