Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-05-11

- magnificent work Of REM
brandt, signed with the masters name, called
~The sack of Troy" and sold it to wealthy
Tourcoing textile manufacturer named Decon.
ninck for the insignificant sum OF $4,000.
st win find wealthy American who will pay
you big price for it some day." he added re-
assuringly after the sale.
A few weeks later the dealer discovered
signed Rubens, entitled 1.-The Road to Calvary"
in q poor widows dusty old attic and literally
gave it to Monsieur Deconninck for another
$4,000.
Then, in rapid succession, like conjurer
with his bag Of tricks, he produced works OF
Durer Hobbema ValesqueZ, Ruysdael and other
great masters, all carefully signed, from the
various old ruins, and delivered them to the
happy textile manufacturer at the same ridlcu-
lousy low scale Of prices.
"rhe Louvre the National Gallery and the
Metropolitan Museum will not give you a min
utes peace when they discover that you have
all these masterpieces" the dealer assured him.
AS q further proof of his honesty, he de-
manded that Monsieur Deconninck ask the adj
vice Of another dealer. They're beauties!" ex-
claimed the other expert, who happened to be q
friend of the first one. You have certainly
made a great bargain will give you the
double of what you paid for any of them any
time"
The manufacturer was tempted to sell his
canvases and take his 100 per cent profit, but
the dealer who had sold them threw up his
hands in establishment at the very idea.
why you are madi" he declared. 'They
are worth so times the price you paid. No, no!
Don't even think of selling them now. will
find an American connoisseur some day who
will pay your price. You will get millions!"
THIS lucky discoverer of masterpieces made
his supreme coup when he dragged superb
Franz Halls, 1.-The Man With the Glove" from
among a lot of old junk in cellar a. few
weeks ago. He announced with much fanfare
that he would sell it at auction at Lille, but
several skeptical English experts who had
rushed over from London threw chill on the
proceedings by asking for even some slight
proof of authenticity, and the disguised dealer
Withdrew his masterpiece when it reached only
$751; 900. real Franz Halls. worth half mil
lion, going begging at sl5000l 1t was an insult
to an honest dealer.
The gloomy chill that settled over this auc-
ton stirred such doubts in the heart OF
Monsieur Deconninck that he summoned q
noted art expert from Paris to pass on his
beauties.
''The whole lot of them are not worth o
tinkcr's DAM" snorted this expert "They are
utter fakes and have been painted within the
last six months The paint is not even dry.
You can see for yourself that it is not cracked
yet. what horrors!''
The disillusioned textile manufacturer natur-
ally filed suit for recovery of the money he
had invested" in the bogus masterpieces, and
the inquiry Of the investigating magistrate re-
vealed some piquant details of the art-forging
game.
'I touched up and reprinted some mediocre
old canvases for the dealer, but when they len
my hands they had no signatures on them"
testified an artist who is employed as a re-
TOUGHER of the state picture gallery at Lille.
"No one was more astonished than to see my
work signed Rembrandt, Rubens and Durer."
IT sold him that thing you call Rembrandt
for So, but it has ertainly been changed a
lot" an astonished junk dealer declared.
This banal affair. now in the hands Of Jus
tice at Lille is symptomatic of a vast traffic in
bogus old masters, chiefly intended for Ameri-
can consumption, that runs into many millions
Of dollars every year and is constantly increaS-
ing in volun1s. Europe is simply deluged with
such fakes Il - estfns..5ed that there are
100000 Rembrandts in circulation, 10 ere just
one example. The taking, copying, adapting
has been going on for 800 years and the best