CHCH SquareOff Episode featuring AGH Curator Devin Therien - Art Forgery

2016

Pieces of art can sell for millions of dollars, and forgers are working to get a piece of the action. Devin Therien, Art Gallery of Hamilton, describes the high cost of fakes to galleries and collectors.Pieces of art can sell for millions of dollars, and forgers are working to get a piece of the action. Devin Therien, Art Gallery of Hamilton, describes the high cost of fakes to galleries and collectors. …

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0:01

the art trade can be big business just

0:04

ask former CBC host Evan Soloman

0:06

paintings could be sold for millions of

0:08

dollars with some going for more than

0:09

100 million dollars the value of art is

0:12

enticing for some people with knowledge

0:15

and skill leading them to actually

0:16

create convincing forgeries yeah forgery

0:19

is a serious problem in the art world

0:21

some saying fakes are more common than

0:23

we may think now it’s tough to hammer

0:25

down an actual number but some experts

0:27

say that perhaps twenty percent of

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paintings held by major museums may not

0:32

be authentic do you have one well

0:34

joining us now to explain the dark side

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of the art world is Devin tarian he’s

0:37

the adjunct curator of European art at

0:40

the art gallery of Hamilton so Devin how

0:43

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

0:49

curators and art historians and

0:51

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

1:03

doors that is so it’s almost like you

1:05

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

1:14

international art galleries that

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basically because of the level and the

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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

1:27

and that includes ownership history

1:29

provenance research and also various

1:34

technical examinations demen I’m

1:37

interested are there certain artists

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whose works are more easily forged can

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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

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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

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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

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actual fact authentic oh there were any

3:13

steps and the first step is visual

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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

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examine the front and you can examine

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the sides and then after that you can

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use special ultra red lights or blue

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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

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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

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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

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many episodes of my favorite TV shows

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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

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happens but whether someone spent a lot

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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

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you can do other than publicly announce

4:23

that it is a forgery so that the proper

4:25

authorities

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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

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certain that there are not forgeries

4:41

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

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know it must be very hard to detect

4:54

sometimes yes and no and it all depends

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the game going back to the type of work

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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

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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

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there’s collections that assess it and

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we get together we correspond with

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colleagues internationally so it’s

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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

5:29

uh do you have to have a certain skill

5:31

level or could it be someone for example

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that might work in on art gallery for 20

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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

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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

6:16

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

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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

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area you contact a curator at one of the

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major art galleries who

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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

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step one and other than that you could

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also contact auction houses who would

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bring in specialists to take a look at

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the work as well if they were interested

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in taking the work on great that’s Devon

6:57

tarian he’s the adjunct curator of the

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European art at the art gallery of

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Hamilton go out and check out the

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gallery Kim but in a while beautiful

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it’s always fun to do that thanks for

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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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