Holy Smoke and Mirrors

Some years ago I received a referral from the Art Institute of Chicago. A man was told I would probably be able to authenticate a Chagall he had purchased while on a tour of the Holy Land. Apparently nobody else would or could do it.

I have seen many Chagall lithographs, and have all the catalogues. I know what they should look like, how the ink should lay on the paper, and what the paper should feel like in the hand. I know which ones were problematic because unscrupulous people had offered them to me. If it was not one of those I would see if other impressions of the same image had popped up at more than one auction the same year. This would be a very rare thing to happen. Counterfeiters would submit them to smaller local auctioneers without the resources to fully research fine prints. They would also be sold to dealers in other countries.

I knew this was a different story when he told me which of the thousand different Chagall lithographs he had purchased. It was a large, colorful bouquet of the type that would sell for over $30,000. he was charged only $11,000, and I knew it was bad. I told him to bring it in.

It was still crated in plywood and I removed the lid and took out the large gold framed print. At first glance it looked pretty good, but when I measured it the size was off about 1.5 cm. That is way beyond the margin of error from what is listed in the official Chagall lithograpghs catalogue. A further check of auction records going back to the 1980s confirmed the correct size, so I knew this was counterfeit without even opening the frame.

After removing it from the frame, the sheet was heavier than proper Archeslithograph paper. It was a digital print that had been made from a high-resolution scan of a real print. It was a good enough counterfeit to fool a tourist. The buyer was on a Sinclair Network bus tour of the Holy Land with a scheduled stop at a gallery in an area that Jesus is said to have walked. These Fundamentalists in a convoy of buses all stopping at this particular gallery fully trusted their hosts. Although, my client felt uneasy enough to have me look at it once he got back to Chicago.

A fancy certificate of authenticity from the gallery along with an elaborate story about the acquisition of the print print from the family of Chagall was taped to the back of the frame. My experience is that the longer the story the higher likelihood of the con.

I contacted the gallery.with a copy of my report. ademanded a refund for my client. The gallery held fast to their story, but sent a full refund of $11,000 upon return of the painting.