0:01

the art trade can be big business just

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ask former CBC host Evan Soloman

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paintings could be sold for millions of

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dollars with some going for more than

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100 million dollars the value of art is

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enticing for some people with knowledge

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and skill leading them to actually

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create convincing forgeries yeah forgery

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is a serious problem in the art world

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some saying fakes are more common than

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we may think now it’s tough to hammer

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down an actual number but some experts

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say that perhaps twenty percent of

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paintings held by major museums may not

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be authentic do you have one well

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joining us now to explain the dark side

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of the art world is Devin tarian he’s

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the adjunct curator of European art at

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the art gallery of Hamilton so Devin how

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serious is this problem of forgeries in

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the art world well it’s a pleasure to be

0:47

here and it’s a serious problem and as

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curators and art historians and

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specialists and museums there’s an

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ongoing process where we always go

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through to take a look at all the works

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we possibly can whenever they’re being

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gifted to us to make sure there are very

1:01

few forgeries that make their way in the

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doors that is so it’s almost like you

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have to assume that it might not be real

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and it’s like let’s prove that it is

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before we take it absolutely that is one

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of the working premises of all major

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international art galleries that

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basically because of the level and the

1:20

degree of art forgery that we have to

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basically go through a thorough

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comprehensive analysis of all objects

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and that includes ownership history

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provenance research and also various

1:34

technical examinations demen I’m

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interested are there certain artists

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whose works are more easily forged can

1:43

you could you is a Matisse forgery

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more common than a go gang forgery for

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example well those both those artists

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work within a period that can be easily

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forged it’s typically artists in the

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sort of post 1880 period that are forged

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the most often and that’s largely

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because the the mass production of oil

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paints took off during the late 19th

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century and a lot of those oil paints

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their chemical base as it was back then

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are still the chemical base today so

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artists today have their

2:13

hands on the actual actual tools and the

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actual chemical pigments that Matisse

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orgo gained used for example I would

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imagine Modern Art would be really much

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easier to forge since often there’s not

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even like an object or person in it very

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much so and that’s where you get away

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with not having to assess how the

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artists hand moves for example when

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you’re dealing with old masters for

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example you who do representational work

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where you see people depicted you often

2:43

are able to assess their brushstroke

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what direction they’re hand is moving so

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that way you can cross check that with

2:49

for example where they right-handed or

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left-handed okay so you sort of

2:54

explained the process here but how does

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how does a gallery how does an auction

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house go about proving the authenticity

3:02

of the painting it comes in you’re going

3:05

to be suspicious looks like the real

3:06

thing now what process do you have to go

3:08

through to determine that it is in

3:10

actual fact authentic oh there were any

3:13

steps and the first step is visual

3:15

assessment and you would take the work

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out of the frame that it appears in so

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you can examine that back you can

3:21

examine the front and you can examine

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the sides and then after that you can

3:25

use special ultra red lights or blue

3:28

lights to examine to see if anything

3:30

appears underneath the surface and then

3:32

you would do a thorough thorough

3:34

ownership background to make certain

3:36

that you can trace the work back over

3:38

multiple generations and through

3:39

multiple sales on top of that if there

3:42

are even further questions that’s when

3:44

you begin the technical analysis of

3:46

works using such processes as X

3:49

radiography infrared reflect ography and

3:52

other than that that’s pretty much the

3:55

standard process before you get into

3:56

some more scientific practices yeah

3:59

sounds just like what I’ve seen in so

4:01

many episodes of my favorite TV shows

4:03

with the lights and everything but what

4:05

happens if a painting is discovered to

4:08

be a fake I don’t know how often it

4:10

happens but whether someone spent a lot

4:13

of money on it or whether it’s hanging

4:15

in your gallery you know what do you do

4:18

well quite frequently there’s not much

4:20

you can do other than publicly announce

4:23

that it is a forgery so that the proper

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authorities

4:27

and can begin to inquire as to where it

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was acquired and who may have produced

4:32

it and for example at the art gallery of

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Hamilton we are continuously examining

4:37

and researching our works to make

4:38

certain that there are not forgeries

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have you accepted forgeries no way a

4:43

today we have not come across a forgery

4:46

in our collection through the ongoing

4:48

research that we conducted and we

4:50

wouldn’t hold it against you because you

4:51

know it must be very hard to detect

4:54

sometimes yes and no and it all depends

4:57

the game going back to the type of work

4:59

the century that it was made in for

5:01

example and other than that contemporary

5:05

art is pretty much what is forged the

5:06

most as I said because it is the easiest

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but when it comes down to it there’s a

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large curatorial committee meeting that

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goes through and begins to assess if

5:16

there’s collections that assess it and

5:18

we get together we correspond with

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colleagues internationally so it’s

5:21

actually quite difficult these days to

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get a forgery into a gallery who’s

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responsible for the modern-day forgeries

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uh do you have to have a certain skill

5:31

level or could it be someone for example

5:33

that might work in on art gallery for 20

5:36

years see these pieces of art and say

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you know what I could forge this and get

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away with it well it could be a bit of

5:42

both mark you you could be an incredibly

5:45

talented egotistical individual who just

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decides that this is a better way to

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make money then fight it out on the

5:51

general art market or to you can have

5:54

worked in an art gallery for decades and

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know the ins and outs of the business

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and how to present yourself to certain

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individuals frequently first-time buyers

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and be able to pass off copies that way

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so it’s it’s it’s complex and it’s an

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ongoing area of investigation for

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galleries on a day-to-day basis okay so

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what advice can you give our viewers if

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they’re interested if they know of

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someone that’s getting rid of a piece

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they just happen to have the money maybe

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it’s not the priciest but you know even

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cheap artwork can cost you five hundred

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dollars and you just want to double

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check you’re not getting a piece of junk

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what do you advise people well first of

6:29

all you would speak to specialists in

6:31

the field and depending on where you

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live and for hamiltonians for example or

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anybody in the Greater Toronto Hamilton

6:37

area you contact a curator at one of the

6:39

major art galleries who

6:40

would then be able to refer you to a

6:42

specialist or would then provide their

6:44

expertise themselves and that would be

6:46

step one and other than that you could

6:48

also contact auction houses who would

6:50

bring in specialists to take a look at

6:51

the work as well if they were interested

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in taking the work on great that’s Devon

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tarian he’s the adjunct curator of the

6:59

European art at the art gallery of

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Hamilton go out and check out the

7:02

gallery Kim but in a while beautiful

7:04

it’s always fun to do that thanks for

7:05

being on thanks guy thanks Devon when we

7:12

come back barclays bank is putting an

7:14

end to employees dressing down on

7:15

Fridays you know I don’t want my

7:18

financial interest being served by a guy

7:20

and you know a bad Hawaiian t-shirt I

7:23

don’t the people need to let loose after

7:25

a busy work week and you know what Liz

7:26

if I want to slip on my favorite pair of

7:28

hot pink pair of shoe coast I should be

7:31

able to on Fridays that’s coming up next

7:34

on square

7:36

Oh

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