Gary Arseneau

The Dead Don't Sculpt, non-disclosed Rodin -forgeries-, from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, at the Laguna College of Art & Design

2011-07-23T00:04:00.068-04:00

NOTE: Footnotes enclosed with [FN ]

The Laguna College of Art & Design's July 11 - September 23, 2011 Rodin's Figures, an exhibition organized by the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, promoted as having "14 figure sculptures by French artist Auguste Rodin (1840-1917),"[FN 1] actually contains fourteen non-disclosed posthumous (1925-1995) forgeries.

Auguste Rodin died in 1917. The dead don't sculpt.

On page 661 of the Seventh Edition of Black's Law Dictionary, -forgery- is defined as: "the act of fraudulently making a false document or altering a real one to be used as if genuine."[FN 2]

The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation promotes, in their published 2001 Rodin, A Magnificent Obsession catalogue, these same fourteen non-disclosed posthumous forgeries found in this Rodin Figures exhibition, as being "Signed and numbered A. Rodin."

Under U.S. Copyright Law 101. Definitions, a -work of visual art- ie., -sculpture- is defined as: “multiple cast, carved, or fabricated sculptures of 200 or fewer that are consecutively numbered by the author and bear the signature or other identifying mark of the author.”[FN 3]

The dead don't sign, much less consecutively number.

The Laguna College of Art & Design' motivation largely seems, in part, an attempt to cash-in by selling $500 to $25,000 "Sponsorship Opportunities [as] tax deductible gifts,"[FN 4] by having the public believe and act on that belief that this Rodin Figures exhibition contains "14 figure sculptures by French artist Auguste Rodin."[FN 5]

Would misrepresenting fourteen non-disclosed posthumous forgeries as original works of visual art ie., sculptures "by Auguste Rodin," for monetary consideration, be considered "a knowing misrepresentation of the truth or concealment of a material fact to induce another to act to his or her detriment"[FN 6] which is one legal definition of -fraud-?

The Laguna College of Art & Design's "Academic Honesty/Academic Dishonesty" policy found on page 5 of their Procedure Manuel, in part, states: “Every member of the Laguna College of Art & Design, including students, faculty, and staff must adhere to standards of honesty in producing and disseminating knowledge and artwork. Credit must be given for material drawn from any source beyond a student’s own first-hand experience. If this material is not common knowledge of the kind possessed by everyone working in a general area, you must give credit for that material in a reference that identifies the source by author, title, and page (or, if the source is not something in print, such as a artwork, by details about the source that is equally precise).”[FN 7]

Rhetorically, since the dead don't sculpt or sign, much less consecutively number, would the Laguna College of Art & Design's misrepresentation of non-disclosed forgeries as "sculpture by Auguste Rodin," be a violation of their "standards of honesty in producing and disseminating knowledge?"

This monograph will document these contentious issues of authenticity and more with the Laguna College of Art & Design's July 11 - September 23, 2011 Rodin's Figures, an exhibition organized by the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation.

"Ovid's Metamorphoses, c. 1885-89. Musee Rodin cast 10 in 1979, Bronze, Georges Rudier, 13 1/8 x 15 3/4 x 10 1/4 in. (33.3 x 40 x 26 cm), Signed and numbered A. Rodin No 10 and inscribed Georges Rudier Fondeur Paris and © by musee Rodin 1979, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, 483" (p 177, Checklist Rodin A Magnificent Obsession catalogue)
Photo: p 257, 2003 Rodin's Art, The Rodin Collection Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts, Stanford University by Albert E. Elsen, Rosalyn Frankel Jamison and edited by Bernard Barryte
1 OF 14 NON-DISCLOSED POSTHUMOUS FORGERIES

POSTHUMOUS PLASTER REPRODUCTIONS USED FOR CASTING
Aside Auguste Rodin was some 62 years dead in 1979 when this non-disclosed posthumous forgery "Ovid's Metamorphoses" was "Signed and numbered A. Rodin," the Musee Rodin admits, on their website, that the museum sends posthumous plaster reproductions rather than Auguste Rodin's original lifetime plasters to foundries for posthumous casting in bronze. The Musee Rodin's reasoning is that it "perserves the old plasters which are obviously more valuable since they were made during the lifetime of Rodin."[FN 8]

Since these second-generation-removed casts in bronze are not reproduced from Auguste Rodin's original lifetime plasters, by definition, they would not even be considered reproductions.

DEFINITION OF REPRODUCTION
This factual perspective is confirmed on page 350 in Ralph Mayer’s HarperCollins Dictionary of Art Terms & Techniques, where -reproduction- is defined as: “a general term for any copy, likeness, or counterpart of an original work of art or of a photograph, done in the same medium as the original or in another, and done by someone other than the creator of the original.”[FN 9]

Rhetorically, when the Musee Rodin has someone, with their hands and fingers, posthumously reproduce plaster reproductions from Auguste Rodin's original lifetime plasters, whose fingerprints are subsequently cast into bronze?

Yet, the vast majority of the academia and museum industry have the misconception and/or perpetuate that misconception that the posthumously cast bronzes, attributed to Auguste Rodin, are cast directly from his original lifetime plaster models.

An example of this misconception can be found in the National Gallery of Art's published 1981 Rodin Rediscovered catalogue. On page 279 of the "An Original in Sculpture" essay, the author, Jean Chatelain, professor at the University of Paris and former director of the Museums of France, wrote: "When the twelfth copy of The Burghers of Calais is cast, the same plaster model will be used as was used the first time in 1894, but of course different craftsmen will carry out the casting."[FN 10]

So, what would Jean Chatelain think of the Musee Rodin's posthumous practice of sending plaster reproductions, rather than Auguste Rodin's original lifetime plasters, for casting in bronze?

SECONDARY REPRODUCTIONS NOT EQUAL TO ORIGINAL
Ironically, in the prior page 278 of his "An Original in Sculpture" essay, Jean Chatelain wrote: "an engraving can be reproduced by means of photographic techniques, a tapestry can be copied from one already made, and a bronze statue can be copied from an existing bronze. Through manipulation of these techniques, it is possible to achieve quite commendable results, but all things being equal, none of these secondary reproductions will have the same quality as those made from the original model itself."[FN 11]

The Metamorphoses of Ovid, p 516, The Bronzes of Rodin by Antoinette Le Normand-Romain

LCAD'S CHECKLIST SNAFU

Additionally, in a Laguna College of Art & Design's Rodin Figures exhibition checklist snafu, this non-disclosed posthumous forgery titled "Ovid's Metamorphoses" was initally listed as a lifetime -cast-: "About 1885-89, This cast: cast number, edition size and date cast unknown Perzinka Foundry, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation."[FN 12]

The Perzinka foundry worked with Auguste Rodin between 1896 and 1901.[FN 13]

Even if the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation had actually loaned this potential lifetime cast ie., reproduction of Auguste Rodin's "Ovid's Metamorphoses" to the Laguna College of Art & Design's Rodin Figures exhibition, would that have been "a rare opportunity for students, faculty and the public to interact with Rodin's art?"[FN 14]

Aside reproductions, much less forgeries are not art, there is no guarantee that Auguste Rodin even had the opportunity to interact with the vast majority of his authorized lifetime reproductions, cast in bronze, since they went directly from the foundry to the polisher [someone who applied the patina] then to the client or dealer, never to be seen by the artist himself.

This perspective is confirmed on page 23 of the former Musee Rodin curator Monique Laurent's published 1988 Rodin catalogue, where the former Musee Rodin curator wrote: "Often it was the polisher rather than the caster who gave the piece it final tone. And since one of the most loyal of these, Limet, lived more than a hundred kilometres from Paris, received the pieces directly from the foundry, and, after putting on the patina, sent them straight to the clients, one must admit that the idea that Rodin had personal control over every phrase of productions was slightly fanciful, at least after his success in 1900."[FN 15]

"St. John the Baptist Preaching, c. 1880, cast in 1925, Bronze, Alexis Rudier, 31 1/2 x 19 x 9 1/2 ( 80 x 48.3 x 24.1 cm), Signed and inscribed A. Rodin and Alexis RUDIER Fondeur PARIS with raised signature A. Rodin inside, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Collection, promised gift to the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, 1726" (page 181, Checklist Rodin A Magnificent Obsession catalogue)
Photo: p 639, 50.8cm lifetime cast, The Bronzes of Rodin by Antoinette Le Normand-Romain
2 of 14 NON-DISCLOSED POSTHUMOUS FORGERIES

RODIN GAVE REPRODUCTION RIGHTS TO STATE OF FRANCE

Aside Auguste Rodin was some 8 years dead in 1925 when this non-disclosed second-generation-removed posthumous forgery "St. John the Baptist Preaching" was "Signed and inscribed A. Rodin," the State of France and its subsequent agent, the Musee Rodin, was given by [Auguste Rodin]" in his 1916 Will, upon his death: “notwithstanding the transfer of artistic ownership authorized to the State of M. Rodin, the latter expressly reserves for himself the enjoyment during his life, of the reproduction rights of those objects given by him.”[FN 16]

Now the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's website, does not directly contradict those "reproductions rights" when it states: " In accordance with Rodin's will the Musée Rodin was given the right to cast Rodin's sculpture posthumously,"[FN 17] since on page 70 of Ralph Mayer’s 1999 The HarperCollins Dictionary of Art Terms & Techniques -cast- is defined as: “to reproduce an object, such as a piece of sculpture, by means of a MOLD.”[FN 18]

Unfortunately, in an attempt to mask the concept of reproduction, the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation on their website, under “Glossary of Terms,” self-servingly rewrites the true definition of -cast- to: “a sculpture produced with a mold.”[FN 19]

Additionally, the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation contradicts its' own definition of -cast- when it states: “after closing the mold around the clay model, wax is poured into the space between the model and the mold. This stage is crucial in producing a perfect reproduction of the initial sculpture.”[FN 20]

Then to go from the ridiculous to the sublime, the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation further cites on their website the College Art Association's 1974 "Statement on the Standards for Sculptural Reproduction amd Preventative Measures to Combat Unethical Casting in Bronze" as if "sculptural reproductions" not by an artist versus sculpture created by an artist are interchangeable, much less the same.

In other words, it is a non-sequitur, for the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation to first make the -representation- that their “sculptures [are] produced with a mold” then to -disclosure- that their so-called -sculptures- are actually “perfect reproduction{s} of the initial sculpture [using a mold].”

On page 1080 of the Seventh Edition of Black’s Law Dictionary, -non-sequitur- is defined as: “an inference or conclusion that does not logically follow from the premises.”[FN 21]

"Dance Movement ‘D’, Modeled about 1910-11, This cast: Marked No. 1, edition size and date unknown, Unknown Foundry, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation" (p 185, Rodin, A Magnificent Obsession, Rodin, Auguste, Dance Movement ‘D’, Bronze, No foundry mark, 12 3/4 x 4 1/4 x 3 5/8 in. (32.4 x 10.8 x 9.2 cm), Signed and numbered Rodin/No. 1, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, 1469" (p 185, Checklist Rodin A Magnificent Obsession catalogue)
Photo: p 536, The Bronze of Rodin by Antoinette Le Normand-Romain

3 of 14 NON-DISCLOSED POSTHUMOUS FORGERIES

DANCE MOVEMENT 'D' CAST AFTER 1952

On page 536 of the Musee Rodin's published 2007 Bronzes of Auguste Rodin by its' former curator Antoinette Le Normand-Romain, it states a "foundry model" was used between 1952 and 1956, by the Alexis Rudier and Georges Rudier foundries, for casting thirteen (No. 0-12) "Dance Movement 'D' in bronze. The Musee Rodin has "No. 0" in their collection and the "No.1" is listed as "probably" in the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's collection.[FN 22]

FOUNDATION FOCUSES ON THE ART OF AUGUSTE RODIN?
The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's -Mission Statement- states it is: "a private operating foundation established in 1978 to promote and encourage recognition and appreciation of excellence in the arts and medical research, through the support of exhibitions, art scholarships, medical research centers and hospitals, and through the endowment of galleries at major museums around the world. The main thrust of the Cantor Foundation's support focuses on the art of Auguste Rodin and women's health issues. The Foundation's efforts are concentrated primarily in California and New York."[FN 23]

Yet, aside Auguste Rodin was some 35 years or more dead in 1952 to 1956 when this non-disclosed posthumous forgery "Dance Movement 'D'" was "Signed and numbered A. Rodin/No.1," the main thrust of the Cantor Foundation's -Mission- seems to be to perpetuated misconceptions and misrepresentation of their second-generation-removed forgeries as the "art of Auguste Rodin."

"The Benedictions, 1894, Musee Rodin cast in 1955, Bronze, Georges Rudier, 35 1/2 x 24 x 19 in. (90.2 x 61 x 48.3 cm), Signed A. Rodin and inscribed Georges Rudier Fondeur Paris and © by Musee Rodin 1955, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation 1386" (p 183, Checklist Rodin A Magnificent Obsession catalogue)
Photo: http://www.cantorfoundation.org/Rodin/Gallery/rvg81.html
4 of 14 NON-DISCLOSED POSTHUMOUS FORGERIES

$150,000 VALUE FOR A POSTHUMOUS FORGERY?

Aside Auguste Rodin was some 38 years dead in 1955 when this non-disclosed posthumous forgery "The Benedictions'" was "Signed A. Rodin," the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's "Checklist," for their 1998 Rodin: Sculpture from the Iris and B. Gerald Collection exhibition at the Nevada Museum of Art, lists this same "The Benedictions" as having an "Insurance value: $150,000."[FN 24]

AAMD ETHICAL GUIDELINES FOR REPRODUCTIONS
The Nevada Museum of Art is a member of the Association of Art Museum Directors. As an AAMD member, the museum endorses the ethical guidelines on reproductions in their 2001 Professional Practices in Art Museum publication. In part, it states: "museums must clearly indicate, through the use of integral markings on the objects, as well as signs, labels, and advertising, that these items are reproductions - signatures, editions numbers, and/or foundry marks on sculpture must not appear on the reproduction. - The touting of exaggerated investment value of reproductions must be avoided because the object or work being offered for purchase is not original and the resale value is highly in doubt. - When advertising reproductions, museums should not use language implying that there is any identity of quality between the copy and the original or lead the potential buyer to believe that by purchasing any such reproduction, he or she is acquiring an original work of art." [FN 25]

Therefore, under these ethical guidelines, AAMD members, such as the Nevada Museum of Art, could not even display, much less sell the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's "The Benedictions" in their gift shop because of the posthumous application of a counterfeit "A. Rodin" signatures and/or edition numbers and foundry marks.

"The Night (Single Figure), After 1898, Musee Rodin cast 5/12 in 1973, Bronze, Georges Rudier, 10 1/4 x 5 1/2 x 6 7/8 in. (26 x 14 x 17.5 cm), Signed and numbered A. Rodin No. 5 and inscribed Georges Rudier Fondeur Paris and © by musee Rodin 1973 with raised signature A. Rodin inside, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation 567" (p 185, Checklist Rodin A Magnificent Obsession catalogue)

Photo: p 561, 2007 The Bronzes of Rodin by Antoinette Le Normand-Romain
5 of 14 NON-DISCLOSED POSTHUMOUS FORGERIES

THIRTEEN IN AN EDITION OF TWELVE

On page 561 of the 2007 The Bronzes of Rodin by Antoinette Le Normand-Romain, the author wrote the "Standing Female Nude Combing her Hair" a.k.a. "The Night" has thirteen total cast in bronze: "twelve casts, in addition to the no. 0 for the museum [Musee Rodin]."

Therefore, aside Auguste Rodin was some 56 years dead in 1973 when this non-disclosed posthumous forgery "The Night (Single Figure)" was "Signed and numbered A. Rodin No. 5," are we to believe or suspend disbelief when the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation states: "In 1956 French law limited production to twelve casts of each model. A system of numbering was established by French legislation in 1968 whereby the first eight of the twelve casts, numbered 1/8-8/8, have been available for the public to purchase; the last four, numbered I/IV-IV/IV, have been reserved for cultural institutions. This law was reestablished and strictly imposed in 1981."[FN 26]

"Venus, c. 1888, Musee Rodin cast 9 in 1978, Bronze, Godard, 40 1/2 x 7 1/2 x 11 1/2 in. (102.9 x 19.1 x 29.2 cm), Signed and numbered A. Rodin No. 9 and inscribed E GODARD Fondr and © by BY MUSEE RODIN 1978, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation 1599" (p 184, Checklist Rodin A Magnificent Obsession catalogue)

Photo: http://museum.oglethorpe.edu/rodin/gallery.asp?img=venus.jpg
6 of 14 NON-DISCLOSED POSTHUMOUS FORGERIES

Aside Auguste Rodin was some 61 years dead in 1978 when this non-disclosed posthumous forgery titled: "Venus" was "Signed and numbered A. Rodin No. 9," in all probability the correct title is "Aphrodite" as found on page 134-35 in the Musee Rodin's published 2007 The Bronzes of Rodin catalogue[FN 27] by Antoinette Le Normand-Romain and additionally as documented on page 517 of 2003 Rodin's Art, The Rodin Collection, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts, Stanford University catalogue[FN 28] by Albert Elsen, Rosalyn Frankel Jamison and edited by Bernard Barryte.

DEFINITION OF SIGNED
On page 1386 of the Seventh Edition of Black's Law Dictionary, -signed- is defined as: "To identify (a record) by means of a signature, mark, or other symbol with the intent to authenticate it as an act or agreement of the person identifying it."[FN 29]

POSTHUMOUS FORGERY NOT SIGNED BY RODIN
So, whether you call it "Venus" or "Aphrodite," this non-disclosed posthumous forgery was not, by definition "Signed [much less numbered] by Auguste Rodin."

The dead don't sign.

"Torso of the Walking Man, c. 1878-79, Musee Rodin cast 10/12 in., 1979, Bronze Coubertin, 20 1/2 x 10 3/4 x 8 in. (52.1 x 27.3 x 20.3 cm), Signed and numbered A. Rodin No. 10 and inscribed © by Musee Rodin 1979, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation 1516" (p 186, Checklist Rodin A Magnificent Obsession catalogue)
Photo: p 421, 2007 The Bronzes of Rodin by Antoinette Le Normand-Romain
7 of 14 NON-DISCLOSED POSTHUMOUS FORGERIES

On page 421 of the Musee Rodin's published 2007 The Bronzes of Rodin[FN 30] by Antoinette Le Normand-Romain, the author wrote: "first cast, probably exh. 1889" and "twelve casts by Fonderie de Coubertin," not including the cast "no. 0" for the Musee Rodin collections, totaling seemingly at least fourteen.

Therefore, aside Auguste Rodin was some 62 years dead in 1979 when this non-disclosed posthumous forgery "Torso of the Walking Man" was "Signed and numbered A. Rodin No. 10," the limitation to an edition of twelve is, at best, wishful thinking.

"Idyll of Ixelles, 1885, Musee Rodin, cast 4/8 in 1981, Bronze, Coubertin, 21 x 14 5/8 x 14 5/8 in. (53.3 x 37.1 x 37.1 cm), Signed and numbered A. Rodin No. 4 with Coubertin foundry mark and inscribed © by Musee Rodin 1981, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, 1682 (plate 13)"
Photo: p 24, Plate 13 and p 183, Checklist Rodin A Magnificent Obsession catalogue

8 of 14 NON-DISCLOSED POSTHUMOUS FORGERIES

FRENCH LAW & THE NOTATION -REPRODUCTION-

The March 3, 1981 French decree no. 81.255, Article 9, in part, states: “All facsimiles, casts of casts, copies, or other reproductions of an original work of art as set out in Article 71 of Appendix III of the General Code of Taxes, executed after the date of effectiveness of the present decree, must carry in a visible and indelible manner the notation ‘Reproduction’.”[FN 31]

Remember, the Musee Rodin admits they do -not- send Auguste Rodin's original lifetime plasters, but posthumous plaster reproductions, to foundries for casting in bronze.

ALL ORIGINAL - SOME WERE MADE DURING HIS LIFETIME?
Yet, despite that irrefutable fact, the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation would have the news media, much less the public, believe their widely distributed "Summary: Authorized Posthumous Casting of the Work of Auguste Rodin" paper that states: "all works in the Iris and B. Gerald Collection and Cantor Foundation are original Rodins. Some of these were made during Rodin's lifetime, others were made after he died and according to his explicit wishes and instructions to the government of France."[FN 32]

DEFINITION OF ORIGINAL
On page 286 of HarperCollins' published 1991 Dictionary of Art Terms & Techniques by Ralph Mayer, -original- is defined as: "an artist's independent creation."[FN 33]

Does Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's "some of these were made during Rodin's lifetime" statement, give any confidence whatsoever that they understand what constitutes an original, much less a forgery?

