Counterfeit water-colours

roger1 · June 4th, 2009, 08:26 AM

I suspect that a lot of water-colour paintings that come up at auction are in fact ink-jet copies that have been touched-up and framed to produce an attractive painting at a reasonable price.
The fact that such paintings are marketed by the auction house as water-colours is, of course, illegal but seems to be accepted as "fair game" if the bidder buys without ensuring the authenticity of the medium.
Does anyone with such experience wish to give advice on how to ensure that a water-colour painting is genuine and not a good manipulated ink-jet copy?

John · June 4th, 2009, 12:26 PM

And of course you're unlikely to have the opportunity to take the picture out of the frame in order to examine the paper. I guess what I would do is talk to the auctioneer about the work and see what he or she says. If they examined it and can talk about it with confidence, I'd be inclined to trust them. If they give you more of an "as-is", "no refunds" vibe, then I'd be very careful.

roger1 · June 5th, 2009, 11:11 AM

There's quite a lot of info online about how to identify an ink-jet counterfeit which I find quite useful but I guess experience is the best guide.
Chatting with the auctioneer I find somewhat difficult as they are usually too busy to spend much time with a punter - at least that's the case here in UK but it could be different in other countries.

John · June 5th, 2009, 05:36 PM

True, it's probably better to phone or email in advance, which means screening the auction catalog in advance. The auctioneer is going to be very busy and distracted on auction day.

roger1 · June 7th, 2009, 03:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John

And of course you're unlikely to have the opportunity to take the picture out of the frame in order to examine the paper. I guess what I would do is talk to the auctioneer about the work and see what he or she says. If they examined it and can talk about it with confidence, I'd be inclined to trust them. If they give you more of an "as-is", "no refunds" vibe, then I'd be very careful.

Regarding examination of the paper, ink-jet printers can of course accept water-colour paper which would be genuine. Magnified examination of the actual "brush strokes" would surely be the only way of making sure the picture was not a copy?

John · June 8th, 2009, 02:43 AM

I would tend to look for the evidence of the water being applied to the paper and then drying, although this could also be faked. I suspect the pigment also bleeds through the paper sometimes, but I'm not a painter so I could be wrong about that. In general, a close examination of a selection of watercolor paintings would probably useful in training your eye.

June 4th, 2009, 08:26 AM	#1
roger1 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: UK Posts: 171	Counterfeit water-colours I suspect that a lot of water-colour paintings that come up at auction are in fact ink-jet copies that have been touched-up and framed to produce an attractive painting at a reasonable price. The fact that such paintings are marketed by the auction house as water-colours is, of course, illegal but seems to be accepted as "fair game" if the bidder buys without ensuring the authenticity of the medium. Does anyone with such experience wish to give advice on how to ensure that a water-colour painting is genuine and not a good manipulated ink-jet copy?

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June 4th, 2009, 12:26 PM	#2
John John Malyon, host Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 2,401	And of course you're unlikely to have the opportunity to take the picture out of the frame in order to examine the paper. I guess what I would do is talk to the auctioneer about the work and see what he or she says. If they examined it and can talk about it with confidence, I'd be inclined to trust them. If they give you more of an "as-is", "no refunds" vibe, then I'd be very careful.

June 5th, 2009, 11:11 AM	#3
roger1 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: UK Posts: 171	There's quite a lot of info online about how to identify an ink-jet counterfeit which I find quite useful but I guess experience is the best guide. Chatting with the auctioneer I find somewhat difficult as they are usually too busy to spend much time with a punter - at least that's the case here in UK but it could be different in other countries.

June 5th, 2009, 05:36 PM	#4
John John Malyon, host Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 2,401	True, it's probably better to phone or email in advance, which means screening the auction catalog in advance. The auctioneer is going to be very busy and distracted on auction day.

June 8th, 2009, 02:43 AM	#6
John John Malyon, host Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 2,401	I would tend to look for the evidence of the water being applied to the paper and then drying, although this could also be faked. I suspect the pigment also bleeds through the paper sometimes, but I'm not a painter so I could be wrong about that. In general, a close examination of a selection of watercolor paintings would probably useful in training your eye.