Without doubt a master forger or faker has talent. It takes skill to create an image that deceives even the most sensitive and well attuned observer. Does technical skill and command of medium, material and style amount to creative mastery? Or is it justifiable that the value of a fake art work goes from bonanza one day to bust the next?
Elmyr genuinely believed his work was on par with the likes of Picasso and Matisse. He sincerely felt that the aesthetic value of his pictures was the same as theirs. His sense of entitlement is clear. He felt he should be rewarded for his talent, and if not his own work, then for the style pioneered by another. In Elmyr’s view the real sham was the establishment. His eyes light with glee when he talks of those experts who authenticated his works. They flash with passion and defiance as he challenges them to enter a room hung with paintings by modern masters alongside his fakes and be able to identify the impostors.
An artwork rarely sells itself. The sheer breadth and extent of market penetration achieved with the work of Elmyr reveals that dealers and experts play an important part. Artistic authentication, expert approval, or the inclusion of fakes in auction catalogues bolsters the value of a work and drives prices upwards. Once uncovered however, a fake plunges from the echelons of artistic greats to the seedy underworld of cheap imitations. In this dramatic turn of events fakes become devoid of value because they are revealed to be borne of malicious intent.
Modigliani by Elmyr de Hory 1963 (Image originally printed in the book Fake! by Clifford Irving)
If Elmyr’s pastiches were executed with the same technical virtuosity of Modigliani for example, should they not be considered as aesthetically pleasing as an authentic Modigliani? By extension should they also be considered as economically valuable? Elmyr’s paintings are just as striking when we know they are by Elmyr and not Modigliani. The object does not change when the deceit is discovered. Its physical state remains unaltered. Only our knowledge of its origin changes. Notwithstanding, perception of the work and its aesthetic and economic value has altered dramatically.
A formalist (or objectivist) would argue that a work should be assessed only on those intrinsic visual qualities readily perceptible to the eye. In this way the fake may very well prove itself on par with the original, even surpass it in quality and value. The work in no way changes when revealed as a fake and should therefore continue to be considered as aesthetically valuable as when it was thought to be by a famous artist.
Considered from a more subjective viewpoint, information about authorship, history and artistic intent - although external to the work of art – are important. The identity and history of a work shapes the meaning we derive from it and are therefore crucial to the final evaluation of its aesthetic and economic value. Through these eyes, fakes are deceitful and distort history. At best they exhibit technical mastery but in the end they are always and ever derivative, imitative and lacking in authenticity and originality. Therefore they lack value.
Fakes pose questions which are not easily resolved, not least by the fact that there is little agreement in critical discourse on what comprises aesthetic value in the first place. Objective factors are difficult to identify and agree upon. Subjective factors are equally perplexing and rely heavily on individual expertise -which is only as useful as the knowledge that individual brings to the table and confined by their individual experience.
Market valuations are convoluted by the same confused and at times circular reasoning that troubles definitions of aesthetic value. However the market does lean towards the subjective point of view. Expert opinions are inevitably informed by subjective factors and experience. Valuations of dealers and auction houses are fundamentally informed by the desire to make money on a sale. Collectors too increasingly assess a purchase in some part on its investment potential.
In the end market judgements of fakes are damming. When uncovered the price of fakes plunge in both perceived esteem and economic value and they are relegated to storage. Some fakes such as those by Elmyr do however continue to hold economic value. Just no where near as much as a Modigliani or a Picasso.
Links to Articles
The best online sources which outline and discuss these issues are articles made freely available by individual authors. The most readily accessible of these are written from either a philosophical or legal standpoint. Many are quite in depth, well researched and sourced. Although few if any of these specifically address the case of Elmyr, his work can be considered in relation to their thought provoking discussions on aesthetic value, fakes and the market. Taken together the following articles cover a broad range of opinions and ideas and cover some of the key debates in discourse on aesthetic value and fakes.
WHERE BEAUTY LIES FAKES AND FORGERIES Jennifer Jenkins
THE AESTHETIC, AUTHENTICITY AND THE ARTISTICALLY VALUABLE by Martin Gough
Forgery in Art by James Wierzbicki
Forgery and Plagiarism by Denis Dutton (Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics)
Authenticity in Art by Denis Dutton (Oxford Handbook of Aesthetics)
Art Hoaxes by Denis Dutton (Encyclopedia of Hoaxes)
Artistic Crimes by Denis Dutton (The British Journal of Aesthetics 19 (1979): 302-341)
Evaluating Art: Organising Art: Constructing Aesthetic Value by Dr Jonathan Vickery
Nan Stalnaker: Fakes and Forgeries in Berys Gaut and Dominic Lopes, The Routledge Companion to Aesthetics (2001)
Effects attribution and the value of sunflowers by Dr William Morrison
Freedom of Expression at the National Endowment for the Arts
Online Discussion Forum - Although a chat site, the discussion here is both fun and raises lots of questions about art, the market and markers of aesthetic value. It provides an interesting snapshot of key issues and questions associated with fakes.
Art Libraries as a Source of False Provenance by Beth Houghton: Download file
Careful Collecting – Fakes and Forgeries: Download file
Who Wins or Loses When Art is Stolen or Forged by Professor Ken Polk: Download file
Some thought provoking questions on aesthetics
What is the Nature of Aesthetic Experience by Jeff Strayer
Aesthetic Questions – Art and Aesthetic Value
Other Useful Sites
In addition to the sites listed in the blog Authentically Fake! For other useful sites with information about fakes and forgeries see:
General Sites – forgery and aesthetics
Caslon Analytics - This provides a good overview of forgery and the issues it raises legally and economically. However the information is very summary and the site functions as more of a starting point with comprehensive and lengthy references to numerous sources relating to various aspects of forgery.
Wikipedia on Aesthetics - A general overview of some key concepts relating to aesthetics.
Art Watch - This site incidentally covers information about forgeries and fakes.
Newspaper/Media Articles
http://www.bitsofnews.com/content/view/5698/43/
http://www.5guineas.com/?m=20060308
Scientific Detection of Forgeries
My Studios
Why Files
Reproductions - There are legitimate Businesses who sell reproductions of famous oil paintings including:
Aspect Art
Art Impressions
Arts Heaven
Sites with information for buyers
International Centre for Art Intelligence - contains general information about authenticity, authentication and classification of art works.
World Printmakers - Also contains helpful hints for buyers of art.