"The Night (Double Figure), After 1898, Musee Rodin cast I/IV in 1983, Bronze, Godard, 10 1/4 x 5 1/2 x 6 7/8 in. (26 x 14 x 17.5 cm), Signed and numbered A. Rodin No. I/IV and inscribed E. Godard Fond and © by MUSEE Rodin 1983, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation 1340" (p 185, Checklist Rodin A Magnificent Obsession catalogue)

Photo: p 561, 2007 The Bronzes of Rodin by Antoinette Le Normand-Romain
9 of 14 NON-DISCLOSED POSTHUMOUS FORGERIES

On page 561 of the Musee Rodin's published 2007 The Bronzes of Rodin[FN 34] by Antoinette Le Normand-Romain, the author wrote the Musee Rodin's "Night, Two-Figure Assemblage" is "No. 0" with "twelve cast by E. Godard from 1980: 1 and 2/8" and "I/IV, © 1983, Los Angeles Cantor Foundation."

With so-called edition in eight in Arabic, four in Roman numerals and the Musee Rodin's numbered zero that totals thirteen.

Remember, the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's statement on their website: " In 1956 French law limited production to twelve casts of each model. A system of numbering was established by French legislation in 1968 whereby the first eight of the twelve casts, numbered 1/8-8/8, have been available for the public to purchase; the last four, numbered I/IV-IV/IV, have been reserved for cultural institutions. This law was reestablished and strictly imposed in 1981."[FN 35]

CANTOR FOUNDATION IS NOT A CULTURAL INSTITUTION
Aside this 1983 Musee Rodin cast is not limited to twelve unless of course you consider thirteen a baker's dozen and the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation is not a cultural institution, so how did a so-called non-profit foundation end up with a Musee Rodin's -I/IV- cast that is supposedly "reserved for cultural institutions?"

"Sorrow, 1889, Musee Rodin cast 1/8 in 1983, Bronze, Coubertin, 11 1/2 x 6 1/2 x 6 3/4 in. (29.2 x 16.5 x 17.1 cm), Signed A. Rodin and inscribed © by Musee Rodin 1983 No. 1/8 and La Porte de l'enfer 1977 -81 don DE.B. Gerald Cantor, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Collection, promised gift to the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation 1324" (p 178, Checklist Rodin A Magnificent Obsession catalogue)

Photo: http://ncartmuseum.org/images/ncma/collection/rodin500/sorrow_2009_1_16_view_a.jpg
10 of 14 NON-DISCLOSED POSTHUMOUS FORGERIES

POSTHUMOUS PLASTER REPRODUCTIONS, THE MISSING STEP

In the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's "Ten Step Lost Wax Casting Process of Auguste Rodin's Sorrow" display, it leaves out one important step the Musee Rodin makes by sending posthumous plaster reproductions of the [Step 1.] "artist creates a sculpted model, generally made of plaster, clay, marble, stone, or wood."[FN 36] Therefore, [Step 2.] should be the third step where "The surface of the [posthumous plaster] model is coated with a protective substance."[FN 37]

Remember the Musee Rodin sends posthumous plaster reproductions, not Auguste Rodin's original lifetime plasters, to the foundries for casting in bronze because it "preserves the old plasters which are obviously more valuable since they were made during the lifetime of Rodin."[FN 38]

As a result, the 2nd-generation-removed bronzes from these posthumous plaster reproductions, by definition, would -not- be reproductions of anything Auguste Rodin created.

Additionally, in Step 9, the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's "Ten Step Casting Process" is not only contradicted by the Musee Rodin's use of posthumous plaster reproductions for casting in bronze but actually contradicts itself when it states: "The bronze sculpture and its sprues and gates are an exact reproduction of the wax."[FN 39]

A posthumously cast bronze can -never be a sculpture, much less a reproduction if that bronze is actually cast from a posthumous plaster reproduction.

Yet, the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation continues to use sculpture as an euphemism for 2nd-generation-removed forgeries, much less reproductions.

"Illusions Received by the Earth (The Fallen Angel), 1895, Musee Rodin, cast 1/8 in 1983, Coubertin, 15 1/2 x 27 x 15 1/2 in. (39.4 x 68.6 x 39.4 cm), Signed and numbered A. Rodin/1/8 and inscribed © by Musee Rodin 1983, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Collection, promised gift to the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation 1341" (p 184, Rodin, A Magnificent Obsession)

Photo: p 529, 2003 Rodin's Art, The Rodin Collection Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts, Stanford University by Albert E. Elsen, Rosalyn Frankel Jamison and edited by Bernard Barryte

11 of 14 NON-DISCLOSED POSTHUMOUS FORGERIES

The Laguna College of Art & Design, located at 2222 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach, California 92651-1136, must operate under the laws and statutes of the State of California and the United States of America.

DEFINITION OF DERIVATIVE
Under U.S. Copyright Law, § 101. Definitions, a -derivative work- is defined as: "a work based upon one or more preexisting works, such as - art reproduction."[FN 40]

Aside the Musee Rodin admission they don't reproduce in bronze from Auguste Rodin original lifetime plasters, anything posthumously cast, even from a posthumous plaster reproduction, would be, at best, a "derivative work" ie., reproduction.

ATTRIBUTION SHALL NOT APPLY TO ANY REPRODUCTION

Under U.S. Copyright law § 106A. the "Rights of certain authors to attribution and integrity - shall not apply to any reproduction."[FN 41]

CALIFORNIA LAW REQUIRES DISCLOSURE OF REPRODUCTIONS
California Civil Code 17.38 to 17.45 requires certain disclosure of reproductions if sold for $100 or more. Specifically, California Civil Code 1741 states: “This title shall apply to any fine art multiple when offered for sale or sold at wholesale or retail for one hundred dollars ($100) or more, exclusive of any frame.” Additionally, California Civil Code 1742 (b) states: “This law requires disclosure - whether the multiple is a reproduction.”[FN 42]

Now, granted the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation is not selling these non-disclosed forgeries in this Rodin Figures exhibition, though the Laguna College of Art & Design is soliciting $500 to $25,000 "Sponsorship Opportunities [as] tax deductible gifts."

So, would Laguna College of Art & Design and Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation argue the letter, much less the spirit, of California Civil Code does not apply to them?

"Tragic Muse, 1894-96, Musee Rodin cast 5/8 in 1986, Bronze, Godard, 13 x 25 1/2 x 15 1/4 in., (33 x 64.8 x 38.7 cm), Signed and numbered A. Rodin No. 5/8 and inscribed E. Godard Fondr and © BY MUSEE Rodin 1986, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, 1504 (plate 59)"

Photo: p 76, Plate 59 and p 181, Checklist Rodin A Magnificent Obsession catalogue

12 of 14 NON-DISCLOSED POSTHUMOUS FORGERIES

In 1996, the Musee Rodin allowed the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation and/or its' representative to pick the color of Auguste Rodin’s “Monument to Victor Hugo” being posthumously forged in bronze.

CANTOR FOUNDATION PICKED THE COLOR

This is confirmed in the Fall 1998 Sculpture Review trade magazine published “Casting of the Monument” article by the Coubertin founders Frederic Colombier and Jean Dubo. On page 34 of this article, the founders wrote: “After presentation of samples, the Musee Rodin and the Cantor Foundation approved the color to be achieved.”[FN 43]

This is additionally confirmed in Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation’s published 1998 Rodin’s Monument to Victor Hugo catalogue. On page 10 of the “Forward,” the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation Executive Director Rachael Blackburn states: “Ruth Butler, professor emerita at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, who wrote the introduction to this catalogue, offered her insightful guidance and worked closely with Mrs. Cantor, the Musee Rodin, and the foundry to determine the delicate nuances of the monument’s patina.”[FN 44]

In September 21, 1999 telephone conversation with the Musee Rodin Board of Directors member Ruth Butler, she informed this scholar that Iris Cantor had asked her to observe the casting and patina of Auguste Rodin’s “Monument to Victor Hugo” bronze that the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation was purchasing from the Musee Rodin. When asked whether there was any historical research that would document what Auguste Rodin might had selected as the patina for this bronze, Ruth Butler answered: “it would be up to the foundry.”[FN 45]

When Ruth Butler was asked, in that same telephone conversation, whether the Coubertin foundry, which went into business in 1963 some forty-six years after Auguste Rodin’s death, had asked for her approval of the patina, she answered: “Well.”

So, in 1999, when either Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Ruth Butler and/or the Coubertin foundry picked the color of this non-disclosed posthumous forgery, are we to suspend disbelief or just believe anything was "cast the same way they were while Rodin was alive?"

"Ecclesiastes, Before 1899, Musee Rodin cast II/IV in 1995, Bronze, Godard, 10 1/2 x 10 1/4 x 11 3/4 in., (26.7 x 26 x 29.8 cm), Signed and numbered A. Rodin No. II/IV and inscribed E. GODARD Fondr and © BY MUSEE Rodin 1995, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, 1683" (p 185, Checklist Rodin A Magnificent Obsession catalogue)
Photo: p 140 1998 Rodin a Quebec
13 OF 14 NON-DISCLOSED POSTHUMOUS FORGERIES

On page 310 of the Philadelphia Museum of Art's published 1976 Sculpture of Auguste Rodin by John Tancock, the author wrote of the Auguste Rodin's "Ecclesiastes" plaster, in the museum's collection as "not signed and inscribed."[FN 46]

PLASTER NOT SIGNED - POSTHUMOUS BRONZE IS
So, if Auguste Rodin did not sign an "Ecclesiastes" plaster posthumously acquired by the Philadelphia Museum of Art from the Musee Rodin in the late 1920's, how did the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation acquired an posthumous Auguste Rodin "Ecclesiastes" bronze, "Signed and numbered by A. Rodin" in 1995, some 78 years after his death?

On page 354 of the Seventh Edition of Black's Law Dictionary, -counterfeit- is defined as: "To forge, copy, or imitate (something) without the right to do so and with the purpose of deceiving or defrauding."[FN 47]

"Sphinx on a Column, c. 1889 or later, Musee Rodin cast III/IV in 1995, Bronze, Godard, 36 x 6 1/8 x 9 in., (91.4 x 15.6 x 23 cm), Signed and numbered A. Rodin No. III/IV and inscribed E. Godard Fondr and © BY MUSEE Rodin 1995, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, 1684" (p 185, Checklist Rodin A Magnificent Obsession catalogue)
Photo: The Sphinx, Montage on Column, Produced in 1990, Plaster, 36 [COLUMN: 30 ] x 6 x 9 in., (91.5, [COLUMN : 76.5] x 15.5 x 23 cm.), p 121. Rodin by Raphael Masson & Veronique Mattiussi, © Editions Flammarion, Paris - Musee Rodin, 2004
14 OF 14 NON-DISCLOSED POSTHUMOUS FORGERIES

The above photograph of the plaster, titled "The Sphinx, Montage on Column" is listed, on page 121 in the Musee Rodin's published 2004 Rodin catalogue by Raphael Masson and Veroniqe Mattiussi, as produced in 1990. This posthumous plaster reproduction, that may have been reproduced from Auguste Rodin's original lifetime plaster, may have been the posthumous plaster reproduction sent to the Godard foundry for casting "No. III/IV" in bronze.

Therefore, if the original lifetime plaster was actually signed by Auguste Rodin, the posthumous plaster reproduction would -at best- reproduce his signature. The subsequent posthumous bronze, cast from that posthumous plaster reproduction, would -at best- reproduce the reproduction of his signature. So, to refer to, what at best, is a copy of a copy of something Auguste Rodin may have signed as "Signed" is the kind of troubling practice that undermines the credibility of the Musee Rodin, much less those like the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation that purchase these 2nd-generation-removed posthumous forgeries.

BACKGROUND

As a result, over the last decade or so, the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation and many of the participating museums found themselves between a rock and hard place when confronted by the news media about these many contentious issues of authenticity with their traveling road shows of non-disclosed posthumous forgeries falsely attributed as sculptures by Auguste Rodin.

RODIN EXHIBITION TO PRODUCED BLOCKBUSTER NUMBERS
In a Buffalo News' published -front page- March 28, 2004 "Lively debate on posthumous art" article by Tom Buckham, the reporter wrote: "Who can blame the Albright-Knox Art Gallery for counting on "Rodin: A Magnificent Obsession" to produce blockbuster numbers when the exhibition of 70 works settles in for 10 weeks beginning April 20?"

Yet, "If art dealer Gary Arseneau is to be believed," the reporter wrote: "all but a handful of the traveling works from the California-based Cantor Foundation are "fakes" - sculptures cast long after Rodin died 86 years ago and not from the original plaster molds but from copies of those molds."

On the other hand, "Albright-Knox Art Gallery curator for modern art and a Rodin scholar" Ken Wayne, who wrote his doctoral dissertation on the sculptor while a Cantor Fellow at Stanford University, not only rejected this scholar's assertions that anything posthumous in the exhibition were "copies of copies" but is quoted stating: "Some are lifetime works, and some are posthumous. Posthumous casts are legitimate."

First, how could someone who professes to be a "Rodin scholar" be unaware that the Musee Rodin, as documented earlier, sends posthumous plaster reproductions to the foundries for casting in bronze, so it: "preserves the old plasters which are obviously more valuable since they were made during the lifetime of Rodin.”

Second, as for Curator Ken Wayne's use of the phrase "some are posthumous casts," that "some" totaled at least fifty-four of the sixty or so bronzes, in the exhibition, that were actually posthumously forged between 1919 and 1995 with counterfeit "A. Rodin" signatures inscriptions, some two to 78 years after Auguste Rodin's death in 1917.

The dead don't sculpt, much less sign.

Unfortunately, for the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, neither the museum nor their "Rodin scholar" seemed prepared to address these contentious issues of authenticity.

As for whether this scholar's assertions had merit, the reporter wrote: "In a July 2000 article about the controversy in the Winston-Salem Journal, William R. Gignilliat, an Atlanta lawyer who specializes in intellectual property rights, generally agreed with Arseneau that the posthumous Rodins should be identified as reproductions, even if laws don't universally support the disclosure requirement."

What made this Buffalo News' published "Lively debate on posthumous art" article unique is unlike dozens of prior published newspaper articles, concerning these contentious issues of authenticity raised by this scholar with the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's so-called -Rodin- collection, it was published on the -front page- giving it, its' widest audience.

22,000 ATTEND RODIN VERSUS 167,000 ATTENDED MONET
As a result, five months later the potential consequences of that published front page story became evident when the Buffalo News published on July 2, 2004 "Rodin exhibit closes Saturday; gallery to feature more self-produced shows" article by Tom Buckham. In part, the reporter wrote: "Over the 11-week run that opened April 17, the traveling retrospective from the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, containing 60 of the French master's bronze works, has drawn roughly 22,000 visitors. That's a far cry from the record 167,000 who came to see "Monet at Giverny" during its 14-week stand in 1999, and many fewer than have attended other recent exhibitions starring famous Impressionists."

1.45 MILLION IN POTENTIAL LOST REVENUE
With the Albright-Knox Art Gallery's $10 adult admission to view this exhibition, that 145,000 difference in attendance adds up to estimated $1.45 million in potential lost revenue.

So, did the public stay away in droves because of the Buffalo News published these contentious issues of authenticity in a front page story?

Ironically, Albright-Knox spokeswoman Cheryl Orlick was quoted in that article not only diminishing their attendance expectations but backhandedly complimenting this scholar's exposure of these contentious issues of authenticity: "We would have liked to see more people, but we didn't really expect huge crowds" but "If anything, the debate might have piqued peoples' interest a little bit."

Unfortunately, future museums venues, of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's collection of non-disclosed posthumous forgeries, would not respond as kindly to these same contentious issues of authenticity being -debated- by this scholar.

GLENBOW MUSEUM & CANTOR FOUNDATION PR CAMPAIGN
In the Fall of 2004, in an attempt to preempt these contentious issues of authenticity from being effectively brought up by this scholar in the next venue: the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, Alberta [Canada], the museum and its' Communications Specialist Tanis Booth, along with the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's director Judith Sobol and attorneys for the foundation put together a public relations campaign titled: -The Curious Fixation of the “Rodin Chaser”-.

Here is the unedited version released September 23, 2004:

MEDIA ADVISORY FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Curious Fixation of the “Rodin Chaser”

"Calgary, AB (September 23, 2004) –Beware Calgary! The “Rodin Chaser” will strike in our city in a few weeks. His target will be Glenbow Museum’s fall exhibition, Rodin: A Magnificent Obsession: Sculpture from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, which will be on view from October 30, 2004 to January 30, 2005. This exhibition features nearly 70 sculptures, drawings, and studies by Auguste Rodin, considered by many as one of the greatest sculptors since Michelangelo.
"Since 1999, the “Rodin Chaser” has dogged this acclaimed exhibition in different centres across the United States. By now, the pattern is familiar. Shortly before the scheduled opening of the exhibition, local media are bombarded with lengthy and inflammatory e-mails from Florida artist and gallery owner Gary Arseneau that denounce the sculptures in the Magnificent Obsession show as fakes. Driven by an obsession of his own, Mr. Arseneau is a self-proclaimed crusader on a mission to expose supposed art fraud. He is the self-published author of several books on art and deception and has been a vocal critic of many different exhibitions over the years. Mr. Arseneau tracks the itinerary of A Magnificent Obsession as it travels from place to place and Glenbow Museum is the next venue.
"Gary Arseneau constantly repeats his mantra that ‘dead men don’t sculpt’ and his claim that all posthumous Rodin casts are ‘fakes/reproductions’. The resulting controversy is quickly dispelled when the terms of Rodin’s will and the unique situation of the Musée Rodin are explained. Rodin willed his entire estate to France and he authorized the casting of his work after his death. As Glenbow art curator Monique Westra explains, “Dead men don’t sculpt but dead men don’t change their minds either. The two central pillars of Rodin’s legacy were the foundation of a museum, the Musée Rodin, dedicated to his work and the ongoing casting of his sculptures following his death to ensure the broad dissemination of his art.
"Art experts, scholars and museum curators dismiss Arseneau’s accusations as nonsense. Unfortunately Arseneau’s misinformed allegations temporarily divert attention from the true value of the exhibition, which presents the astounding work of a remarkable artist whose images, ideas and working methods were daring and original, setting artistic precedents which had a huge impact on the course of modern art.
"Rodin: A Magnificent Obsession, Sculpture from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation is drawn from the largest private collection of Rodin in the world. It was amassed by the late B. Gerald Cantor who was fascinated by the great French artist’s work. This travelling exhibition has already been seen by thousands of people across the United States. On at Glenbow Museum from October 30, 2004 to January 30, 2005, Calgary is the first Canadian venue before the show moves on to Halifax and Vancouver."

Media contact:
Tanis Booth, Communications Specialist
Glenbow Museum
(403) 268-4246
tbooth@glenbow.org

On page 41 of the Seventh Edition of Black's Law Dictionary, -ad hominen- is defined as: "Appealing to personal prejudices rather than to reason; attacking an opponent's character rather than the opponent's assertions."[FN 48]

Obviously, the Glenbow Museum, its' Communications Specialist Tanis Booth, the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation director Judith Sobol's public relations strategy, with their "Media Advisory: The Curious Fixation of the Rodin Chaser," was not to address this scholar's assertions but to attack his character.

THE CURIOUS FIXATION OF THE RODIN CHASER PODCAST
The Glenbow Museum's ad hominen strategy toward this scholar was further confirmed in a 2006 "Media Relations Matters" online podcast titled "The Curious Fixation of the Rodin Chaser,"[FN 49] interview by Media Training Consultant Eric Bergman with Glenbow Museum's Communication Specialist Tanis Shortt (maiden name Booth) concerning the museum's Fall 2004 Rodin, A Magnificent Obsession, Sculpture from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation exhibition.

2006 IABC GOLD QUILL AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
This “The Curious Fixation of the Rodin Chaser With Tanis Shortt” podcast interview is described as: “This 10-minute conversation with Tanis Shortt discusses her 2006 IABC Gold Quill award of excellence. She developed a proactive media relations campaign to fend off potential negative publicity when the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, featured a three-month showing of Rodin: A Magnificent Obsession, Sculpture from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation.”[FN 50]

ILLEGITIMATE SOURCE OF CULTURAL AUTHENTICITY
In the interview, the Glenbow Museum's Communication Specialist Tanis Shortt stated: "that when we were developing the marketing and media campaign for this exhibition, we were advised by the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, which is actually one of the largest private collector of Rodin sculpture and who was touring the show, that there is a self-proclaimed crusader who denounces the sculptures in this exhibition. He claimed they were frauds because they were cast following the death of Rodin. And so we were concerned about Glenbow's reputation if we were, I guess, treated in the media as being an illegitimate source of cultural authenticity."[FN 51]

A "Glenbow Museum's Communication Specialist," named Tanis Shortt states: "sculptures in the exhibition" but admits "they were cast following the death of Rodin" and they are concerned the media will treat the Glenbow Museum as "an illegitimate source of cultural authenticity?"

