ART FORGERIES

Otago Witness, Issue 2589, 28 October 1903, Page 73

ART FORGERIES

Tho subject of "Art Forgeries" i« continued by Mr M. H. Spielmana in the Magazine ol Art for September. The folJowing passage occurs in the section dca l■ing with engravinge, and should prove of great int&rest to the collector: — Tha work of the honest copyist is ionictimes disconcerting. I mentioned just now the name of George Cruikshank, some of irhose etched work is extremely fine — much finer than the ordinary collector of haughty taste has any knowledge of. The German copies of his etchings to "Oliver Twist" would, of course, deceive no one, because the work of, hi* needle has been transiafced with a graver. But the French copies of iiis etchings to "Grimm" — who can detect them? Ruskin could not. He wrote his pan&Tyrie on them, and then admitted he was deceived.' A close comparison reveals the differences ; but the appearance of spontaneity — which is usuall y the final test and

touchstone — in the French version is absolutely astounding.

Again, I have known many of the facsimiles etchc-d by Mr F. Paiithorpe of George OruickshaDk's earlier boyish works — therefore; the more valuable — to be passed off as originals. The copyist etcher's monogram had been removed with sandpaper, and, stained and "aged," they have pre-sen-ted the aspect " >f the originals. In tii«se days of mechanical or photographic reproduction, the collector who is not an expert is liable to pay dearly for his experience. The German reproductions of the old masters, such as those issued by the ImT>eria! Press, Berlin, for educational purposes, etchings and engravings of Rembrandt, Durcr, etc., are «j fine .hat they could scarcely fail to mislead an unsuspecting student; "but when, as in the case of the Durer, the design has considerately been reversed, the result is entirely satisfactoryThe reproductions by Amand-Durant, and €Vtn som* 1 Ices prominent craftsmen, arc disconcerting to the novice, ©specially if the manipulator has doctored them first. Hamerton pointed out that the copies of Rembrandt which M. Flameng produced for Charles Blanc's book are a "tour ck force," "unsurpassed in accuracy," and finer than any photograph, as ''they possess that artistic quality which the photograph cannot attain." lam not sure that Hamerton would repeat the assertion nowadays in view of the later achievements of photography ; but Flameng. it was eaid, "worked wiih the eye and hand of Rembrandt," as in his "Hundred Guilder Print." Where, then, is the collector to turn « the manipulator "adds ace" to work as this? These photographic rc-product-.on? date chiefly from 1868. Even Mr Hamcrton's own etched copies, made- to demonstrate the processes in "bitina" described in his books, have been known tc be accepted by young collectors at high pricos.