The Challenge for Collectors: Knowing the Difference Between Real and Counterfeit Art

Real versus Fake?

Distinguishing a genuine work of art from a counterfeit wannabe stands at the foundation of every collector’s turmoil. “Fakes” are not always an effort to deceive. However, most “fakes” are fraudulent. Here are a few different scenarios to consider as a collector:

An artist’s estate can morally add an artist’s signature to a piece post mortem in an effort to identify the estate and the artist on artwork that was unsigned originally.
An unscrupulous art dealer can add a fake signature to make the artwork more valuable. Even the signature of an unknown name can make the artwork more valuable than an unsigned painting.
A “new” painting can be antiqued to look old and more valuable.
An old painting can be “doctored” so heavily to mask or disguise repairs that it changes the essence of the artwork and makes the artwork no longer “original.”
Old artwork, now dirty, can be mistaken for something it is not. This can be an honest mistake by a collector or dealer.

Here are two interesting examples that recently came into the lab:

An art gallery bought a print that they believed was an original but dingy landscape painting. The surface of the print was textured and somewhat masked by the layer of discolored dirt, which gave the appearance of paint. However the image was a serigraph applied through a screening process, which is a printing type common since the 1920’s.
An old painting, clearly from the 1920’s, arrived in our lab for examination. The signature in the lower left hand corner was quickly identified as blatantly fraudulent. Unfortunately, this California landscape had cost the client $35,000! Furthermore, there was no recourse from returning it.

FACL offers expertise and analysis to assist in your evaluation processes as a collector. Also, we work closely with a specialized appraiser who is very talented and qualified.

This piece was printed in the 1920’s with a technique that results in paint texture and was covered with grime. An art dealer mistook this print as an original painting.