So, did this "Glenbow Museum's Communication Specialist" have the right to be concerned about the Glenbow Museum's reputation?

BEAT HIM TO THE PUNCH

The Glenbow Museum's Communication Specialist Tanis Shortt stated that the museum developed a media strategy to notify the news media with a -media advisory- [on Gary Arseneau] and a "backgrounder" [on the authenticity of these sculptures] to "beat him to the punch."[FN 52]

The Glenbow Museum's "The Curious Fixation of the Rodin Chaser" -media advisory-, stated: "Gary Arseneau constantly repeats his mantra that ‘dead men don’t sculpt’ and his claim that all posthumous Rodin casts are ‘fakes/reproductions’" and "Art experts, scholars and museum curators dismiss Arseneau’s accusations as nonsense."

So, who are these so-called "art experts, scholars and museum curators," referred to in this -media advisory- [on Gary Arseneau], that supposedly believe the dead can sculpt and that anything cast, much less posthumously, is not, at best, a reproduction?

The only name given on this Glenbow Museum -media advisory- [on Gary Arseneau] is the "Glenbow Museum's Communication Specialist Tanis Shortt" who admits later in this interview she has "no curatorial background."

QUITE NEGATIVE AT PREVIOUS VENUES
Despite some misgivings within the Glenbow Museum concerning this -media advisory- [on Gary Arseneau] strategy, Glenbow Museum's Communication Specialist Tanis Shortt stated: "when we demonstrated how it had proven to be quite negative at the previous venues where the show had been hosted,"[FN 53] the museum signed off on it.

So, when the Glenbow Museum didn't like the message, their Glenbow Museum's Communication Specialist Tanis Shortt recommended they attack the messenger.

INITIALLY WANTED TO CALLED HIM THE RODIN STALKER
As for the -media advisory- [on Gary Arseneau], the Glenbow Museum's Communication Specialist Tanis Shortt, stated: "The one hiccup that we thought was totally unexpected was we initially wanted to call him the Rodin Stalker because he'd actually, this fellow, who is the self proclaimed crusader, had previously been referred to as the Rodin Stalker in the media by the media in the U.S. And when we ran this initial document by the lawyers of the Cantor Foundation who's the owner of all these works, the lawyer actually advised that was not a good idea because the legal connotation to using the word stalking. Of course it's a felony. So, we actually had to go back and change it. And of course we thought stalker certainly conveyed a certain message and we still wanted to indicate why or we still wanted to use a word that sort of demonstrated how aggressive this person was in his approach to the media. So, we sort of back peddled and came up with the chaser, the Rodin Chaser. We thought it was still kind of fun phrase." [FN 54]

On page 1412, of the Seventh Edition of Black's Dictionary, -stalking- is defined as: "1. The act or an instance of following another by stealth. 2. The offense of following or loitering near another, often surreptitiously with the purpose of annoying or harassing that person or committing a further crime such as assault or battery."[FN 55]

On page 427 of the Seventh Edition of Black's Law Dictionary, -defamation- is defined as: "The act of harming the reputation of another by making a false statement to a third person."[FN 56]

So, even after being warned by the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation attorneys that referring to this scholar as a "stalker" would imply a "felony" has been committed, this "Glenbow Museum's Communication Specialist" Tanis Shortt still years later continue to potentially defame this scholar when she publicly states: "of course we thought stalker certainly conveyed a certain message."

NOT EVERYBODY HAS A CURATORIAL BACKGROUND, INCLUDING MYSELF
The Glenbow Museum's Communication Specialist Tanis Shortt, when asked "in terms of briefing the media did you have to walk that balance so that you did not overwhelm them with information?," she responded: "Yea, absolutely and that's something we had to do on a day to day basis so we're not alienating ourselves because not everybody has a curatorial background, including myself."[FN 57]

CASTING PROCESS - AN ART FORM

The Glenbow Museum's Communication Specialist Tanis Shortt was asked by Eric Bergman: "So, did they [media] find that they were able to ask more sophisticated questions of the Rodin Chaser because they had that information in advance and to pick through at what were really - really the facts were of the story, is that something that you, some feedback that you got back from reporters?," she responded: "It was, I think the other thing we were really please with was to see the level of interest in the whole casting process, its a pretty complicated process for an art form."[FN 58]

Since, -cast-, by definition, means to reproduce an object such as a sculpture by use of an mold and art is created by a living artist, what are we to think of the Glenbow Museum's Communication Specialist Tanis Shortt who would commingle cast versus art as if they were interchangeable, much less the same?

OTHER ART MUSEUMS - INITIATE THE SAME STRATEGY
"Beyond that," the Glenbow Museum's Communication Specialist Tanis Shortt stated: "this media relations strategy has since been taken on using both our materials and speaking with us in advance to develop their own campaign by five other art museums across North America and I think that's a, that's a big success story in itself. - I think we were in even more pleased because it wasn't even just in Canada, we've actually had three art museums in the states who recognized the success of the campaign and wanting to take it on and initiate the same, initiate the same strategy for themselves."[FN 59]

On page 1232 of the Seventh Edition of Black's Law Dictionary, -propaganda- is defined as: "The systematic dissemination of doctrine, rumor, or selected information to promote or injure a particular doctrine, view or cause."[FN 60]

What the Glenbow Museum's Communication Specialist Tanis Shortt failed to disclose, in this interview, is that these museums, with one known exception, plagiarized the Glenbow Museum -media advisory- [on Gary Arseneau] without giving proper attribution to its' source. So, aside the fraud of misrepresenting, for monetary consideration, including but not limited to admission fees and city-state-federal grants, non-disclosed posthumous forgeries, from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, as sculptures, these museums were intellectually dishonest.

For confirmation, compare these two pdf files :

The Curious Fixation of the "Rodin Chaser" [pdf 201k] (September 23, 2004) *This media strategy won a 2006 International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Gold Quill Award of Excellence in the Media Relations category).
http://www.glenbow.org/about/media/archived.cfm

Beware Vancouver of the “Rodin Chaser!” May 16, 2005 ... Vancouver, BC – Beware Vancouver, the “Rodin Chaser” may strike in our city in ... Since 1999, the “Rodin Chaser” has dogged this acclaimed ...www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/media_room/pdf/rodin_chaser.pdf

As for the Glenbow Museum and Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's assertions that "Art experts, scholars and museum curators dismiss Arseneau’s accusations as nonsense," contrast that with the following, but not limited to, two examples:

DR. ROBERT TORCHIA
FIRST, "concerning the Cummer's forthcoming exhibition of Rodin's Movement to Victor Hugo" from the Iris and B. Cantor Foundation, in an April 8, 1999 letter (copy above) to this scholar from the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens curator, systematic cataloger for the National Gallery of Art, author and Ph.D in Art History, Dr. Robert Torchia wrote: "Although this is an extremely complex issue, I have to admit that I am in basic agreement with your objections concerning the work's originality and degree of authenticity."

SECOND, is the Opelika-Auburn News' published January 2, 2005 "Rodin's legacy, The artist who helped usher in the age of ambiguity in sculpture continues to raise questions almost 90 years after his death" article by Jason Nix concerning an Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's Rodin: In his Own Words exhibition in 2005 at Auburn University.

AU ART PROFESSOR MARK GRAHAM
Despite the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation's director Judith Sobol's quote: "We don't comment about his [Gary Arseneau] contentions because they don't bear any weight whatsoever in the art world - Nobody who knows anything about the field doubts the originality of these pieces. I don't understand what entitles him to a point of view that's covered by the press. It's talking about the picture frame and no the picture," the reporter wrote: "Mark Graham, an AU art professor and interim department head, disagrees."

The reporter Jason Nix quotes Mark Graham stating: "Mr. Arseneau might be abrasive in his approach, but a lot of the issues he raises are real issues. - The Rodin estate has been turned into a Rodin industry. It's not common in sculpture to keep reproducing an artist's work after his death the way we see with this artist."

DISNEYLAND VACATION OF RODIN'S ART
Additionally, the reporter wrote: "Like Arseneau, Graham takes issue with the use of the term 'original' to describe works produced after the Rodin's death." The reporter quotes AU art professor and interim department head Mark Graham stating: "The term 'original' is a stretch - a Rodin original is any version that was authorized by him or which had his input. With this, you're not seeing work that reflects Auguste Rodin's input. This exhibit is a Disneyland vacation of Rodin's art."

LAW, ETHICS AND THE VISUAL ARTS
On page 816-817 of Kluwer Law International’s published 1998 Law, Ethics and the Visual Arts, Third Edition by John Henry Merryman and Albert E. Elsen wrote about “Counterfeit Art.”[FN 59]

Under the subtitle “Truth,” the authors wrote: “The most serious harm that good counterfeits do is to confuse and misdirect the search for valid learning. The counterfeit objects falsifies history and misdirects inquiry.”[FN 61]

Additionally, under the subtitle “Resource Allocation,” the authors wrote: “Museum and art historical resources are always limited. What gets acquired, displayed, conserved and studied is the result of a continuous process of triage, in which some objects can be favoured only at the expenses of others. Counterfeit objects distort the process.”[FN 62]

Finally, under the subtitle “Fraud,” the authors wrote: “There remains the most obvious harm of all: counterfeit cultural objects are instruments of fraud. Most are created in order to deceive and defraud, but even “innocent” counterfeits can, and often will, be so used. The same considerations of justice and social order that make deliberate fraud of others kinds criminal apply equally to fraud through the medium of counterfeit art...”[FN 63]

CONCLUSION
What needs to be accomplished is the full and honest disclosure of all reproductions as -reproductions- by all museums, auction houses and art dealers. If the Laguna College of Art & Design and the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation will give full and honest disclosure for all reproductions as: -reproductions- it would allow museum patrons to give informed consent on whether they wish to attend an exhibit of reproductions, much less pay the price of admission and/or [in this case] purchase $500 to $25,000 "Sponsorship Opportunities [as] tax deductible gifts."

But if these objects are not reproductions by definition and law, but -forgeries- with or without counterfeit signatures or inscriptions applied, much less posthumous, to create the illusion the artist created it, much less approved and signed it, then serious consequences of law may come into play for those who chose to misrepresent these -forgeries- for profit.

The reputations and legacy of living and past artists, present and future museum art patrons and the art-buying public deserve the re-establishment of the obvious; that the living presence and participation of the artist to once again be required, as it always should have been, to create the piece of art attributable to the artist if indeed it is attributed to them, much less purported to have been signed by them.

FOOTNOTES:
1. http://www.lagunacollege.edu/news.php?id=62

2. © 1999 By West Group, ISBN 0314022864

3. www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#101

4. http://www.lagunacollege.edu/news.php?id=62

5. Ibid

6. p 661, Seventh Edition of Black’s Law Dictionary, © 1999 By West Group, ISBN 0314022864

7. www.lagunacollege.edu/downloads/Procedures_Manual.pdf

8. HOW TO FIND THIS MUSEE RODIN QUOTE:
First, go to the www.musee-rodin.fr/welcome.htm website,
then under “Contents on the left column click on “Collections,”
once on new screen click on the “Meudon” button,
then scoll down new screen till you reach the photograph of
“Assemblage of two figures of Even and crouching women”
and then count fourteen lines down for the quote.

9. Copyright © Bena Mayer, Executrix of the Estate of Ralph Mayer, 1991, ISBN 0-06-461012-8 (pbk.)

10. 1981 Rodin Rediscovered ISBN 0-89468-001-3 (pbk)

11. Ibid

12.Re: Rodin exhibition checklist request
From: Kerri Redeker (kredeker@lagunacollege.edu)
Sent: Mon 7/11/11 9:33 PM
To: gary arseneau (gwarseneau@hotmail.com)
1 attachment
Labels.pdf (71.0 KB)
Hi Gary,
Attached are the labels I created for the show. They have all the information of each piece.
Kerri

Rodin labels
From: Kerri Redeker (kredeker@lagunacollege.edu)
Sent: Thu 7/21/11 5:54 PM
To: gary arseneau (gwarseneau@hotmail.com)
1 attachment
91520 LCAD 14 Labels.pdf (69.7 KB)
--
Kerri Lei Redeker
Executive Assistant to the Academic Deans
Laguna College of Art + Design
949-376-6000 ext. 240

13. page 285 in the former Musee Rodin curator Monique Laurent’s “Observations on Rodin and His Founders” essay, published in the National Gallery of Art’s published 1981 Rodin Rediscovered ISBN 0-89468-001-3 (pbk)

14. http://www.lagunacollege.edu/news.php?id=62

15. © 1988 by Ste Nlle des Editions du Chene, Translation copyright © by Emily Read, ISBN 0-8050-1252-4

16. p 285 in the former Musee Rodin curator Monique Laurent’s “Observations on Rodin and His Founders” essay, published in the National Gallery of Art’s published 1981 Rodin Rediscovered ISBN 0-89468-001-3 (pbk)

17. http://www.cantorfoundation.org/Rodin/Bronze/rbrz.html

18. Copyright © Bena Mayer, Executrix of the Estate of Ralph Mayer, 1991, ISBN 0-06-461012-8 (pbk.)

19. www. cantorfoundation.org/ Education/guide5.html

20. www.cantorfoundation.org/Rodin/Bronze/casting1.html

21. © 1999 By West Group, ISBN 0314022864

22. Volume 2, Musee Rodin: 972-2-9014-2890-9, RMN: 978-2-7118-4941-3, © Musee Rodin Paris, 2007, 19, boulevard des Invalides, 75007 Paris

23. http://www.cantorfoundation.org/About/about3.html

24. Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundations: Rodin: Sculpture from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Collection, Working Checklist July 23, 1997, Nevada Museum of Art, 1801 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 435, Los Angeles, California 90067, 310 277-4600

25. Copyright 2001 by the Association of Art Museum Directors, All rights reserved, Printed in the United States of America, ISBN 1-880974-02-9

26. http://www.cantorfoundation.org/Rodin/Bronze/rbrz.html

27. Volume 2, Musee Rodin: 972-2-9014-2890-9, RMN: 978-2-7118-4941-3, © Musee Rodin Paris, 2007, 19, boulevard des Invalides, 75007 Paris

28. © 2003 by Oxford University Press, Inc., ISBN 0-19-513380-3 (cloth)

29. © 1999 By West Group, ISBN 0314022864

30. Volume 2, Musee Rodin: 972-2-9014-2890-9, RMN: 978-2-7118-4941-3, © Musee Rodin Paris, 2007, 19, boulevard des Invalides, 75007 Paris

31. p 281, "An Original in Sculpture" essay by Jean Chatelain, professor at the University of Paris and former director of the Museums of France, 1981 Rodin Rediscovered ISBN 0-89468-001-3 (pbk)

32. [copy forward by email from a newspaper source]

“SUMMARY: AUTHORIZED POSTHUMOUS CASTING OF THE WORK OF AUGUSTE RODIN

“All works in the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Collection and Cantor Foundation Collection are original Rodins. Some of these were made during Rodin’s lifetime, others were made after he died and according to his explicit wishes and instructions to the government of France.

“In the early part of the 19th century, the creation of sculpture became a large-scale enterprise. Growing cities and an expanding middle class created new patrons and markets for modern sculpture. Advances in the techniques for creating editions in bronze allowed for the production of a great number of high quality examples. Auguste Rodin achieved success as an artist within this environment and naturally tailored his subjects as well as his output to satisfy an increasing demand for examples of this most popular works. During his lifetime, Rodin sometimes licensed commercial foundries to cast unlimited editions of his works. Certain foundries were even given the discretion to enlarge or reduce the size of the original model according to the demands of the market. Thousands of sculptures were produced by foundries that would make new casts without hesitation whenever there were customers for them. (There were, for example, more than 300 casts of The Kiss, in different dimensions, produced during Rodin’s lifetime.)

“Throughout his lifetime, Rodin was keenly interested in the broad dissemination of his work. He employed a number of assistants to make plaster casts from clay sculptures. These plasters were exhibited and also were provided to foundries so that they could, in turn, use them to produce casts in bronze. Rodin generally did not supervise the steps of casting his bronzes as they emerged from the foundries that had contracts to produce large quantities of his works.

“In 1916, Rodin willed his entire estate, including his artistic property and the right to continue to cast his work posthumously, to France. The French government’s agent who oversees this is the Musée Rodin. Since Rodin’s death in 1917, the Musée has been casting sculptures either from the molds left by the artist or from molds taken from his plasters. The Musée Rodin continued to use the Alexis Rudier foundry until it closed in 1953; after this the bronzes were cast at the foundry of George Rudier until 1983. More recently, the Coubertin Foundry has been used by the Musée Rodin because of its high standards of craftsmanship. People knowledgeable in the field are confident that Rodin fully understood the process he authorized and trusted his executors when he allowed them to cast bronzes from his original molds and models after his death.

“Efforts have been made in France by the Musée Rodin and in the United States by the College Art Association to ensure the quality and authenticity of posthumous casts, as well as their accurate identification as such. In 1956, the casting of each of Rodin’s works was limited by French law to twelve examples.

"Indeed, three of Rodin’s most important commissions, The Gates of Hell, the Monument to Balzac, and the Monument to Victor Hugo were, to his great disappointment, not cast during his lifetime. However, the right that he designated in his will for posthumous casting by his estate has made it possible for these commissions to be realized after his death as they had been intended. Thus the 20th and 21st century public and generations of artists and students have been able to see them.

“A primary mission of the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation is to make work of Auguste Rodin available to a broad public audience through the organization and support of exhibitions, scholarship, and publications associated with the artist and his work.”

33. Copyright © Bena Mayer, Executrix of the Estate of Ralph Mayer, 1991, ISBN 0-06-461012-8 (pbk.)

34. Volume 2, Musee Rodin: 972-2-9014-2890-9, RMN: 978-2-7118-4941-3, © Musee Rodin Paris, 2007, 19, boulevard des Invalides, 75007 Paris

35. http://www.cantorfoundation.org/Rodin/Bronze/rbrz.html

36. http://www.cantorfoundation.org/Rodin/Bronze/casting1.html

37. Ibid

38. HOW TO FIND THIS MUSEE RODIN QUOTE:
First, go to the www.musee-rodin.fr/welcome.htm website,
then under “Contents on the left column click on “Collections,”
once on new screen click on the “Meudon” button,
then scoll down new screen till you reach the photograph of
“Assemblage of two figures of Even and crouching women”
and then count fourteen lines down for the quote.

