Fake Painting Abandoned By Owner

Here's an interesting story, just happened in our lab yesterday.

A dealer came in the lab to have me look over a painting that I had, once upon a time ago, felt was a fake painting... or at least it wasn't painted by the artist whose signature was showing. It was, in fact, an old painting, probably painted in the 1920's judging by the materials used for construction. Obviously, someone puts a signature on an unsigned painting because they want it to be worth more. But this signature was completely wrong for this painting. The sad thing was, the owner had $30k invested in this painting. Here's a picture of the painting...

 

So, the dealer brought in the painting, I guess to test me if I was consistent. Anyway, the signature was as blatantly fake as it was the first time I saw the painting... and in disgust, the dealer throws his arms up and says, "Well then, just keep it! I don't want it!" 

What? A free 48" x 36" painting from the 1920's? Great! But a word to the wise, if you are a collector, get some help from somebody with eyes and a microscope for these kids of details before you buy.

Collectors should consider other things to take care of their collections. Go to www.saveyourstuff.com and sign up for Free Preservation Tips.

George Washington Is In The House!

By far, the most famous portraits of George Washington were done by Gilbert Stewart at the end of the 1700's. Its kind of cool to see one up close and personal... even better to massage it. We got to put our fingers all over this one by giving it a light surface cleaning, a couple of spots of touch up (inpaint) and a new varnish. Now he's all prettied up for the holidays!

A great discovery rewards a smart buyer... after cleaning this painting!

The overall gray color of this painting made it look like it was painted dark and gloomy. But the new buyer knew that this artist usually had much brighter colors. He was very smart, waiting to buy this after it failed to sell at auction for a huge discount. Now, with the cleaning and a new frame, the painting's value should change substantially. Look at the difference between the right side (clean) and the left side (dirty)!!! Wow... we see this kind of change all the time and we are still amazed. WARNING! If you are a do-it-your-selfer, this is not a job for your 409, Windex or your favorite potion. The dark colors are prone to dissolving more easily than the other colors and a half cleaned job would look blotchy and terrible. We are using a rotation of several solvents to ensure safety for the colors while yet removing all the grime and discolored varnish (and maybe some smoker's nicotine mixed in!).