Forged and fake arts are reported in public museum collections, galleries and private collections per year. The sad thing is, forgeries and fakes will be around. But there should be appropriate action to be taken to stop them.
Forgery and Fakes
Fake is defined as a work that’s a replica, misattributed or a copy. These replicas or copies could be created and also circulated on the market without spotting the difference from the original version. In relation to misattribution, there are paintings that go through few rounds of attribution since no one knows who made it.
The work might be linked to “School of” or “Circle of” a certain artist. By doing a bit of research from Old Master Artists, they had workshops of apprentices or assistants who assisted them in completing their masterpieces as well as followers who tried mimicking their style.
What about Forgery?
Forgery is different from fakes. With forgery, it’s a kind of work that has an intention to deceive. Forgers have the essential tools to make something that’s close to the authentic works with the help of science. At the same time, by the mastery of copying the artist’s techniques and style.
While doing research on a painting, it is feasible to find similar one that’s published or that’s in the raissone catalog of the artist. Forged provenance documents are usually accompanying the work that might include photos or handwritten letters. Some of the infamous forgers throughout history even staged photos with modern people who are next to the artwork. This is to add to the convincing power of the documentation of history of the said artwork.
It is very important to have a meticulous eye when buying artworks whether offline or online, especially if it is sourced from a different country. Use translation services like https://ozfanyi.com.au/ to ensure that you have a thorough understanding of everything enclosed into the artwork you are buying.
Don’t be Lazy Doing Diligent Research
Otherwise, what you thought to be an authentic piece of the artist’s work may turn out to be either forged or fake ones. For any collector or investor, this is a total nightmare.