39. http://www.cantorfoundation.org/Rodin/Bronze/casting1.html

40. www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#101 - § 106A. Rights of certain authors to attribution and integrity37 (a) Rights of Attribution and Integrity. — Subject to section 107 and independent of the exclusive rights provided in section 106, the author of a work of visual art — (1) shall have the right — (A) to claim authorship of that work, and (3) The rights described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a) shall not apply to any reproduction,

41. www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#101 - § 101. Definitions2 A “derivative work” is a work based upon one or more preexisting works, such as a translation, musical arrangement, dramatization, fictionalization, motion picture version, sound recording, art reproduction

42. http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate?WAISdocID=35364124403+2+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve

43. Sculpture Review (ISSN 0747-5248) is published quarterly by the National Sculpture Society, Inc., 117 Avenue fo the Americas, New York, NY 10036, 212 7645645

44 © 1998 Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, ISBN: 1 85894 071 0 (exhibition paperback)

45. Hard copy of this telephone conversation was OVERNIGHTED by U.S. Postal Service (Tracking No. EE43307188US) on September 23, 1999 to Ruth Butler 41 Holden Street Cambridge, MA 02138-2038

46. Copyright © 1976 by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Trade edition: ISBN 087923-157-2

47. © 1999 By West Group, ISBN 0314022864

48. Ibid

49. http://www.presentwithease.com/tanisshortt.html

50. http://www.presentwithease.com/podcast.html

51.http://www.presentwithease.com/tanisshortt.html

52. Ibid

53. ibid

54. Ibid

55. © 1999 By West Group, ISBN 0314022864

56. Ibid

57. http://www.presentwithease.com/tanisshortt.html

58. Ibid

59, Ibid

60. © 1999 By West Group, ISBN 0314022864

61. © Kluwer Law International 1998, ISBN 90-411-0697-9

62. Ibid

63. Ibid

ADDENDUM:

[LCAD'S JULY 11, 2011 CHECKLIST]

The Benedictions
Modeled 1894
This cast: cast number and edition size unknown
Georges Rudier Foundry
Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation

Saint John The Baptist Preaching
Modeled about 1880
This cast: cast number and edition size unknown, cast in 1925
Alexis Rudier Foundry
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Collection

Ovid’s Metamorphoses
About 1885-89
This cast: cast number, edition size and date of cast unknown
Perzinka Foundry
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation

Tragic Muse
Modeled 1894-96
Godard Foundry
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation

Torso Of The Walking Man
Modeled 1878-79
This cast: Musée Rodin cast 10 in an edition of 12 in 1979
Coubertin Foundry
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation

Idyll Of Ixelles
Modeled 1885
This cast: 4/8
Coubertin Foundry
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation

Sphinx On A Column
Modeled 1889 or later
This cast: III/IV
Godard Foundry
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation

Illusions Received By The Earth (The Fallen Angel)
Modeled 1895
This cast: Musée Rodin cast 7 in an edition of 8 in 1983
Coubertin Foundry
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Collection

The Night (Single Figure) (aka Standing Female
Nude Combing Her Hair)
Modeled after 1898
This cast: Musée Rodin cast 5 in an edition of 12 in1973
Georges Rudier Foundry
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation

The Night (Double Figure)
Modeled after 1898
This cast: Musée Rodin cast I/IV in 1983
Godard Foundry
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation

Dance Movement ‘D’
Modeled about 1910-11
This cast: Marked No. 1, edition size and date unknown
Unknown Foundry
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation

Venus (aka Aphrodite)
Modeled about 1888
This cast: Musée Rodin cast 9 in an edition of 12 in 1978
Godard Foundry

Ecclesiastes
Modeled before 1899
This cast: Musée Rodin cast II/IV in 1995
Godard Foundry
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation

Sorrow
Modeled 1889
This cast: Musée Rodin cast 1 in an edition of 8 in 1983
Coubertin Foundry
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Collection

[LCAD'S JULY 21, 2011 CHECKLIST]

The Benedictions
Modeled 1894
This cast: cast number and edition size unknown
Georges Rudier Foundry
Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Foundation

Saint John The Baptist Preaching
Modeled about 1880
This cast: cast number and edition size unknown, cast in 1925
Alexis Rudier Foundry
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Collection

Ovid’s Metamorphoses
Modeled about 1885-89
This cast: Musée Rodin cast 10 in 1979
Georges Rudier Foundry
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation

Tragic Muse
Modeled 1894-96
This cast: Musee Rodin cast 3/8 in 1986
Godard Foundry
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation

Torso Of The Walking Man
Modeled 1878-79
This cast: Musée Rodin cast 10 in an edition of 12 in 1979
Coubertin Foundry
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation

Idyll Of Ixelles
Modeled 1885
This cast: Musee Rodin 4/8 in 1981
Coubertin Foundry
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation

Sphinx On A Column
Modeled 1889 or later
This cast: Musee Rodin cast III/IV in 1995
Godard Foundry
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation

Illusions Received By The Earth (The Fallen Angel)
Modeled 1895
This cast: Musée Rodin cast 7 in an edition of 8 in 1983
Coubertin Foundry
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Collection

The Night (Single Figure) (aka Standing Female
Nude Combing Her Hair)
Modeled after 1898
This cast: Musée Rodin cast 5 in an edition of 12 in1973
Georges Rudier Foundry
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation

The Night (Double Figure)
Modeled after 1898
This cast: Musée Rodin cast I/IV in 1983
Godard Foundry
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation

Dance Movement ‘D’
Modeled about 1910-11
This cast: Marked No. 1, edition size and date unknown
Unknown Foundry
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation

Venus (aka Aphrodite)
Modeled about 1888
This cast: Musée Rodin cast 9 in an edition of 12 in 1978
Godard Foundry

Ecclesiastes
Modeled before 1899
This cast: Musée Rodin cast II/IV in 1995
Godard Foundry
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation

Sorrow
Modeled 1889
This cast: Musée Rodin cast 1 in an edition of 8 in 1983
Coubertin Foundry
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Collection

From the Ridiculous to the Sublime, “posthumous original bronze sculptures” used to mask Rodin forgeries @ North Georgia College & State University

2011-06-17T17:30:00.051-04:00

NOTE: Footnotes are enclosed with [FN ].

The North Georgia College & State University’s May 7 to July 10, 2011 Rodin: The Figure in Bronze exhibition consists of non-disclosed posthumous (after 1998) forgeries with counterfeit “A Rodin” signatures inscribed that are falsely attributed as: “An exclusive exhibit of Rodin sculptures.”[FN 1]

On page 661 of the Seventh Edition of Black's Law Dictionary, -forgery- is defined as: "the act of fraudulently making a false document or altering a real one to be used as if genuine."[FN 2]

Auguste Rodin died in 1917. The dead don’t sculpt.

This monograph documents these contentious issues of authenticity.

[North Georgia College & State University's June 2, 2011 "Explore the world of Rodin through exhibit at North Georgia" release]

The North Georgia College & State University, in its’ June 2, 2011 “Explore the world of Rodin through exhibit at North Georgia” release, states: “the exhibit features 24 posthumous original bronze sculptures by 19th-century French sculptor Auguste Rodin.”[FN 3]

On page 951 of Webster’s New World Pocket Dictionary Fourth Edition, -oxymoron- is defined as: “a combination of contradictory ideas or terms.[FN 4]

On page 1186 of the Seventh Edition of Black’s Law Dictionary, -posthumous- is defined as: “Occurring or existing after death.”[FN 5]

Since, Auguste Rodin died in 1917, the 20th-century, would applying “posthumous” with “by 19th-century French sculptor Auguste Rodin” be “a combination of contradictory ideas or terms” a.k.a. -oxymoron-?

The 20th-century dead don’t come out with 19th-century work.

On page 1127 of the Seventh Edition of Black’s Law Dictionary, -originality- is defined as: “The quality or state of being the product of independent creation and having a minimum degree of creativity.” Additionally, it states: “’Original’ in reference to a copyrighted work means that the particular work ‘owes its origin’ to the ‘author.’” [FN 6]

Therefore, how can any particular work owe its’ origin to an author if they, in this case Auguste Rodin, happened to be dead when it was made?

The dead don’t have any “minimum degree of creativity.”

On page 372 in Ralph Mayer’s HarperCollins Dictionary of Art Terms & Techniques, -sculpture- is defined as: “the creation of three dimensional forms by carving, modeling or assembly. In carving, the sculptor removes unwanted material.... In modeling on the other hand, the sculptor creates a form by building it up...”[FN 7]

Based on the above definition of -sculpture-, would anyone argue that a -dead- Auguste Rodin participated in the posthumous creation of any three dimensional form?

The dead don’t carve, model or assemble.

Additionally, the North Georgia College & State University, in its’ June 2, 2011 “Explore the world of Rodin through exhibit at North Georgia” release, would have the public believe that “The bronzes in this collection were cast from molds the sculptor created before his death.” [FN 8]

That statement is contradicted by the following three references:

First, on page 22 of 2003 Rodin’s art: the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Collection at Stanford University catalogue, it states that when Auguste Rodin “could find no more to add or subtract from a clay sculpture, he would then have one of his assistants such as Dieudonne or Eugene Guioche, farther and son who specialized in moldmaking, make a mold of it, from which several plasters casts would then be made.”[FN 9]

Second, on page 253 in Albert Elsen’s “Rodin’s “Perfect Collaborator,” Henri Lebosse” essay, in the National Gallery of Art’s published 1981 Rodin Rediscovered exhibition catalogue, the Stanford Professor and Rodin scholar wrote: “From the mid-1890’s until his death, Rodin entrusted most if not all of his important enlargements and reductions to this dedicated and today unknown technician who referred to himself as Rodin’s ‘sculpteur reproducteur habituel.’ Lebosse wrote the master on January 24, 1903. ‘I would like to be your perfect collaborator.’”[FN 10]

Third, on their 2011 website, the Musee Rodin states: “Consequently, whenever it is decided to release a new 'subject’, a copy is first made from the old mould which can be sent without risk to the foundry where it undergoes the necessary preparations for casting. It is coated with an unmoulding agent, usually in a dark colour, and cut, before being cast again. This practice not only ensures absolute fidelity to the original but also obviously more valuable since they were made during the lifetime of Rodin.”[FN 11]

[front cover, "The Masters Edition of Posthumous Original Bronzes" brochure]

So, are we to suspend disbelief or just believe -Erin Wertenberger, owner of the Twenty 21 Collections/Gallery Rodin in Atlanta, Ga., and curator of this collection-[FN 12], in his “Auguste Rodin, The Master’s Edition of Posthumous Original Bronzes” brochure, that their collection of so-called “sculptures by Auguste Rodin”[FN 13] are from “Rodin’s original molds and plasters?”[FN 14]

Rhetorically, why are Erin Wertenberger and the others, associated with this Rodin: The Figure in Bronze exhibition, going to so much trouble to mask these non-disclosed forgeries as: “An exclusive exhibit of Rodin sculptures?”

Is this answered in the 4th question, 61 lines down, in the North Georgia College & State University's "Rodin Docents, Frequently Asked Questions" website?

"4. Do we know the prices for the works displayed?"[FN 15]

"Yes, I do have a price list, but we agreed with Erin Wertengberger that we would direct anyone interested in that information to him."[FN 16]

[page 1, "The Masters Edition of Posthumous Original Bronzes" brochure]

On page 1 of Erin Wertenberger’s “Auguste Rodin, The Master’s Edition of Posthumous Original Bronzes” brochure, available at this exhibition, it states: “Each bronze is cast from original authenticated molds and plasters, with provenance to the Alexi Rudier Foundry, Rodin's preferred foundry, and the Rudier family and other sources.” [FN 17]

Aside the -Alexis- in Alexis Rudier foundry is spelled with -s- and that the Alexis Rudier foundry went out of business in 1952, it is a -red herring- to associate an almost 50 years ago out-of-business foundry with these non-disclosed forgeries posthumously (after 1998) forged in bronze by an unnamed foundry in Italy.

Additionally, Erin Wertenberger’s “Auguste Rodin, The Master’s Edition of Posthumous Original Bronzes” brochure states: “Each has been meticulously examined and certified by experts.”[FN 18]

On page 1036 of Random House College Dictionary, -postmortem- is defined as: "of, pertaining to , or occurring in the time following death."[FN 19]

So, what are we to make of "meticulously" postmortem examinations of non-disclosed posthumous forgeries that are now "certified" by unnamed "experts?"

On page 220 of Random House College Dictionary, -certifiable- is defined as: "capable of being certified" or "committable to a mental institution."[FN 20]

Therefore, are non-disclosed posthumous forgeries -certifiable- or those unnamed "experts" who certify them as "sculptures," much less attribute them to the dead -certifiable-?

Also, Erin Wertenberger’s “Auguste Rodin, The Master’s Edition of Posthumous Original Bronzes” brochure states: “The bronzes conform to known bronze sculptures cast in Rodin’s lifetime.”[FN 21]

Bronzes cast result in reproductions, not sculptures.

That factual perspective is confirmed by the following three references:

First, on page 66 in HarperCollins' published A Dictionary of Art Terms & Techniques by Ralph Mayer, -cast- is defined as: “to reproduce an object such as a piece of sculpture, by means of a MOLD.”[FN 22]

Second, on page 350 in HarperCollins' published A Dictionary of Art Terms & Techniques by Ralph Mayer, -reproduction- is defined as: “A general term for any copy, likeness, or counterpart of an original work of art or of a photograph, done in the same medium as the original or in another, and done by someone other than the creator of the original.”[FN 23]

Third, on page 285 in the former Musee Rodin curator Monique Laurent’s “Observations on Rodin and His Founders” essay, published in the National Gallery of Art’s published 1981 Rodin Rediscovered catalogue, referencing Auguste Rodin's 1916 Will, the former Musee Rodin curator wrote: “notwithstanding the transfer of artistic ownership authorized to the State of M. Rodin, the latter expressly reserves for himself the enjoyment during his life, of the reproduction rights of those objects given by him.”[FN 24]

So, even Auguste Rodin himself clearly understood when his work was cast, it resulted in reproductions.

Therefore, aside who would subjectively substitute their judgment for a dead Auguste Rodin on what -conforms-, anything cast, by definition, would be a reproduction, not a sculpture.

Furthermore, Erin Wertenberger’s “Auguste Rodin, The Master’s Edition of Posthumous Original Bronzes” brochure states: “All of the pieces in the collection will be cast in an edition of 24. At the end of the edition Rodin's original molds and plasters will be donated to public institutions, never to be cast from again.”[FN 25]

Aside, prior references that document Auguste Rodin did not create molds and the Musee Rodin posthumously sends plaster reproductions, not Auguste Rodin's original plasters, to foundries for casting in bronze, how can you have an "edition of 24," if these posthumous forgeries are not original works of visual art?

Under U.S. Copyright Law § 101. Definitions, a “work of visual art” is — a sculpture, in multiple cast, carved, or fabricated sculptures of 200 or fewer that are consecutively numbered by the author and bear the signature or other identifying mark of the author."[FN 26]

The dead don't sign and number.

Then acting as if Auguste Rodin (d 1917) just stepped out of the room at the 2011 Rodin: The Figure in Bronze exhibition, the North Georgia College & State University's "Rodin Docents, Frequently Asked Questions" website, asks and answers the following sixth question, 70 lines down:

6. "Why are there seams on some of the works?"[FN 27]

"There are always seams evident after a bronze is cast. Removing evidence of them is part of the finishing process. Rodin preferred to have a less finished appearance to many of his works.[FN 28]

The dead don't have preferences.

It is one of the oldest parlor tricks, look at the right hand as the left hand reaches in your pocket.

In other words, that’s not a dead Auguste Rodin’s fingers your feeling.

To cap off how ridiculous to the sublime this so-called Rodin: The Figure in Bronze exhibition is, here are three examples:

1) On page 5 of the “Auguste Rodin, The Masters Edition of Posthumous Original Bronzes” brochure, the photograph of the titled: “The Bust of the Age of Bronze (large), Height: cm. 53 (20.875”)” has its’ left arm up versus the photograph on its’ right titled: “The Age of Bronze (medium), Height: cm. 103 (40.5”)” bronze that has its’ right arm up.

What's up with that? Does the right hand know what the left hand is doing?

[Gaudenzio Marconi, The Age of Bronze, 1877, albumen print, 26.3 x 16 cm, Ph. 269, http://www.musee-rodin.fr/welcome.htm]

The above 1877 photograph by Gaudenzio Marconi, posted on the Musee Rodin's website, documents that Auguste Rodin's original "Age of Bronze" plaster has his right arm up.

2) On page 7 of the “Auguste Rodin, The Masters Edition of Posthumous Original Bronzes” brochure, the photograph of the titled: “Nijinsky (small), Height: cm 17 (6")” has its’ right-knee up versus the photograph on its’ right titled: “Nijinsky, Height: cm 31 (12.125")” bronze that has its’ left-knee up.

Without making a knee-jerk reaction, if the one on the right is wrong, is the one on the left right or vice-versa or both?

[page 550, of the The Bronzes of Rodin, Catalogue of works in the Musee Rodin by Antoinette le Normand-Romain, © Musee Rodin: 978-2-9014-2892-3, RMN: 978-2-7118-4939-0]

The above excerpt from The Bronzes of Rodin catalogue documents that Auguste Rodin's "Nijinsky" has his right knee up.

On page 8 of the “Auguste Rodin, The Masters Edition of Posthumous Original Bronzes” brochure, the photograph of the titled: “Iris, (small), Height: cm. 385 (43”long/16.875) plaster has its' right leg in the air versus the photograph below it titled: “Iris, Messenger of the Gods, Height: cm. 93 long (36.562)” bronze that has its' left leg in the air.

Has this so-called Rodin: The Figure in Bronze exhibition irretrievably gotten off on the wrong foot?

So, what's -left- of the Rodin: The Figure In Bronze exhibition's credibility, if they haven't got it -right-, at all?

[page 452, of the The Bronzes of Rodin, Catalogue of works in the Musee Rodin by Antoinette le Normand-Romain, © Musee Rodin: 978-2-9014-2892-3, RMN: 978-2-7118-4939-0]

The above excerpt from The Bronzes of Rodin catalogue documents that Auguste Rodin's "Iris" has her right foot up.

Finally, the "Honor Code of North Georgia" states: "On my honor, I will not lie, cheat, steal, plagiarize, evade the truth, conspire to deceive, or tolerate those who do" reflects North Georgia's commitment to academic and professional integrity."[FN 29]

Rhetorically, should the North Georgia College & State University and their Rodin: The Figure in Bronze exhibition be held to a lesser ethical standard than their students?

To learn more about the history of this -fraud-, documented in Gary Arseneau's November 2001 “DECEPTION, Are these really Rodins at the Royal Ontario Museum?” monograph, link to:

http://garyarseneau.blogspot.com/2001_11_01_archive.html

Caveat Emptor!

FOOTNOTES:
1.http://www.northgeorgia.edu/North_Georgia_News/Articles/Headlines/General/Explore_the_world_of_Rodin_through_exhibit_at_North_Georgia.aspx

2. © 1999 By West Group, ISBN 0314022864

3.http://www.northgeorgia.edu/North_Georgia_News/Articles/Headlines/General/Explore_the_world_of_Rodin_through_exhibit_at_North_Georgia.aspx

4. © 2000 by IDG Books Worldwide, Inc., ISBN 0-7645-6147-2

5. © 1999 By West Group, ISBN 0314022864

6. Ibid

7. © by 1991 Bena Mayer, ISBN 0-06-461012-8 (pbk.)

8.http://www.northgeorgia.edu/North_Georgia_News/Articles/Headlines/General/Explore_the_world_of_Rodin_through_exhibit_at_North_Georgia.aspx

9. © 2003 by Oxford University Press, In.c and the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University and the Estate of Albert Elsen, ISBN 0-19-513380-3

10. Copyright 1981 © Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington, ISBN 0-89468-001-3 (pbk.)

11. http://www.musee-rodin.fr/welcome.htm
HOW TO FIND THE ABOVE MUSEE RODIN QUOTE:
First, go to the www.musee-rodin.fr/welcome.htm website,
then under “Contents on the left column click on “Collections,”
once on new screen click on the “Meudon” button,
then scoll down new screen till you reach the photograph of
“Assemblage of two figures of Even and crouching women”
and then count fourteen lines down for the quote.

12.http://www.northgeorgia.edu/North_Georgia_News/Articles/Headlines/General/Explore_the_world_of_Rodin_through_exhibit_at_North_Georgia.aspx

13. Ibid

14. Ibid

15.http://libguides.northgeorgia.edu/content.php?pid=201093&sid=1789759

16. Ibid

17. “Auguste Rodin, The Masters Edition of Posthumous Original Bronzes” brochure by North American Representative: Erin Wertenberger, Twenty 21 Collections/Gallery Rodin, 309 East Paces Ferry Road N.E., Suite 110, Atlanta, GA 30305, email: 2021collection@bellsouth.net, phone: 404-816-9977 or Carol Lochridge, Dragon Fine Arts, 719 Greeley Drive, Nashville, TN 37205, email: info@dragonfinearts.com, phone: 615-593-0123, www.dragonfineart.com

18. Ibid

19. Copyright © 1980, 1979, 1975 By Random House, Inc., ISBN 0-394-43600-8

20. Ibid

21. Copyright 1981 © Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington, ISBN 0-89468-001-3 (pbk.)

22. © by 1991 Bena Mayer, ISBN 0-06-461012-8 (pbk.)

