The art world can finally put a name to the man who created more than two dozen fake Jean-Michel Basquiats paintings, in a cross-country art fraud that ended with the FBI removing the pieces from the walls of the Orlando Museum of Art. Former Los Angeles auctioneer Michael Barzman has pleaded guilty to the scheme in federal court.
The exhibition of fake Basquiats led to staff shakeups and investigations at the Orlando Museum of Art. The CEO is gone, and the museum is still dealing with the fallout. The situation is also prompting larger questions about the faking of fine art, how often it happens, and how art buyers can avoid it.
Lauren Stump is a certified Orlando fine arts appraiser. She says the authentication process is more complicated and difficult than people may think.
Lauren Stump:
I think one of the biggest misconceptions that the public have about authentication or provenance is that there is this 'certificate of authenticity' that's slapped on the back of a piece that alludes to, or certifies, or warranties, that the artwork that they've purchased is indeed authentic by the artist that it purports to be by. And that's not the case.
Nicole Darden Creston:
So can you give me some examples of investigations that you've had to do or odysseys that you've had to go on in order to authenticate some pieces?
Lauren Stump:
Sure. I have been involved in multiple authentication processes, because they truly are a research process. So an example of good provenance would be: there is essentially a lineage of ownership going back to either the artists themselves or to a gallery that was very closely affiliated with that artist at some point in time. An example of bad provenance is: I bought this out of a storage locker, and I think that it is "x". A lot of paintings that are inherited by people or they come to them by descendants, those can have questionable provenance. So perhaps you don't have those gallery receipts or auction history sale that says this was purchased at this point in time. And I think another misconception people have is that appraisers themselves are authenticators. And that is not the case in 99.9% of the time that an appraiser is working with a piece of artwork.
Nicole Darden Creston:
So what is the difference there? You have to go looking to find the authenticator or some authentication, as opposed to being the expert yourself. Is that right?
Lauren Stump:
Sure. So authentication is typically an opinion by someone who has the right to wield that opinion. For example, if an artist is known to work with a specific lithography studio, the person that was working hand to hand with that artist and the creation of the artwork would have a very good idea of the materials and the time period. And they would be someone that you would reach out to to render an opinion of authenticity. For example, there used to be many more authenticating boards. The issue of bad or fake art popping up in the art world sort of necessitated that in some ways. Unfortunately, many of those authenticating boards have disbanded, there are very few that still exist. There is what's called "readily apparent identity" of an item and that takes into consideration age and media type, inherent qualities or characteristics of a painting can to a professional appraiser say a lot. When we're talking about something that has exceptional value, and questionable provenance, then the need for authentication and to get those third party opinions becomes more important.
Nicole Darden Creston:
That makes sense. So if there is a private seller or a private buyer, if they are facing danger of purchasing a piece of fake art, you, appraisers are the bulwark against that?
Lauren Stump:
Professional appraisers should be a bulwark against this sort of deception. Yes. That being said, appraisal practice is highly unregulated, and many people who purport to be professional appraisers really don't have the experience and the education to be appraisers. So it is very important that the consumer understands that there are different regulating agencies and certainly the use "PAP standard," which is the uniform standards of Professional Appraisal Practice. If the appraiser that you're engaging with does not subscribe to peer review, regularly educating themselves as to current appraisal standards, they do not comply with or use PAP, those would all be red flags to the consumer. And certainly anyone who values your artwork that has, let's say, skin in the game - being associated with them making profit - that would also be a red flag that perhaps the appraiser is not operating in a non-biased manner.
Nicole Darden Creston:
Do you have any thoughts on why, if this person was going to try and fake some art, would he choose Basquiat necessarily?
Lauren Stump:
Basquiat, until this year, held the record for the highest grossing auction sale of an American artist. That was recently surpassed by Andy Warhol. So to put it simply, there's value there. Also, a neo-expressionist painter is much easier to recreate. For example, Jackson Pollock, most people see those paintings as just splatter paintings on canvas. So there are a lot of forgeries and deception inside of the Pollock market. Now, on the reverse side of that, or the other side of that, is that there was an entire team of conservators that went to Pollock's studio and scraped paint off the floor and recorded all of the known samples of Pollock's paints so that they could be referenced in used and future research.
Nicole Darden Creston:
So I guess I have a larger philosophical question for you. What is it that pulls people to continue to buy these well-known art pieces? What is it that moves people to continue toward fine art, as opposed to say, a local artist?
Lauren Stump:
That's a really good question, Nicole. I think that there's a reason that the artists that we consider to be the great artists of our generation and past generations...there is an experience of standing in front of a painting and having that emotional response, and wanting to replicate that in your everyday life, or to own something of such historical importance. I think that naturally draws people to participate in this market. I tell my clients all the time to buy what they like, because there really is no set formula for knowing who the next best artist is, or whether or not the artwork that you purchase will indeed gain in value over time. But I'm sure that there's a far better answer that some art consultant in New York should give. [laughter] But I would tell people to trust their gut and to initiate the opinion of a professional prior to a purchase and not subsequent to a purchase. Unfortunately, I get a lot on inquiries of value and authenticity and things of that nature from people that have already made the decision to purchase. And that's a very difficult position to be in, especially if you're going to be buying in a range of value that is significant.