23. Ibid

24. Copyright 1981 © Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington, ISBN 0-89468-001-3 (pbk.)

25. “Auguste Rodin, The Masters Edition of Posthumous Original Bronzes” brochure by North American Representative: Erin Wertenberger, Twenty 21 Collections/Gallery Rodin, 309 East Paces Ferry Road N.E., Suite 110, Atlanta, GA 30305, email: 2021collection@bellsouth.net, phone: 404-816-9977 or Carol Lochridge, Dragon Fine Arts, 719 Greeley Drive, Nashville, TN 37205, email: info@dragonfinearts.com, phone: 615-593-0123, www.dragonfineart.com

26. www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#101

27.http://libguides.northgeorgia.edu/content.php?pid=201093&sid=1789759

28. Ibid

29.http://www.northgeorgia.edu/2010_11%20Graduate%20Catalog/3945.htm

PRINCIPALS:
North American Representative:
Erin Werternberger
Twenty 21 Collection/Gallery Rodin
309 East Paces Ferry Road N. E., Suite 110
Altanta, GA 30305
(404) 816-9977
2021collections@bellsouth.net

Carol Lochridge
Dragon Fine Arts
719 Greeley Drive
Nashville, TN 37205
615-593-0123
info@dragonfinearts.com

Dr. Pamela Sachant
Department Head
Associate Professor Art History
North Georgia College & State University
82 College Circle
Dahlonega, GA 30597
(706) 864-1512
psachant@northgeorgia.edu

Cynthia Horne,
Docent Coordinator
Library Technology Center
North Georgia College & State University
Dahlonega, GA 30597
706.864.1522 or 706.864.1889
crhorne@northgeorgia.edu

ADDENDUM:

[front cover, "The Masters Edition of Posthumous Original Bronzes" brochure]

[page 2, "The Masters Edition of Posthumous Original Bronzes" brochure]

[page 3, "The Masters Edition of Posthumous Original Bronzes" brochure]

[page 4, "The Masters Edition of Posthumous Original Bronzes" brochure]

[page 5, "The Masters Edition of Posthumous Original Bronzes" brochure]

[page 6, "The Masters Edition of Posthumous Original Bronzes" brochure]

[page 7, "The Masters Edition of Posthumous Original Bronzes" brochure]

[page 8, "The Masters Edition of Posthumous Original Bronzes" brochure]

[back cover, "The Masters Edition of Posthumous Original Bronzes" brochure]

Museo Soumaya, Riddled with non-disclosed Forgeries

2011-03-13T23:27:00.015-04:00

UPDATED: May 15, 2011

NOTE: Footnotes are enclosed as [FN ]

The Museo Soumaya is riddled with non-disclosed Bourdelle, Daumier, Degas, Michelangelo, Renoir and Rodin forgeries.

J. Paul Getty Museum, under their Getty Research, defines -counterfeit- as: "forgeries (derivative objects)" with a note stating: "Reproductions of whole objects when the intention is to deceive; includes sculptures cast without the artist's permission."[FN 1]

Emile-Antoine Bourdelle (d 1929) was dead when Valsuani, Susse and Godard foundries posthumously forged his work in bronze, Honore Daumier & Edgar Degas never cast in bronze (much less brass), Michelangelo was 368 years dead in 1932 when his work was reproduced in plaster and subsequently forged in bronze, Renoir was a paralytic who did not sculpt after 1910, and the Georges Rudier, listed as the foundry for many of the Soumaya Museum's so-called Rodin[s] went into business in 1952 some 35 years after Rodin's death in 1917.

The dead don't sculpt.

At best, Carlos Slim was misled into purchasing these non-disclosed forgeries.

This monograph will document these devastating facts versus the Museo Soumaya's collection of non-disclosed forgeries.

MICHELANGELO?
The above photograph of "Pieta," in bronze and attributed to Michelangelo Buonarroti in the Museo Soumaya, was published in the Noticias Merida's March 2, 2011 "Presidente Calderon y Carlos Slim inauguran el Museo Soumaya"[FN 2] article. In part, as translated by Free Translation from Spanish to English, the article states: "The night on Tuesday March 1, 2011, the President Felipe Cauldron Hinojosa headed the ceremony of inauguration of the Museum Soumaya, located in the Plaza Carso of Mexico City, in a modern building that will receive the collection of most important private art of the country and of Latin America, as reports the press room of the Presidency of the Republic."[FN 3]

Michelangelo Buonarroti carved his original sculpture, titled "Pieta," in marble in 1498-99, not cast in bronze.

Yet, in a El Pais Semanal's published July 15, 2007 "Carlos Slim, The Second Richest Man in the World" article and interview with Carlos Slim by Francese Relea, the reporter wrote: "In this marble stairs and walls building is a replica of "La Pieta" of Michael Angelo that has the blessing from the Vatican and the Certification of the Buonarroti House."[FN 4]

On page 350 of the 1991 HarperCollins Dictionary of Art Terms & Techniques by Ralph Mayer, -replica- is defined as: "an exact copy or duplicate of a work, done in the same size and in the same medium, and done by the artist who created the original (or, sometimes done under the artist's direct supervision)."[FN 5]

On The Michelangelo Experience website, it states: "Provenance of The Pieta (Michelangelo Buonarroti),"[FN 6] in their collection, is listed as follows:

"Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarotti Simoni, (Florence 1475 – 1564 Rome), Pietà, Bronze, brown patina, Height x width: 65 x 76.75 inches, Signed in the cast: MICHAEL.ÅGELVS. BONAROTVS.FLORENT.FACIEBA[T]., Edition: No. 4 of an edition of 12 bronzes cast in 1982. The original plaster prototype is a precise cast of Michelangelo’s original marble statue in St. Peter’s, Rome. The prototype was made in 1932 by the Fonderia Marinelli with the authorization of the Vatican."

In 1932, much less in 1982, Michelangelo Buonarroit (1475-1564) was over 368 years dead.

The dead don't replica.

On page 1386 of the Seventh Edition of Black's Law Dictionary, -sign- is defined as: "To identify (a record) by means of a signature."[FN 7]

On page 1387 of the Seventh Edition of Black's Law Dictionary, -signature- is defined as: "A person's name or mark written by that person or at the person's direction."[FN 8]

In 1982, Michelangelo Buonarroit (1475-1564) was over 368 years dead.

The dead don't sign.

On page 350 of the 1991 HarperCollins Dictionary of Art Terms & Techniques by Ralph Mayer, -reproduction- is defined as: "a general term for any copy - of an original work of art -, done in the same medium as the original or in another, and done by someone other than the creator of the original."[FN 9]

Therefore, the Fonderia Marinelli workers' 1932 reproduction, with their fingerprints in their plaster reproduction of Michelangelo Buonarroti's marble Pieta, would by definition be a reproduction. The subsequent bronze casts, from the Fonderia Marinelli workers' posthumous (1932) plaster reproduction, with the posthumously inscribed counterfeit Michelangelo signature, would be forgeries.

On page 661 of the Seventh Edition of Black's Law Dictionary, -forgery- is defined as: "The act of fraudulently making a false document or altering a real one to be used as if genuine."[FN 10]

Rhetorically, would inscribing Michelangelo Buonarroti's name (albeit in Italian) to a 2nd-generation-removed bronze forgery be the "act of fraudulently making a false document or altering a real one to used as if genuine?"

Remember, the bronzes are not, by definition, reproduction of anything Michelangelo Buonarroit created, but 2nd-generation-removed forgeries from a posthumous (1932) plaster reproduction by the Fonderia Marinelli workers.

As noted earlier, J. Paul Getty Museum, under their Getty Research, defines -counterfeit- as: "forgeries (derivative objects)" with a note stating: "Reproductions of whole objects when the intention is to deceive; includes sculptures cast without the artist's permission."[FN 11]

Once again, in 1932, much less in 1982, Michelangelo Buonarroit (1475-1564) was over 368 years dead.

The dead don't give permission.

BOURDELLE?
On page 124 of Pierre Kjellberg’s 1994 Bronzes OF THE 19TH CENTURY, Dictionary of Sculptors, the author wrote after the death of Emile-Antoine Bourdelle ”his studio and the works it contained were futilely offered to the State by his widow for about twenty years. The donation was finally accepted by the city of Paris, which opened the museum in 1949. A contract was then signed with Mme Bourdelle and her daughter, Mme Dufet-Bourdelle (today curator of the museum), stipulating that each of the sculptures could be cast in ten bronze copies, by two artists who would be selected through a competition. Works which had already been made, as could be determined by a general inventory, were exempt from this contract. Produced by different founders - Susse, Godard, Valsuani, Hohwiller, the Coubertin Foundation, Clementi, etc., the proofs thus obtained were numbered and carry the note 'Copyright by Bourdelle.' A number of them also carry a stylized star, the artist's monogram made of an A and a B reversed."[FN 12]

BOURDELLE FORGERIES @ MUSEO SOUMAYA:

1. Emile-Antoine Bourdelle, (Montauban, Francia, 1861 - Vesinet, Francia, 1929), Heracles el arquero, Heracles archer, 1909, Bronce con patina verde y cafe, 53. 6 x 56 x 33.5 cm, Fundidor: Susse, Num: de serie: 4, Firma: monograma en la parte posterior de la base, a la izquierda http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

2. Emile-Antoine Bourdelle, (Montauban, Francia, 1861 - Vesinet, Francia, 1929), rodin inclinado hacia atras, Rodin penche en arriere, 1909, Bronce con patina cafe y verde, 63.9 x 51.1 x 46.9 cm, Fundidor: E. Godard, Paris, Firma: EMILE-ANTOINE/BOURDELLE, en la base a la izquierda, monograma a la derecha http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

3. Emile-Antoine Bourdelle, (Montauban, Francia, 1861 - Vesinet, Francia, 1929), La siesta, La sieste, 1894, Bronce con patina negra y verde, 21.6 x 41.4 x 23.9 cem, Fundidor: Valsuani, 1967, Num. de serie: VI/10, Firma: Emile Bourdelle, en la base a la izquieerda http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

DAUMIER?
Honore-Victorin Daumier -never- worked in bronze.

This factual perspective is confirmed on page 253 of Pierre Kjellberg’s 1994 Bronzes OF THE 19TH CENTURY, Dictionary of Sculptors, where the author wrote Honore Daumier's "sculpted work is better known thanks to the bronzes" but “he never saw them, and no doubt never anticipated them.”[FN 13]

All so-called bronzes attributed to Honore Daumier (d 1879) were posthumously forged between 1891 and the 1960's.

This is additionally confirmed in a National Gallery of Art's "2000 biographie of Honoré Daumier" by Suzanne Glover Lindsay, where the author wrote: "The many posthumous campaigns to serialize Daumier's sculpture, which lasted well into the 1960s, have provided a subtly altered view of that aspect of his work."[FN 14]

DAUMIER FORGERIES @ MUSEO SOUMAYA:

1. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsell, Francia, 1808 - Valmondoies, Francis, 1879) Luis XIV http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

2. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El espiritual y ladino, Conde Antoine-Maurice-Apollinaire, baron d’argout [1782-1858], Ministro y par de Francia, Le Spirituel et malin, 1832, Bronce con patina cafe, 13 x 16 x 10.3 cm, Fundidor: Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec0 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

3. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El bobo, Posible caricatura de Pierre-Louis, conde Roederer [1754-1835], [Identificado con anterioridad con Louis-Gaspard-Amedee Girod de L’Ain], Le Nais http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

4. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El arisco, Posible caricatura de Charles-Lous Huguet, marques de Semonville [1759-1839], Diplomatico y magistrado, L’Hargneux, c. 1834-1835 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

5. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El viejo taimado, Pierre-Paul Royer-Collard [1763-1845], Diputado Le Vieux finaud, 1833, Bronce con patina cafe, 13 x 11.6 x 8.9 cem; base 2.3 x 11.2 x 9.5 cm, Fundidor: Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de. serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

6. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El malo, Lauren Cunin llamado Cunin-Gridaine [1778-1859] diputado y par de Francia Le Mauvais, 1833, Bronce con patina cafe, 17 x 13.5 x 9 cm, Fundidor Barbedienne -M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

7. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El terco, Jean Vatout [1791-1848] Diputado L’Entete, 1833, Bronce con patina cafe, 19.3 x 16 x 10.7 cm, Fundidor: Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

8. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El astuto, JeanPonce-Guillaume Viennet [1777-1868] Diputado de 1820 a 1837, par de Francia y academico Le Ruse, 1833, Bronce con patina cafe, 19.4 x 16.5 x 12. 8 cm, Fundidor: Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

9. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El chocho, Jean-Marie Harle, llamado harle padre [1765-1838] Diputado Le Gateux, 1833, Bronce con patina cafe, 19.4 x 16.5 x 12.8 cm, Fundidor Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

10. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El asco personificado, Jean-Marie Fruchard [1788-1872] Diputado Le Degout personnifie, 1833, Bronce con patina cafe, 12.6 x 14.5 x 11.8 cm; base 2.3 x 14.4 x 11.1 cm, Fundidor Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

11. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El tartulo, Jean-Claude Fulchiron [774-1859] Diputado, par de Francia y poeta Le Tartufe, 1833, Bronce con patina cafe, 16.3 x 12.6 x 10.7 cm, base 2.2. x 13.5 x 10.9 cm, Fundidor Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

12. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El escrupulose, Jean-Charles Persil [1785-1879] Magistrado, diputado y par de Francia Le Scrupuleux, 1833, Bronce con patina cafe, 19 x 16.9 x 9.1 cm, base 2.2. x 17. 10 cm, Fundidor Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

13. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El espiritu fino y cortante, Jacques Lefebvre [1777-1856] Banquero y diputado L’Esprit fin et tanchant, 1832, Bronce con patina cafe, 19.5 x 11.7 x 14.2 cm, Fundidor Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

14. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El tatuo, Conde Horace-Francois Sebastian delia Porta [1772-1851] Mariscal de Francia y politicao Le Fat, 1833, Bronce con patina cafe, 12.9 x 11.6 x 10 cm; base 2.2. x 11.6 x 9.9 cm, Fundidor Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

15. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El hombre de la cabez plana, Hyppolite Lucien-Joseph Lucas [1807-1878] Periodista L’Homme a la tete plate, 1833, Bronce con patina cafe, 13.7 x 12.5 x 10.7 cm, base 2.2. x 13 x 9.5 cm, Fundidor Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

16. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El aburrido, Francois-Pierre-Guillaume Guizot [1787-1874] diputado, ministro e historiador L’Ennuyeux, 1833, Bronce con patina cafe, 21.5 x 17 x 14.5 cm, Fundidor Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

17. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El importante personaje, Felix Barthe [1796-1863] diputado y ministro de Justicia L’Important personnage, 1833, Bronce con patina cafe, 16.1 x 14.7 x 13.2 cm, Fundidor Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

18. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El importante personaje, Felix Barthe [1796-1863] Diputado y ministro de Justicia L’Important personnage, 1833, Bronce con patina cafe, 16.1 x 14.7 x 13.2 cm, Fundidor Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

19. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El espiritual y ladino, Conde Antoine-Maurice-Apollinaire, baron d’Argout [1782-1858] Ministro y par de Francia Le Spirituel et malin, 1832, Bronce con patina cafe, 13 x 16 x 13.2 cm, Fundidor Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

20. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El indeciso, Conde Charles-Francois-Malo de Lameth [1752-1832] Diputado de 1829 a 1831 L’Indecis, 1832, Bronce con patina cafe, 14.9 x 14.5 x 8.7 cm, base 2.2 x 15.5 x 8.3 cm, Fundidor Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

21. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El lambiscon, Conde Auguste-Hilarion de Keratry [1769-1859] Diputado y par de Francia L’Obsequieux, 1833, Bronce con patina cafe, 12.4 x 12.7 x 10.2 cm; base 2.2 x 13.5 x 10.4 cm, Fundidor Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

22. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El espiritual ladine, Conde Antoine-Maurice-Apollinaire, baron d’Argout [1782-1858] Ministro y par de Francia Le Spirituel et malin, 1832, Bronce con patina cafe, 13 x 16 x 10.3 cm, Fundidor Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

23. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El desdenose, Clement-Francois-Victor-Gabriel Prunelle [1774-1853] Medico alcaide de Lyon y diputado de 1830 a 1839 Le Dedaigneux, c. 1832, Bronce con patina cafe, 12.9 x 14.4 x 10.7 cm; base 2.3 x 15.3 x 11.3 cm, Fundidor Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

24. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El infatuado de si mismo, Claude Baillot [1771-1836] Diputado y par de Francia, L’Infatue de soi, 1833, Bronce con patina cafe, 17.4 x 16 x 13.7 cm, Fundidor Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

25. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El sonriente chimuelo, Charles Philipon [1800-1862], Periodista, director de La Caricature y de Charivari, le Rieur edente, 1832, Bronce con patina cafe, 15.7 x 12.5 x 10.4 cm, Fundidor Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

26. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El ironista, Charles-Leonard Gallois [1789-1851] Publicista republicano e historiador, L’Ironiste, c. 1832, Bronce con patina cafe, 21.2 x 12.9 x11, base 2.2 x 13.3 x10.2 cm, Fundidor Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

27. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El sutil, Alexandre Lecomte [c. 1778- ] Magistrado, Le Subtil, 1833, Bronce con patina cafe, 16.9 x 1.26 x 11.5 cm; base 2.2. x 12.6 x 12.2. cm, Fundidor Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

28. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El testarudo de pocos alcances, Benjamin Delesser [1773-1847] Industrial y diputado, Le Tetu borne, 1833, Bronce con patina cafe, 17.2 x 14.2 x 9.6 cm; base 2.2 x 13.5 x 9.3 cm, Fundidor Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

29. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El importante malicioso, Baron Joseph de Podenas [1782-1851] Diputado, L’Important malicieux, 1833, Bronce con patina cafe, 20.5 x 19.4 x 12.3 cm; base 2.4 x 15 x 10.9 cm, Fundidor Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

30. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El burlon, Jacques-Antoine-Adrien, baron Delot [1773-1846] General y diputado, Le Moqueur, 1833, Bronce con patina cafe, 22.7 x 14.2 x 10.3 cm; base 2.2 x 14.2 x 9.8 cm, Fundidor Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

31. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El timido, Auguste-Hippolyte Ganneron [1792- 1847] Industrial y diputado de 1830 a 1847, Le Timide, 1833, Bronce con patina cafe, 17.8 x 13.1 x 10.5 cm, Fundidor Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

32. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), Triste hasta la muerte, Auguste Gady [1774-1847] Magistrado, Triste jusqua la mort, 1832-1835, Bronce con patina cafe, 16.4 x 13 x 11.1 cm; base 2.2 x 13 x 11.2 cm, Fundidor Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

33. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El despreciador, Antoine Odler [1766-1853] Baquero, diputado y par de Francia, Le Meprisant, 1833, Bronce con patina cafe, 14.5 x 11.5 x 10 cm; base 2.3 x 11.5 x 10.8 cm, Fundidor Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

34. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El orado, Andre-Marie-Jean-Jacques Dupin, llamado Dupin el mayor [1783-1865], Diputado, abogado y academico, L’Orateur, 1832, cm, Fundidor Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

35. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El gastronomo, Alexandre-Simon Pataille [1784-1857] Magistrado y diputado, Le Gourmet, 1832, Bronce con patina cafe, 16.6 x 12. x 10.5 cm; base 2.2 x 13.2 x 10.6 cm, Fundidor Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

36. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), El vanidoso, Charles-Guillaume Etienne [1778-1845] Diputado, par de Francia, escritor y director de El constitucional, Le Vaniteux, 1833, Bronce con patina cafe, 16.1 x 15.2 x 13.6 cm; base 2.2 x 13.5 x cm, Fundidor Barbedienne - M.L.G. (Maurice Le Garrec), Num. de serie: 19/25 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

37. Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), Los emigrantes, Les emigrants, 1850, Bronce con patina gegra, 31 x 66.7 x 8 cm, Fundidor: Georges Rudier, Paris, Firma: h. Daumier, en la esquina inferior derecha, Inscription: Epreuve d’essai/Cire perdue, en el borde de la base http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

38 Honore Daumier, Honore-Victorin Daumier, (Marsella, Francia, 1808 - Valmondois, Francia, 1879), Los emigrantes, Les emigrants, 1850, Bronce con patina gegra, 31 x 66.7 x 8 cm, Fundidor: Georges Rudier, Paris, Firma: h. Daumier, en la esquina inferior derecha, Inscription: Epreuve d’essai/Cire perdue, en el borde de la base http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

DEGAS?
It is amazing how many in the museum/academic world, much less the huge majority of the public does not have a clue that Edgar Degas never cast his sculptures in bronze (much less brass) and expressly did not want his sculptures cast into bronze.

This widespread misconception is addressed in a College Art Association’s published spring 1995 “art journal,” in a Degas Bronzes? article by Roger J. Crum. On page 95, the author wrote: “In Wilken’s essay we read that in 1921 Francois Thiebault-Sisson recalled that Degas had once said: I modeled animals and people in wax for my own satisfaction, not to take to rest from painting or drawing, but to give more expression, more spirit, and more life to my paintings and drawings. They are exercises to get me started. My sculptures will never give that impression of completion that is the ultimate goal of the statue-maker’s trade and since, after all, no one will ever see these efforts, no one should think of speaking about them, not even you. After my death all that will fall apart by itself, and that will be better for my reputation. (p. 23).”[FN 15]

This is further confirmed in the National Gallery of Art’s published 1998 Degas at the Races catalogue. On page 180 in Daphne S. Barbour’s and Shelly G. Strum’s “The Horse in Wax and Bronze” essay, these authors wrote: “Degas never cast his sculpture in bronze, claiming that it was a “tremendous responsibility to leave anything behind in bronze -- the medium is for eternity.”[FN 16]

All bronzes, falsely attributed to a dead Edgar Degas, may actually be made of brass according to the National Gallery of Art’s published 2010 Edgar Degas Sculpture catalogue.

“Brass is the term used for alloys of copper and zinc in a solid solution. Typically it is more than 50% copper and from 5 to 20% zinc, in comparison to bronze which is principally an alloy of copper and tin.”[FN 17]

This metallurgical discovery is confirmed on page 26 of the National Gallery of Art’s published 2010 Edgar Degas Sculptures catalogue, in the “Degas’ Bronzes Analyzed” essay by Shelly G. Sturman and Daphne S. Barbour. In part, the authors wrote: “Analysis of the elemental surface composition of the National Gallery sculptures was performed using X R F, a noninvasive technique. An alloy of copper and zinc with low to medium tin and traces of lead was used to cast all the sculptures. Results were also compared to X R F analysis undertaken at the Norton Simon Museum on the bronze modeles and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on some of the serial A set as well. - Bronze is a misnomer for these sculptures, because they are all cast from brass (copper and zince with tin). But as they are universally referred to as “Degas bronzes,” we will continue to use that term in a nontechnical sense throughout this discussion.”[FN 18]

On page 1015 of the Seventh Edition of Black’s Law Dictionary, -misnomer- is defined as: “A mistake in naming a person, place of thing, esp. in a legal instrument.”[FN 19]

Unfortunately, the National Gallery of Art, Shelly G. Sturman and Daphne S. Barbour have a plethora of misnomers throughout their essay, not to mention the entire catalogue, one of which is the constant referral to posthumous bronzes, much less in brass attributed to Edgar Degas, as “sculpture.”

The dead don’t sculpt.

The National Gallery of Art, Shelly G. Sturman and Daphne S. Barbour would seem to believe and are acting on that belief the practice of perpetuating mistakes, with or without intent, is just a misnomer.

All brass but no Degas.

DEGAS FORGERIES @ MUSEO SOUMAYA:

1. Edgar Degas, Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas, (Paris, Francia, 1834-1917), Mujer sentada en un sillon secondose la nuca, Femme assise dans un fauteuil, s’essuyant la nuque, 1896-1911, Bronce con patina cafe oscuro, 32 x 25.8 x 29.3 cm, Fundidor: A.A. Hebrard, Num. de serie: 44/F, Firma: Degas, en la parte inferior de sillon a la derecha http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

2. Edgar Degas, Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas, (Paris, Francia, 1834-1917), Bailarina avanzando con los brazos levantados, Danseuse’s avancant, les bras leves, c. 1885-1890, Bronce on patina negra y cafe, 35 x 15.1 x 17.7 cm; base 2 x 13 x 20 cm, Fundidor: A A Hebrard, Num. de serie: 19, Firma: Degas, en la base http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

3. Edgar Degas, Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas, (Paris, Francia, 1834-1917), Bailarina trotandose la rodilla (o Estudio para una bailarina en arlequin), Danseusse se frtottant le genou ou Etude pour une danseuse en arleguin, c. 1882-1885, Bronce con patina cafe rojizo, 31.5 x 24.1 x 14 cm; base 2.9 x 16.5 x 26.8 cm, Fundidor: A. A. Hebrard, Num. de serie: 39/B, Firma: Degas, en la base http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

4. Edgar Degas, Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas, (Paris, Francia, 1834-1917), Gran arabesco sobre pierna derecha, brazo izquierdo al frenie, Grande artabesque sur jambe droite, brase gauche devant, c. 1880-1882, Bronce con patina cafe oscuro y verde, 20. 3 x 25.5 x 10.5 cm, Fundidor: A. A. Hebrard, Num. de serie: 14, Firma: Degas, en la base http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

5. Edgar Degas, Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas, (Paris, Francia, 1834-1917), Preparacion para la danza, pie derecho adelante, Preparation a la danse, pied droit en avant, c. 1885-1890, Bronce con patina cafe rjizo, 56.5 x 32.4 x 22 cm, Fundidor: A. A. Hebrard, Num. de serie: 57/B, Firma: Degas, en la base http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

6. Edgar Degas, Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas, (Paris, Francia, 1834-1917), Caballo de tiro, Cheval de tire, c. 1865-1881, Bronce con patina cafe, 10.3 x 8.8 x 5.8 cm, Fundidor: A. A. Hebrard, Firma: Degas, en la base entre las patas del caballo http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

7. Edgar Degas, Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas, (Paris, Francia, 1834-1917), Caballo galopando sobre la pata derecha, Cheval au galp sur la patte droite, 1882-1895, Bronco con patina cafe, 19 x 33 x 18 cm, Fundidor: A. A. Hebrard, Num. de serie: 25, Firma: Degas, en la base al lado de la pata traser izquierda http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

RENOIR?
On page 10 of the Paul Haesaerts’ 1947 Renoir Sculptor biography, the author wrote: “With the exception of a very few earlier attempts, Renoir devoted himself to sculpture on the eve and at the beginning of the war of 1914-1918, in other words between his seventy-third and seventy-fifth years. At the time he was not only an old man but a helpless paralytic. He was carried from his bed (where often enough he needed a cage to keep the bedclothes from touching his aching limbs) either in a sedan chair or in a wheelchair. His body was almost mummified. Not only was he deprived of the use of his legs, but his hands were stiffened and shrived. To allow him to paint, a brush was fixed between his rigidly curled fingers; thenceforth the work was done by arm movements, not by those of the hand and fingers.”[FN 20]

RENOIR FORGERIES @ MUSEO SOUMAYA:

1. Pierre-Auguste Renoir, (Limoges, Francia, 1841 - Cagnes, Francia, 1919, Richard Guino, Buste de madame Renoir, 1916-1918, Bronce con patina cade, 58.6 x 51.2 x 35 cm, Fundidor Valsuan, 1950, Nume de serie: A (de la serie de la familia Renoir), Firma: Renoir, en la espalda bajo el hombro derecho http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

2. Pierre-Auguste Renoir, (Limoges, Francia, 1841 - Cagnes, Francia 1919), Pequena Venus de pie (o Venus triunfante), Petite Venus debout, 1913, Bronce con patina cafe, 60.5 x 30.4 x 21.6 cm, Fundidor: ilegible, Firma: Renoir, en la parte posterior de la base http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

3. Pierre-Auguste Renoir, (Limoges, Francia, 1841 - Cagnes, Francia 1919), Richard Guino, Maternite, 1916, Bronce con patina negra y cafe, 54 x 25 x 30,1 cme, Fundidor: Valsuani, Num: de serie: 6A/10 http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

RODIN?
The dates given by the Museo Soumaya for many of their so-called Rodins predate the existence of the foundry that cast them.

The vast majority of Alexis Rudier casts are posthumous (see no. 3 for one obvious example). The Georges Rudier, Godard, Susse and Coubertin foundries all went into business 35 years or more after Auguste Rodin’s death in 1917.

FOUNDRIES
This information below was culled from pages 285-293 in the "Observations on Rodin and His Founders" monograph, by former Musee Rodin curator Monique Laurent, published in the National Gallery of Art's 1981 Rodin Rediscovered catalogue.[FN 21]

1880-1883 Gruet Jeune
1881-1904 F. Rudier
April 1882-Jan 1883 F. Laird
25 April 1882 Eugene Gonon
1884-1889 Pierre Bingen
1891-1895 Adolpe Gruet
1895 to mid-1898 J.B. Griffoul
1895-1898 Thiebaut Freres
1895 Societe Nationale des Bronzes, formerly J. Peterman
1896-1901 Leon Perzinka
1887-1894 Griffoul, associated with Lorge
4 April 1898-1908 Thiebaut Freres, Fumiere et Gavignot
June 1898 to March 1899 A. (Auguste) Griffoul et Cie
24 October 1898, MM. Fumiere et Gavignot
1899 Camille Groult, heir to Dargenton et Groult
1901 L. Gasne
1902 E. Gruet Jeune
1902 G. Sevin
1903 Pierre Griffoul
1904 Philippet
1906-1908 H. Gonot et E. Joret
1910 C. Durant
1912 Valsuani
1912-1913 Phillippe Montagutelli
1913 Rene Fulda
1898-1918 Le Blanc-Barbedienne
1902-1917 Alexis Rudier (1902 to 1952)

NOVEMBER 17, 1917 AUGUSTE RODIN DIES

1917-1952 Alexis Rudier (1902-1952)
1952-1980's Georges Rudier
1964-1978 Susse
1969- Godard
1973- Coubertin

RODIN FORGERIES @ MUSEO SOUMAYA:

1. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840- Meudon, Francia 1917), Mascara del hombre de la nariz rota, Masque l’homme au nez casse, 1863-1864, Bronce con patina negra, cade oscuro y verde, 31.2 x 19 x 16.3 cm, base 12.5 x 15.1 x 15.3 cm, Firma: rodin, en la base http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

2. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia 1917), La Edad de Bronce, L’Age d’Airain, 1875-1876, Bronze con patina cafe, 180.7 x 66.1 x 60.9 cm, Fundidor: Alexis Rudier, Firma: Rodin, en la base al derecha http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

3. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Cabeza dei padre Pierre-Julien Eymard, Tete du pere Pierre-Julien Eymard, 1863, Bronzce con patina negra y verde, 15.3 x 11 x 11.5 cm, base 8.5 x 8.5 x 8.5 cm, Fundidor: Alexis Rudier, 1925-1926, Firma: A Rodin, en el cuello a la derecha http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

4. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia 1917), Jules Dalou, Jules Dalou, 1883, Bronce con patina cafe y verde, 52 x 43 x 23.7 cm; base 3.3 x 19 x 20 cm, Fundidor: Alexis Rudier, Paris, Firma: A Rodin, en el hombro izquierdo http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

5. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Mercurio de pie, Mercure debout, 1888, Bronce con patina cafe y verde, 36 x 37.8 x 20.6 cm; base 3 x 22 x 13 cm, Fundidor: Musee rodin, 1965, Num. de serieL 12/12, Firma: A Rodin, en la piena izquierda http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

6. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840,- Meudon, Francia, 1917), La joven madre, La jeune mere, 1885, Bronce con patina cafe y verde, 38.7 x 36.4 x 26 cm, Fundidor: Georges Rudier, Paris, Firma: A Rodin, en la base bajo la mano izquierda de la madre http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

7. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Suzon, Suzon, 1872, Porcelana de Sevres, 23.3 x 13.1 x 12.7 cm; base 10,5 x 11.1 x 11.1, Firma: A Rodin, en el borde a la derecha, Inscripcion: SUZON/SCULPe RODIN en la placa metalica http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

8. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), San Juan Bautista predicando, Saint Jean Baptist prechant, 1878, Bronce con patina cafe oscuro, negra y verde, 50 x 16 x 29 cm, Fundidro: Georges Rudier, Paris, Ejemplar de una edicion de 12, Firma: A Rodin, en la base entre los pies http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

9. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), La eterna primavera (o Cefiro y la tierra o Juventud o ideal), L’eternel printemps, 1884, Bronce con patina cafe, 51.9 x 48.5 x 36.8 cm, Fundidor: Georges Rudier, Paris, Firma: A Rodin, en la base a la derecha http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

10. Auguse Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), La Sombra, L’Ombre, 1898, Bronce con patina negra y verde, 95 x 53.4 x 28.5 cm, Fundidor: Georges Rudier, Musee Rodin, 1967, Ejemplar de una edicion de 12, Firma: A Rodin, en la base al lado del pie izquierdo http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

11. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Las tres Sombras, Les trois Ombres, 1880, Bronce con patina cafe y negra, 193 x 187.5 x 108.4 cm, Fundidor: Coubertin, Musee Rodin, 1989, Num. de serieL 7/8, Firma: A Rodin, a los pies de la, Sombra izquierda http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

12. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), El hombre que cae, L’homme qui tombe, 1882, Bronce con patina cafe, 58.8 x 39.9 x 31.2 cm, Fundidor: E Godard, Musee Rodin, 1981, Num: de serie 10/12 , Firma: A Rodin, en la base al izquierda http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

13. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Hijo prodigo, Enfant prodigue, c. 1885 -1887, Bronce, con patina cafe, 55.5 x 24.6 x 30.7 cm, Fundidor: Alexis Rudier, Paris, Firma: A Rodin, en la base a la derecha http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

14. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), La mano de Dios, La main de Dieu, c. 1894, Bronce con patina cafe, 119.1 x 82.2 81.5 cm, Fundidor: E Godard, Musee Rodin, 1981, Firma: A Rodin, en en la superficie lis de la base y arriba a la izquierda http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

15. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), La martir, La martyre, 1885, Bronce con patina cafe, 27.6 x 148 x 98.5 cm, Num: de serie 7, Firma: A Rodin, en el cabello http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

16. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), El hombre que cae, L’homme qui tombe, 1882, Bronce con patina cafe, 58.8 x 39.9 x 31.2 cm, Fundidor: E Godard, Musee Rodin, 1981, Num: de serie 10/12 , Firma: A Rodin, en la base al izquierda http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

17. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Estudio para Iris, mensajera de los dioses, Etude pour Iris, messagere des dieux, 1890-1891, Bronce con patina cafe, 75.3 x 75.9 x 41.3 cm, Fundidor: Musee Rodin, 1958, Num: de serie 3/12 , Firma: A Rodin, en la platna del pie derecho http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

18. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Venus, Venus, Bronce con patina negra, 102.7 x 23.9 x 23. 8 cm, Fundidor: E Godard, Musee Rodin, 1977, Num: de serie 6/12 , Firma: A Rodin, en la base http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

19. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), El sucubo, Le succube, Bronce con patina cafe oscuro y verdo, 23.2 x 16.5 x 17.3 cm, Firma: A Rodin, en la base a la derecha http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

20. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Illusiones recibidas por la berra, Illusions recues par la terre, 1895, Bronce con patina negra y verde, 51.3 x 81.4 x 56 cm, Fundidor: Alexis Rudier, 1920, Firma: A Rodin, en la base a la derecha http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

21. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), El hombre que cae, L’homme qui tombe, 1882, Bronce con patina cafe, 58.8 x 39.9 x 31.2 cm, Fundidor: E Godard, Musee Rodin, 1981, Num: de serie 10/12 , Firma: A Rodin, en la base al izquierda http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

22. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Genio remontando el vuel, Genie prenant son essor, c. 1880-1885, , Bronce con patina cafe oscuro, 46.5 x 34. 5 x 49.7 cm, Fundidor: Alexis Rudier, Paris, Num: de serie 1/12 , Firma: A Rodin, en la base entre los pies http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

23. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Juventud triunfante, Jeunesse triomphante, 1894, Bronce con patina cafe y verde, 51.7 x 45.7 x 34. 5 cm, Firma: A Rodin, en la base al frente http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

24. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Las metamorfosis de Ovidio, Les metamorphoses d’Ovide, 1886, Bronce con patina cafe, 32.4 x 40.3 x 25.8 cm, Fundidor: L Perzinka, Num: de serie 7/12 , Firma: A Rodin, en la base, bajo el brazo izquierdo de el http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

The former Musee Rodin curator Monique Laurent documents that Leon Perzinka foundry worked with Auguste Rodin from 1896-1901. The edition of 12 is posthumous French practice dating from the 1950’s or later.

25. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), El atieta, L’athlete, 1901-1904, Bronce con patina negra, 39.6 x 28 x 24. 8 cm, Firma: Rodin, en la base al izquierda http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

26. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Triton y la sirena, Triton et la sirene, 1896, Bronce con patina cafe, 23 x 25.8 x 14.6 cm, base 2 cm de altura, Firma: A Rodin, en la base http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

27. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), El hombre que cae, L’homme qui tombe, 1882, Bronce con patina cafe, 58.8 x 39.9 x 31.2 cm, Fundidor: E Godard, Musee Rodin, 1981, Num: de serie 10/12 , Firma: A Rodin, en la base al izquierda http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

28. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), El arbol viejo, Le vieil arbre, c. 1885, Bronce con patina cafe oscuro, 39.1 x 39 x 26.7 cm, Fundidor: Georges Rudier, Musee Rodin, 1987, Num: de serie 6/8 , Firma: A RODIN, cerca del codo derecho de Afrodita http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

29, Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Polifermo, Polyphemus, 1888, Bronce con patina cafe, 24.2 x 15.8 x 14.5 cm, Fundidor: Alexis Rudier, Firma: A Rodin, en la base http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

30. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917),La eterna primavera (o Cefiro y la tierra o Juventud o ideal), L’eternel printemps, 1884, Bronce con patina cafe, 51.9 x 48.5 x 36.9 cm, Fundidor: Georges Rudier, paris, Firma: A Rodin, en la base a la derecha http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

31. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), El beso, Le baiser, 1886, Bronce con patina cafe, Fundidor: Barbedienne, Firma: A Rodin, en la base http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

32. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), La Danaide, c. 1888 Bronce con patina cafe, 32.6 x 62.7 x 45 cm, Firma: A Rodin, en la base http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

33. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Las bendiciones, Les benedictions, 1894, Bronce con patina cafe y verde, 81.4 x 71.8 x 60.3 cm, Fundidor: Alexis Rudier, Firma: A Rodin, en la base a la derecha http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

34. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Primera maqueta de Los burgueses de Calais, Premiere maquette de Les bourgeois de Calais, 1884, Bronce con patina cafe y verde, 59 x 3 x 37.3 x 32 cm, Fundidor: E Godard, Paris, Num: de serie: 4, Firma: A Rodin, a los pies de Andrieu d’Andres http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

35. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Andrieu d’Andres, Andrieu d’Andres, 1890, Bronce con patina cafe y verde, 198 x 132 x 94.5 cm, Fundidor: Coubertin, Musee Rodin, 1989, Num. de serie: 8/8, Firma: A Rodin, en la base al lado del pie derecho http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

36. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Jean d’aire, Jean d’Aire, 1885, Bronce con patina negra y cafe, 46.6 x 16.5 x 14.6 cm, Fundidor: Alexis Rudier, Firma: A Rodin, en la base bajo el pie izquierdo http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

37. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Gran mano izquierda, Grande main gauche, 1885, Bronce con patina negra, cafe y verde, 13.9 x 34.3 x 16 cm, Fundidor: Alexis Rudier, Paris, Firma: A Rodin, en el antebrazo http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

38. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Gran mano crispada, Grande main crispee, 1884-1886, Bronce con patina verde y negra, 46.4 x 18.7 x 30.2 cm, Fundidor: Georges Rudier, Paris, 1068, Firma: A Rodin, en la base a la derecha http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

39. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Cabez del Espiritu de la guerra, Tete de l’esprit de la guerre, c. 1883, Bronce con patina verde y cafe, 15.7 x 14.5 x 14.5 cm; tiene una base metalica al centro de 5 mm de altura, Fundidor: Georges Rudier, Musee Rodin, 1965, Ejemplar de una edicion de 12, Firma: A Rodin, en la base a la izquierda http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

40. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Mano derecha de Pierre de Wiessant, main droite de Pierre d Wiessant, c. 1884-1888, Bronce con patina negra y verde, 33.9 x 24.2 x 21.6 cm, Fundidor: Georges Rudier, Musee Rodin, 1962, Num. de serie: 9/12, Firma: A Rodin, en la muneca http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

41. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Pierre de Wiessant, Pierre de Wiessant, c. 1884-1888, Bronce con patina cafe, 44.8 x 21 x 22 cm, Fundidor: Alexis Rudier, Paris, Firma: A Rodin, en la base bajo el pie derecho http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

42. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Jean d’Aire, Jean d’Aire, 1885, Bronce con patina cafe oscuro, 68.5 x 22 x 24 cm, Fundidor: Susse, Musee Rodin, Paris, 1976, Firma: A Rodin, enla base frente http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

43. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Eustache de Saint-Pierre, Eustache de Saint-Pierre, 1886, Bronce con patina verde, cafe y negre, 97.5 x 27 x 42.6 cm, Fundidor: Georges Rudier, Paris, Musee Rodin, 1962, Ejemplar de una edicion de 12, Firma: A Rodin, en la base entre los pies http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

44. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Balzac con habito de monje dominico, Balzac en robe de dominicain, Bronce con patina cafe oscuro y verde, 106.4 x 50.8 x 38.5 cm, Fundidor: Georges Rudier, Paris, Num. d serie: 4/12, Firma: A Rodin, en el habito abajo a la derecha http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

45. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Mascara de Rolando, Masque de Roland, c. 1900, Bronce con patina cafe y verde, 22.5 x 18.2 x 11.2 cm, Fundidor: Susse, Num. de serie: 1, Firma: monograma a la izquierda http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

46. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Torso del hombre que camina, Torse de l’homee qui marche, c. 1880, Bronce con patina cafe y verde, 107.6 x 68 x 43.2 cum, Num. de serie: 8/8, Firma: A Rodin, en la piema izquierda http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

47. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Estudio de una mano izquierda, ude pour une main, c. 1884-1885, Bronce con pna caf verde, 14.4 x 5.5 x 6.2 cm; base 6 x 6.2 x 6 cm, Fundidor: Georges Rudier, Par, Firma: A Rodin, en la mu http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

48. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), El secreto, Le secret, c. 1910, Bronce con patina cafe y verde, 11.8 x 6 x 5.1 cm, Fundidor: Alexis Rudier, Firma: A Rodin, en la base http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

49. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Mano derecha no. 1, Main no. 1, c. 1885-1910, Bronce con patina verde y cafe, 11.9 x 4.8 x 5.9 cm, Fundidor: Georges Rudier, Musee Rodin, 1960, Ejemplar de una edicion de 12, Firma: A Rodin, en la muneca http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

50. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Mano dercha (mano no. 12), Main droite (main no. 12), Sin fecha, Bronce con patina cafe y verde, 6.3 x 2.3 x 4 cm; base 4 x 4 x 4 cm, Fundidor: Georges Rudier, Paris, Firma: A Rodin, en la base http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

51. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Mano derecha (mano 27), Main droite (main no. 27), c 1885-1910, Bronce con patina cafe y verde, 11.5 x 7 x 4.5 cm; base 4.8 x 5 x 5 cm, Fundidor: Georges Rudier, Musee Rodin, 1964, Ejemplar de una edicion de 12, Firma: A Rodin, en la muneca http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

52. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Mano izquierda no. 33, Main no. 33, c. 1885-1910, Bronce con patina cafe oscuro y verde, 11.5 x 8 x 15.8 cm; base 4.4 x 8.5 x 9.5 cm, Fundidor: Georges Rudier, Musee Rodin, 1964, Ejemplar de una edicion de 12, Firma: A Rodin, en la muneca http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

53. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), La catedral, la cathedrale, 1908, Bronce con patina cafe y verde, 62.2 x 28 x 30.5 cm, Fundidor: Alexis Rudier, Paris, Firma: A Rodin, en la base http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

54. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Desnudo femenino arrodillado en torsion, Nu feminin agenoouille en torsion, 1883, Bronce con patina negra y cafe, 59.3 x 31.5 x 36.5 cm, Fundidor: E Godard, Musee Rodin, 1984, Num. de serie: 5/8, Firma: A Rodin, en la base al lado de la rodilla izquierda http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

55. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Movimiento de danza H, Mouvement de dance H, c. 1910, Bronce con patina negra, cafe y verde, 27.7 x 11.5 x 15.8 cm; bse 12.6 x 7 x 9 cm, Fundidor: Alexis Rudier, Musee Rodin, 1963, Num. de serie: 2/12, Firma: A Rodin, en la base http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

56. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Hobre sentado con piernas extendidas, Homme assis avec les jambes etendues, c. 1895, Bronce con patina cafe, 15.4 x 16 x 8.8 cm, Fundidor: Georges Rudier, Paris, Num. de serie: 7/12, Firma: A Rodin, en la base http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

57. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Movimiento de danza A, Mouvement de danse A, 1910, Bronce con patina verde y cafe, 70.9 x 33 x 22.2 cm, Fundidor: Georges Rudier, Paris, 1957, Nu. de serie: 8/12, Firma: A Rodin, en el interior del tobillo dercho http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

58. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Posesion, l’emprise, c. 1888, Bronce con patina cafe, negra y verde, 22.8 x 11.7 x 11.8 cm, base 3 x 12 x 8 cm, Fudidor: Alexis Rudier, Paris, Firma: A Rodin, en la base http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

59. Auguste Rodin, Francois-Auguste-Rene Rodin, (Paris, Francia, 1840 - Meudon, Francia, 1917), Posesip, L’emprise, c. 1888, Bronce con pna cafnegra y verde, 22.8 x 11.7 x 11.8 cem; base 3 x 12 x 8 cm, Fudidor: Alexis Rudier, Par, Firma: A Rodin, en la base http://www.soumaya.com.mx - Museo Soumaya Plaza Loreto

LAW, ETHICS AND THE VISUAL ARTS
On page 816-817 of Kluwer Law International’s published 1998 Law, Ethics and the Visual Arts, Third Edition by John Henry Merryman and Albert E. Elsen wrote about “Counterfeit Art.”[FN 22]

Under the subtitle “Truth,” the authors wrote: “The most serious harm that good counterfeits do is to confuse and misdirect the search for valid learning. The counterfeit objects falsifies history and misdirects inquiry.”[FN 23]

Additionally, under the subtitle “Resource Allocation,” the authors wrote: “Museum and art historical resources are always limited. What gets acquired, displayed, conserved and studied is the result of a continuous process of triage, in which some objects can be favoured only at the expenses of others. Counterfeit objects distort the process.”[FN 24]

Finally, under the subtitle “Fraud,” the authors wrote: “There remains the most obvious harm of all: counterfeit cultural objects are instruments of fraud. Most are created in order to deceive and defraud, but even “innocent” counterfeits can, and often will, be so used. The same considerations of justice and social order that make deliberate fraud of others kinds criminal apply equally to fraud through the medium of counterfeit art...”[FN 25]

CONCLUSION
What needs to be accomplished is the full and honest disclosure of all reproductions as -reproductions- by all museums, auction houses and art dealers. If the Museo Soumaya will give full and honest disclosure for all reproductions as: -reproductions- it would allow museum patrons to give informed consent on whether they wish to attend an exhibit of reproductions, much less pay the price of admission.

But if these objects are not reproductions by definition and law, but -forgeries- with or without counterfeit signatures or inscriptions applied, much less posthumous, to create the illusion the artist created it, much less approved and signed it, then serious consequences of law may come into play for those who chose to misrepresent these -forgeries- for profit.

The reputations and legacy of living and past artists, present and future museum art patrons and the art-buying public deserve the re-establishment of the obvious; that the living presence and participation of the artist to once again be required, as it always should have been, to create the piece of art attributable to the artist if indeed it is attributed to them, much less purported to have been signed by them.

FOOTNOTES:
1.http://www.getty.edu/vow/AATFullDisplay?find=counterfeit&logic=AND&note=&english=N&prev_page=1&subjectid=300121305

2. http://www.noticiasmerida.org/2011/03/presidente-calderon-y-carlos-slim.html

3. Ibid
"La noche del martes 1 de marzo de 2011, el Presidente Felipe Calderón Hinojosa encabezó la ceremonia de inauguración del Museo Soumaya, ubicado en la Plaza Carso de la Ciudad de México, en un moderno edificio que acogerá la colección de arte privado más importante del país y de Latinoamérica, según informa la sala de prensa de la Presidencia de la República."

4. www.carlosslim.com/pdf/ING_EPSENTREVISTA_ing.pdf

5. Copyright © 1991 by Bena Mayer, ISBN 0-06-461012-8

6. http://www.michelangeloexperience.com/2010/09/saint-peters-pieta/

7. Copyright © 1999, By West Group, ISBN 0-314-22864-0

8. Ibid

9. Copyright © 1991 by Bena Mayer, ISBN 0-06-461012-8

10. Copyright © 1999, By West Group, ISBN 0-314-22864-0

11.http://www.getty.edu/vow/AATFullDisplay?find=counterfeit&logic=AND&note=&english=N&prev_page=1&subjectid=300121305

12. Copyright © 1994, ISBN: 0-88740-629-7

13. Ibid

14. http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/tbio?tperson=1209

15. Art Journal © 1995 College Art Association, http://www.jstor.org/pss/777513

16. © 1998 National Gallery of Art ISBN 0-300-07517-0

17.http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060803230342AAEHfdg

Brass is the term used for alloys of copper and zinc in a solid solution. Typically it is more than 50% copper and from 5 to 20% zinc, in comparison to bronze which is principally an alloy of copper and tin. Despite this distinction, some types of brasses are called bronzes.
Brass has a yellow colour, somewhat similar to gold. It is relatively resistant to tarnishing, and is often used as decoration.
Brass has been known to man since prehistoric times, long before zinc itself was discovered. It was produced by melting copper together with calamine, a zinc ore. During this process, the zinc is extracted from the calamine and instantly mixes with the copper. Pure zinc, on the other hand, is too reactive to have been produced by ancient metalworking techniques.
Bronze refers to a broad range of copper alloys, usually with tin as the main additive, but sometimes with other elements such as phosphorus, manganese, aluminum, or silicon. It is strong and tough, and has myriad uses in industry.
When steel is excluded from the discussion, bronze is superior to iron in nearly every application. While it develops a patina, it does not oxidize. It is considerably less brittle than iron and has a lower casting temperature. (Steel, of course, has properties with which bronze cannot compete.)
Copper-based alloys have lower melting points than steel and are more readily produced from their constituent metals. They are generally about 10 percent heavier than steel, although alloys using aluminium or silicon may be slightly less dense. Bronzes are softer and weaker than steel, Bronze springs are less stiff (and so store less energy) for the same bulk. It resists corrosion (especially seawater corrosion) and metal fatigue better than steel and also conducts heat and electricity better than most steels. The cost of copper-base alloys is generally higher than that of steels but lower than that of nickel-base alloys.
Copper and its alloys have a huge variety of uses that reflect their versatile physical, mechanical, and chemical properties. Some common examples are the high electrical conductivity of pure copper, the excellent deep-drawing qualities of cartridge case brass, the low-friction properties of bearing bronze, the resonant qualities of bell bronze, and the resistance to corrosion by sea water of several bronze alloys.
Bronze is the most popular metal for top-quality bells and cymbals, and more recently, saxophones. It is also widely used for cast metal sculpture. Common bronze alloys often have the unusual and very desirable property of expanding slightly just before they set, thus filling in the finest details of a mould.
Bronze also has very little metal-on-metal friction, which made it invaluable for the building of cannons where iron cannonballs would otherwise stick in the barrel. It is still widely used today for springs, bearings, bushings and similar fittings, and is particularly common in the bearings of small electric motors. Phosphor bronze is particularly suited to precision-grade bearings and springs.
Bronze is typically 60% copper and 40% tin. Alpha bronze consists of the alpha solid solution of tin in copper. Alpha bronze alloys of 4-5% tin are used to make coins, springs, turbines and blades.
Commercial bronze (otherwise known as brass) is 90% copper and 10% zinc, and contains no tin. It is stronger than copper and it has equivalent ductility. It is used for screws and wires.
Bronze vs. Brass
1. Bronze is the familiar brownish color whereas brass is the more greyish greenish, bluish. Both will weather to the fine verdigris patina without maintenance.
2. They differ in the amont of metals used in the amalgam. Brass is a combination of copper and zinc while brass is a combination of copper and tin.
3. Bronze items are four times more expensive than brass.
4. Bronze is much stronger and more corrosion resistant than brass.
5. Bronze is harder and more abrasion resistant than brass
6. As brass deteriorates, it creates an oxide (a grey white powder - zinc oxide). Zinc oxide is acetic and will attack the lignum in wood. Once the lignum is gone the wood fiber is open to rot
7. Brass melts at lower temperature and therefore use less energy to melt. It machines and polishes much easier than Bronze and therefore the price to make a fitting from it is lower. Also, it goes away much more quickly and therefore the customer will have to purchase replacement parts much sooner.
8. Bronze is richer, more golden in color than brass which is usually a yellow color. If there is any doubt in your mind, try an easy test. Using the smallest drill bit that you have, drill a small hole in an unimportant area of the fitting and look at the metal turnings that come out. If they are long and stringy, the fittings are probably Bronze. If the turnings are small (like snow flakes), then the metal is probably brass and even more probably a leaded brass.

18. © 2010 ISBN 978-0-691-14897-7, National Gallery of Art, Washington, www.nga.gov

19. Copyright © 1999, By West Group, ISBN 0-314-22864-0

20. Renoir Sculptor by Paul Haesaerts, Published 1947, Printed by V. Van Dieren & Co and J. E. Buschmann, Printed in Belgium.

21. © 1981, ISBN 0-89468-001-3 (pbk)

22. © Kluwer Law International 1998, ISBN 90-411-0697-9

23. Ibid

24. Ibid

25. Ibid

Picasso or not Picasso, that is the question?

2010-11-27T18:55:00.018-05:00

Updated: January 2, 2011

Note: Footnotes are enclosed as [FN]

PABLO PICASSO LITHOGRAPH?

On November 23, 2010, the Florida Times Union published the “Gift guide: Heirloom gifts are something to treasure forever” article by Charlie Patton. In part, the reporter wrote: “Those with a taste for expensive art can find an original color lithograph by Pablo Picasso offered through the website of R. Roberts Gallery for just $39,960.”[FN 1]

Unfortunately, the so-called “Picasso, Vallauris 1956 Exposition, original color lithograph" offered for sale by R. Roberts Gallery on their website, is, at best, either a misidentified original Pablo Picasso linocut or a misrepresented chromist-made and/or photomechanical reproduction/poster or a non-disclosed forgery.

So, how can this be proven one way or the other?

PABLO PICASSO LINOCUT

According to New York's Modern Museum of Art, Picasso Pablo created the original "Vallauris 1956 Exposition" as a -linocut-.

On New York's Modern Museum of Art's website, their "Vallauris- [1956], Exposition" is given the following description: "Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973), Printer: Arnéra, Vallauris, France, Vallauris, France. 1956. Linocut, 39 x 25 3/4" (99.1 x 65.4 cm). Gift of Gertrud A. Mellon. © 2010 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, 337.1957"[FN 2]

(Correction mine [ ], the MOMA misidentified the date as 1952 in their listing, a somewhat common occurrence since Picasso seemed to have reversed the -6- in the linocut confusing many to misidentify it as a -2-.)

This is additionally documented by El Paso Museum of Art curator Stephen Vollmer, in Texas A & M University’s 1997 Picasso Posters: A Study in Design exhibition catalogue. In part, the curator wrote: “Picasso also developed the subject of the bullfight in seven wonderfully complex linocuts. For the 1956 Vallauris "Fiesta Taurina," Picasso created a triptych image, in which spectators on the sunny (left) and shady (right) sides of the arena frame the face of a bull, placed in a vertical band representing the bullring. As is often the case, this design was also used on one of the ceramic plates Picasso created in Vallauris.”[FN 3]

So, why, in this instance, did Pablo Picasso work in an intaglio medium of linocuts as opposed to a planographic medium of lithographs?

This is also answered by El Paso Museum of Art curator Stephen Vollmer, in Texas A & M University’s 1997 Picasso Posters: A Study in Design exhibition catalogue. In part, the curator wrote: “The linocut is a relief printing process, in which sharp tools are used to gouge or scratch lines into the surface of a piece of linoleum, which is usually glued to a block of wood. The printed image is created by the inked areas of the block that remain raised or in relief. Picasso's introduction to the linocut came about through difficulty transporting lithographic stones, proofs, and plates from the village of Vallauris, in the south of France, to his Paris print shop.”[FN 4]

In this 1997 Picasso Posters: A Study in Design exhibition checklist, the following description and dimensions are given for a Pablo Picasso: "Vallauris, Toros, 1956 Vallauris, June-July 1956 linocut on paper 39 3/8 x 25 7/8 Edition 200; signed, in red pencil"

On November 23, 2010, a telephone inquiry was made to R. Roberts Gallery, requesting information on the dimensions for their Pablo Picasso “Vallauris 1956 Exposition - original color lithograph." The next day, November 24, 2010, the R. Roberts Gallery director Bracken Sansbury emailed the following information: “The dimensions for Picasso’s Vallauris 1956 Exposition are approximately 39” x 26” unframed. Currently the piece is framed for safety in a frame that is 49” x 36.” This frame is older and would need to be replaced. If you are truly interested in this piece, the cost would be $29,980.”[FN 5]

The day before, this same Pablo Picasso "Vallauris 1956 Exposition" was listed on R. Roberts Gallery's website for $39,960.

That aside, the -39” x 26”- dimensions given by R. Robert Gallery’s director, for their so-called “original color lithograph” (mislabeled linocut?) seemed to correspond exactly to the dimensions given in the 1997 Picasso Posters: A Study in Design exhibition checklist for their Pablo Picasso: "Vallauris, Toros, 1956 Vallauris, June-July 1956 linocut on paper 39 3/8 x 25 7/8 Edition 200; signed, in red pencil"[FN 6]

Additionally, the R. Roberts Gallery's Pablo Picasso -original color lithograph- (linocut?) titled "Vallauris 1956 Exposition" seemed to correspond in part to the -49” by 24 1/2”- dimensions listed for a Pablo Picasso linocut with the same title: “Vallauris [1956] Exposition” in the New York Modern Museum of Art’s collection.

ORIGINAL COLOR LITHOGRAPH OR LINOCUT?

Using the available photographic image of MOMA's Pablo Picasso "Vallauris 1956 Exposition" linocut, details from it will be compared side by side with details from the available photograph of Road Show Company's Pablo Picasso "Vallauris 1956 Exposition - original color lithograph" (linocut?) posted on R. Roberts Gallery's website to potentially determine differences, if any.

The images and lettering for R. Roberts Gallery’s Picasso "Vallauris 1956 Exposition" -original color lithograph- (linocut?) are obviously different when compared to MOMA’s Picasso "Vallauris 1956 Exposition" linocut.

So, which one is authentic? Here are three simple -red flag- observations:

First, MOMA’s linocut lettering, in the title -EXPOSITION-, is sharper as opposed to Road Show Company’s -original color lithograph- (linocut?) that has more bloated-like lettering. Notice the straightness of the letter -E- in MOMA’s linocut compared to the rolling valley -E- in Road Show Company’s -original color lithograph- (linocut?), consigned to R. Roberts Gallery.

Second, in MOMA’s linocut above the -S-, the transition, from red to dark purple, is more than half way to the -i- where as the transition from red to dark blue almost begins above the -S- in Road Show Company’s -original color lithograph- (linocut?), consigned to R. Roberts Gallery.

Third and finally, in MOMA’s linocut, the lettering, for the title -EXPOSITION-, is closer to the bottom edge of the printed image as opposed to the Road Show Company’s -original color lithograph- (linocut?), consigned to R. Roberts Gallery.

In other words, one of these two (or possibly both) so-called linocuts and/or -original color lithograph- (linocut?) were not printed from the linoleum blocks created by Pablo Picasso in 1956.

Certainly to be sure a lithograph, an original planographic medium, could not have been printed from any linoleum block gouged and scratched by Pablo Picasso.

One potential argument for these differences is that one was reproduced by a chromist (someone who copies another artist work) who either by their hand and/or photomechanically separated and burned new stencils, directly from (or not) Picasso’s original linocut, resulting in one plausible explanation for the expansion of bloated lettering in the Road Show Company’s -original color lithograph- (linocut?).

Additionally, when those stencils were reassembled and printed, by the chromist and/or the printer, obvious differences resulted. Subsequently, that chromist-made reproduction may have been misrepresented, with or without intent for obvious monetary implications, as one of the 200 Pablo Picasso's "Vallauris 1956 Exposition" linocuts.

INTENTION TO DECEIVE, REPRODUCTIONS ARE FORGERIES
J. Paul Getty Museum, under their Getty Research, defines -counterfeit- as: "forgeries (derivative objects)" with a note stating: "Reproductions of whole objects when the intention is to deceive; includes sculptures cast without the artist's permission."[FN 7]

In an attempt to specifically answer some of these contentious issues of authenticity, R. Roberts Gallery’s director Bracken Sansbury was sent a November 23, 2010 email [FN 8], requesting additional documentation and/or a Certificate of Authenticity for their consigned -original color lithograph- (linocut?), attributed to Pablo Picasso and titled: "Vallarius 1956 Exposition."

EDITION NOT NUMBERED BUT ONLY 200 PRINTED
In her November 24, 2010 email response, the R. Roberts Gallery director wrote: “Please find a signed COA attached. Picasso gave his publisher authorization to print 200 lithographs. The edition was not numbered per piece, but we know there were only 200 printed. ”[FN 9]

So, despite the R. Roberts Gallery director's admission that Pablo Picasso did not number this -original color lithograph- (linocut?) edition, are we to suspend disbelief or just believe without question that only 200 were printed?

The R.Roberts Gallery’s emailed pdf copy of AFNA Inc. a.k.a. Road Show Company’s Certificate of Authenticity for their Pablo Picasso “Vallauris-1956 Exposition” -Linocut in colors-.

2010 CERTIFICATION FOR A 1956 LINOCUT

This assertion "we know there were only 200 printed," is from same R. Roberts gallery director who misleadingly promotes, with or without intent, their so-called Pablo Picasso "Vallarius 1956 Exposition" as -original color lithograph- despite its' disclosure as a -linocut- in the Afna Inc. a.k.a. Road House Company's "Certification" in her possession.

Linocuts are an intaglio creative medium where the artist uses sharp tools to gouges and/or scratches on a linoleum block versus lithographs which are a planographic creative medium where the artist draws with grease substance/pencil on a limestone block or metal plate or using opaque materials on mylar. The resulting artist printed images usually on rag paper, whether as lithographs or linocuts, are original works of visual art by the artist.

Therefore, whether the R. Roberts Gallery director misstated or misunderstood what constitutes a linocut when she referred to it as an -original color lithograph-, original creative mediums of lithographs versus linocuts are not interchangeable, much less the same.

TWO SIGNATURE ON THIS PIECE

Additionally, in the November 24, 2010 email, the R. Roberts Gallery director wrote “There are two signatures on this piece – one from the plate that was printed and one in red crayon, hand-signed.”[FN 10]

On page 1387 of the Seventh Edition of Black's Law Dictionary, -signature- is defined as: “a person’s name or mark written by that person."[FN 11]

If an artist gouge or scratch their name into the linoleum block, unless done in reverse, their name would be printed backwards when the linoleum block is directly printed to paper. In this case, it would seem Pablo Picasso gouged or scratched in reverse his name so when printed directly to paper in reverse, it would read correctly left to right but the printed result would be his name -not- his signature. Then when he subsequently signed in red crayon each completed linocut, that would constitute "a person's name or mark written by that person."[FN 12]

In other words, a printed name versus a signature are not interchangeable, much less the same.

TWO SIGNATURES?

Unfortunately, there is a more plausible and devastating explanation for what appears to be two Pablo Picasso's signatures in R. Roberts' so-called Pablo Picasso - original color lithograph titled "Vallarius 1956 Exposition." It could be a photomechanical reproduction of something Pablo Picasso may have (or not) created and signed. So, when the image was reproduced, so was that signature reproduced and then when that reproduction is signed in red crayon by Pablo Picasso (or forged by someone else), you end up with what appears to be -two signatures-.

In other words, two signatures on an image (one reproduced and one signed) is usually a huge -red flag- for spotting potential autographed reproductions, much less forgeries.

AFNA INC.'S CERTIFICATION

Now, hold that thought and reread again this “Certification,” for this so-called Pablo Picasso linocut. At first read, all the information seem plausible except that at the bottom, it states: “Authorized by.” Immediately to the right of it is an illegible name signed with no title or references given as to who they are and what their credentials are, much less if they are independent of the Afna, Inc. company whose letterhead is printed at the top.

Additionally, it is dated April 14, 2010, some 54 years after the linocuts creation by Pablo Picasso and some 38 years after his death in 1972.

It is doubtful, the person who signed, illegibly, their name to this so-called “Certification,” for their so-called Pablo Picasso "Vallarius 1956 Exposition" linocut actually witness the printing of these so-called linocuts, much less counted the number printed some 54 years ago in 1956.

On page 295 of the Seventh Edition of Black's Law Dictionary, -conflict of interest- is defined as: "A real or seeming incompatibility between one's private interests and one's public or fiduciary duties."[FN 13]

So, is it -conflict of interest- for someone from Afna Inc. a.k.a Road Show Company to authenticate a possible Pablo Picasso linocut with a piece of paper titled "Certification," when at the same time they or their consignee R. Roberts Gallery are trying to sell it for $40,000, much less for $30,000?

Does that question answer itself?

"The Fitting", 1890-1891, CASSATT, Après, Mary. 1844-1926, Color drypoint, softground and aquatint on laid paper, with Arches watermark. Bearing the blindstamp lower right, "Bibliothèque Nationale/Claude Tchou & Sons/Replique,” From a set of ten color prints inspired by the 1890 Paris exhibition of Japanese woodblock prints. Published by the Bibliothèque Nationale, France and printed by Claude Tchou & Sons in 1991, to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of Cassatt's one-woman exhibition at the Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris.. The current rigorously replicated edition is comprised of the ten drypoints, etchings and aquatints of Mary Cassatt, kept in the Bibliothèque National and printed at Claude Tchou & Sons on the presses of the atelier Rigal à Fontenay-aux-Roses. The printing was completed January 15, 1991. The tirage of the French edition was limited to 250. Fifty are printed on Japon paper, numbered I through L, and 200 on Arches, numbered A1 through A200. There are printed 550 other examples reserved for the English, German, Italian, and Japanese editions. These are numbered B1 through B550. All these editions are marked with the stamp of the Bibliothèque National - Claude Tchou & Sons. There are also printed other editions marked H.C., reserved for the editors and their collaborators. Bresskin 147, 14 3/4" x 10 1/8" © 2005 Road Show Company

http://www.roadshowcompany.com/artists/Impressionists/01.html
NON-DISCLOSED POSTHUMOUS FORGERY

So, if there was any doubt about of this Afna Inc. a.k.a. Road Show Company's avarice, with their consignment of this -authenticity challenged- Picasso to R. Roberts Gallery in Jacksonville, Florida, the following documentation of their reckless attribution of non-disclosed posthumous forgeries as original works of visual art ie., lithographs and etchings, should end that speculation.

On page 1276 of the Seventh Edition of Black’s Law Dictionary, -reckless- is defined as: “Reckless conduct is much more than mere negligence: it is a gross deviation from what a reasonable person would do.”[FN 14]

FORGERIES ATTRIBUTED AS CASSATT ETCHINGS

All ten editions of the 8,000 or more “drypoints, etchings and aquatints,” attributed to the American artist Mary Cassatt with “1890-1891”[FN 15] dates and listed for sale on the Road Show Company's website, are actually non-disclosed forgeries posthumously forged by 1991.

Mary Cassatt died in 1926. The dead don’t etch.

U.S. CUSTOMS

That factual perspective is confirmed in a May 2006 U.S. Customs Informed Compliance Publication. In part, it states: “original engravings, prints and lithographs - means - wholly executed by hand by the artist - excluding any mechanical or photomechanical process.”[FN 16]

In 1991, a dead Mary Cassatt (d 1926) could not have "wholly executed" anything.

The Afna Inc. a.k.a. Road Show Company operates in the United States, specifically at 4326 Micah’s Canyon, Las Vegas in the State of Nevada.

The eight of the ten so-called editions of Mary Cassatt etchings are listed with the following titles: 1. "The Fitting," 2. "In the Omnibus, 3. "The Bath,” 4. “Mother’s Kiss,” 5. “Woman Bathing,” 6. “The Lamp,” 7. “Afternoon Tea Party,” and 8. “The Coiffure.”[FN 17]

On page 661 of the Seventh Edition of Black's Law Dictionary, -forgery- is defined as: "The act of fraudulently making a false document or altering a real one to be used as if genuine."[FN 18]

What are the -red flags-, on the Road Show Company’s website, that exposes these so-called editions of etchings, attributed to the American artist Mary Cassatt, as non-disclosed posthumous forgeries?

FIRST -red flag-, the Road Show Company attributes these 8,000 or more non-disclosed posthumous forgeries as original works of visual ie., etchings to the American artist Mary Cassatt with misleading dates of “1890-1891” even though it is acknowledged in the middle of length descriptions on Road Show Company's website that the "printing was completed January 15, 1991," some 65 years after her death in 1926.

Remember, the dead don’t etch.

SECOND, -red flag-, the Road Show Company promotes these 8,000 or more non-disclosed posthumous forgeries as a: “replicated edition,” when by definition -replica- means: “an exact copy or duplicate of a work, done in the same size and in the same medium, and done by the artist who created the original.”[FN 19]

The dead don’t replicate.

THIRD, -red flag-, the Road Show Company promotes these 8,000 or more non-disclosed posthumous forgeries as the: “French edition was limited to 250. Fifty are printed on Japon paper, numbered I through L, and 200 on Arches, numbered A1 through A200. There are printed 550 other examples reserved for the English, German, Italian, and Japanese editions. These are numbered B1 through B550.”[FN 20]

U.S. COPYRIGHT LAW 101
Under U.S. Copyright Law 101. Definitions, a “work of visual art” is defined as: “a painting, drawing, print or sculpture, existing in a single copy, in a limited edition of 200 copies or fewer that are consecutively numbered by the author and bear the signature or other identifying mark of the author.”[FN 21]

Mary Cassatt (d 1926) was some 65 years dead by 1991 when these so-called -editions- were numbered.

The dead don't sign, much less number.

NOTE: Does the Road Show Company’s description, given for these so-called editions, possibly mean to give each so-called edition, beyond the so-called “French edition,” 550 each? If so that would expand the potential for French and other five country editions to 2,500 each x 10 titles totaling more than 25,000.

FOURTH, -red flag-, the Road Show Company repeatedly states, in their descriptions given for these 8,000 or more non-disclosed posthumous forgeries, that: “[Claude Tchou & Sons] also printed other editions marked H.C., reserved for the editors and their collaborators.” [Grammatical correction mine]

Hors de Commerce is defined as: "Prints not equal in quality to the edition that may have minor flaws. These usually aren't signed and are canceled in some way, such as a hole in a corner or a stamp indicating they are not for sale. These prints are used by sales people to show to potential clients."[FN 22]

Therefore, for these 8,000 or more non-disclosed posthumous (by 1991) forgeries, there can be no such editioning, no such signing, no such numbering resulting in no such canceling of any such -Hors de Commerce- because posthumously there is no such Mary Cassatt.

By 1991, Mary Cassatt (d 1926) was some 65 years dead.

So, is the Road Show Company being, at best, -reckless- when it offers for sale on their website non-disclosed posthumous forgeries as original works of visual art ie., lithographs, etchings and the like, with dates that predate the death of the artist?

Yet, in the Road Show Company’s "Testimonials" posted on their website, one of their consignee galleries; Rich Roberts, of R. Roberts Fine Art in Jacksonville, Florida, stated: “I found them to be very professional, honest and deliver on everything that they promised. I have done several shows with them and found them to be extremely knowledgeable about the business. I recommend them highly.”[FN 23]

This is the same R. Roberts Gallery that in September 2010 had a Renoir & The Master Impressionists exhibition that was, in part, if not whole from the Road Show Company and promoted on R. Roberts Gallery's website as: “The Impressionists featuring original paintings and etchings by the Masters. Including four generations of the Pissaro family, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Edward Manet and other notables.”[FN 24]

Olympia, 1867, MANET, Edouard, 1832-1883, Etching on creme Van Gelder Zonen laid, watermarked paper. Signed in the plate lower right, From the complete suite of 30 etchings, no. 22/30. Printed by A. Strölin,, Maison Dumont, Paris, 1905. From the edition of 100. Harris 52, 6 1/4" x 9 1/4"

http://www.roadshowcompany.com/artists/Impressionists/13.html
NON-DISCLOSED POSTHUMOUS FORGERY

This so-called -etching- titled “Olympia,” attributed to Edouard Manet with an “1867” date by Road Show Company on their website, was actually forged in 1905 by A. Strolin.

Edouard Manet died in 1883. The dead don’t etch.

Additionally, the written description given "Signed in the plate lower right" exposes a lack of printmaking knowledge and experience by Road Show Company because if Manet's name appears on the -lower right side- of the printed image that would mean Manet's name (to properly read left to right) was inscribed in reverse on the -lower left side- of the plate, since its' direct printing to paper would result in its' reversal.

La Queue à la Boucherie, 1871, MANET, Edouard, 1832-1883, Etching on creme Van Gelder Zonen laid, watermarked paper., From the complete suite of 30 etchings, no. 29/30. Printed by A. Strölin,, Maison Dumont, Paris, 1905. From the edition of 100., Harris 70, 9" x 6 1/4"
http://www.roadshowcompany.com/artists/Impressionists/12.html
NON-DISCLOSED POSTHUMOUS FORGERY

This so-called “etching” titled “La Queue a la Boucherie,” attributed to Edouard Manet with an “1871” date by Road Show Company on their website, was actually forged in 1905 by A. Strolin.

Edouard Manet (d 1883) was some 22 years dead in 1905. The dead don't etch, much less edition.

Additionally, listing this non-disclosed posthumous forgery as printed on watermarked paper, is meaningless minutiae to distract the consumer from the relevant disclosure of its' posthumous forging that could assist them in giving informed consent before purchasing one.

Tête de jeune fille, 1914”, CEZANNE, Paul, 1839-1906, Etching on Japon paper. From the deluxe edition of the catalog raisonné "Paul Cezanne" edited by Ambroise Vollard, Paris. The book was printed on Japon paper in edition of 150; 200 examples were printed on velin d'Arches; 650 printed on colored paper. This print comes from the book numbered 45 of 150, originally presented by Vollard to Carl Van Doren.. Cherpin 4; Venturi 4, 12 7/8" x 10"
http://www.roadshowcompany.com/artists/Impressionists/14.html
POSTHUMOUS FORGERY

This so-called -etching- titled “Tete de jeune fille,” attributed to Paul Cezanne with an “1914” date by Road Show Company on their website, is listed as “edited by Ambroise Vollard.

“Edited” is being used as an euphemism for forged.

Paul Cezanne (d 1906) was some 6 years dead in 1914. This was a scheme by the unscrupulous art dealer Ambroise Vollard to cash-in with the sale of posthumously forged editions falsely attributed as original works of visual art ie., etchings to a dead Paul Cezanne.

Additionally, Road Show Company's associating these non-disclosed posthumous forgeries somehow with a "catalog raisonne" in the description, is overtly misleading since they have absolutely nothing to do with Paul Cezanne's lifetime oeuvre.

Femme au cep de vigne, c.1904, RENOIR, Pierre Auguste, 1841-1919, Lithograph. Signed on the stone lower left, Second and final state. Plate 8 of "Douze Lithographies Originales de Pierre-Auguste Renoir", published by Vollard, Paris, 1919. From the edition of 1000., Stella 44, 7" x 5"
http://www.roadshowcompany.com/artists/Pierre_Renior/01.html
1,000 LITHOGRAPHS OR 1,000 REPRODUCTIONS?

Were these "1,000 lithographs" actually created, signed, much less numbered by Pierre Auguste Renoir in 1919 or a scheme by the art dealer Ambroise Vollard to cash-in at the expense of a dying paralytic old man?

NOT ONLY AN OLD MAN BUT A HELPLESS PARALYTIC
As for Pierre Auguste Renoir's ability to create, print and sign anything, much less a 1,000 so-called lithographs in 1919 is in part answered in Paul Haesaerts’ 1947 Renoir Sculptor biography. On page 10, the author wrote: “With the exception of a very few earlier attempts, Renoir devoted himself to sculpture on the eve and at the beginning of the war of 1914-1918, in other words between his seventy-third and seventy-fifth years. At the time he was not only an old man but a helpless paralytic. He was carried from his bed (where often enough he needed a cage to keep the bedclothes from touching his aching limbs) either in a sedan chair or in a wheelchair. His body was almost mummified. Not only was he deprived of the use of his legs, but his hands were stiffened and shrived. To allow him to paint, a brush was fixed between his rigidly curled fingers; thenceforth the work was done by arm movements, not by those of the hand and fingers.”[FN 25]

As for Ambroise Vollard's credibility, in 1913, the art dealer hatched a scheme to cash-in on the popularity of the artist Pierre Auguste Renoir by hiring, “at his own expense,”[FN 26] sculptor Richard Guino to forge work and pass those forgeries off as Pierre Auguste Renoir’s sculpture.

So, when paralytic Pierre-Auguste Renoir was approached about the idea of sculpture by Ambroise Vollard, what was the artist’s response?

MY DEAR FRIEND, DON’T YOU SEE THE STATE I’M IN?
On pages 17-18 in the 1947 Renoir Sculptor biography by Paul Haesaerts, the author wrote: Ambroise Vollard “still had to persuade Renoir, whose scruples persisted, to put himself seriously to work. It was not easy. Poor Renoir, perfectly aware of his condition, could do nothing but hold out his twisted, inert hands and say: 'But my dear friend, don't you see the state I'm in?'"[FN 27]

Additionally, the so-called “Signed on the stone lower left” description given by Road Show Company exposes a lack of connoisseurship on their part because: -first- if the stone was printed directly to paper, Renoir would have signed it in reverse on the right side of the limestone block for his name Renoir to read properly left to right and appear on the lower left side of the printed image, -second- the resulting printed image would have his name not his signature and -third- you can’t have an edition unless signed and numbered by the author.

So, combining Ambroise Vollard's avarice and a paralytic Pierre Auguste Renoir, is it plausible, much less possible that Pierre Auguste Renoir participated in the 1919 printing, approval and limitation of a so-called “edition of 1,000 lithographs?”

To learn more about Ambroise Vollard’s avarice with Pierre Auguste Renoir, link to: Renoir Sculptural Forgeries in -The Late Renoir- e...

Aside R. Roberts Gallery’s partnership with the Road Show Company’s in their September 2010 Renoir & The Master Impressionists exhibition and sale promoted as “featuring original paintings and etchings by the Masters. Including four generations of the Pissaro family, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Edward Manet and other notables,”[FN 28] in their December 2010 show schedule, R. Roberts Gallery posts: “12/3 (Fri) 6-9pm Rare Editions From The Seuss Estate. Show will feature seen and never before seen works from the "Secret Art of Dr. Seuss" Archives.”[FN 29]

The ironic part of this thirteen year old posthumous scheme (since 1997) to sell non-disclosed posthumous forgeries as the -Art of Dr. Seuss-, by The Chase Group through dozens upon dozens of authorized gallery venues around the world like at R. Roberts Gallery, is Theodor Geisel a.k.a. Dr. Seuss (d 1991) has “never before seen works from the "Secret Art of Dr. Seuss" Archives” either.

Whether it is fair or not, once an artist dies, as tragic as it may be, their career is over and not just beginning.

The dead don't create art.

Racing North to Get Cool, Image Size: 22” x 34”, Limited Edition of 850 Arabic Numbers, 99 Patron's Collection, 155 Collaborator Proofs, 5 Hors d’ Commerce

A 1947 "Caldecott Honor" book, McElligot's Pool clearly stands out among Ted Geisel's artistic accomplishments and is one of just two Seuss books developed from vibrantly colored paintings. Ted's original paintings from this book remain out of the public eye and, to this are under the archival care of the Madeville Special Collections Library at the Unviersity of San Diego.
http://www.drseussart.com/details/archive/racingnorth.html
NON-DISCLOSED POSTHUMOUS FORGERY

On the Chase Group's website, it states that it: "is the exclusive publisher for Dr. Seuss Artworks and is the content provider for this website; however, prints and sculptures are only available for acquisition through your Authorized Dr. Seuss Gallery."[FN 30]

The posthumous publishing of artworks even when they are Theodor Geisel's paintings being reproduced, results, at best, in reproductions, not artworks.

Reproductions versus artwork are not interchangeable, much less the same.

The State of Illinois, where The Chase Groups is located, understands that very clearly.

ILLINOIS FINE PRINT DISCLOSURE ACT

Illinois’ Fine Print Disclosure Act 815 ILCS 345/ require -reproductions- sold for $50 or more must be disclosed in writing as “reproductions.” Failure to comply to this act may include but not limited to: refund, interest, treble damages and a up to a $1,000 fine per occurrence.[FN 31]

SEUSS, Racing North to Get Cool, 22" x 34" original lithograph, $1695
http://www.rrobertsgallery.com/title.php?ititlenum=473
NON-DISCLOSED POSTHUMOUS FORGERY

Now, whether Illinois-based The Chase Group adhere's to Illinois Fine Print Disclosure Statutes when operating in Illinois may be argumentative but as for their authorized galleries such as R. Roberts Gallery in Jacksonville, Florida, such Illinois statutes are not applicable.

As a result, the R. Roberts Gallery seems to operating with impunity with their misrepresentation and sale of non-disclosed posthumous (after 1997) forgeries as the "Art of Dr. Seuss" for $225 to $1,695 or more each, falsely promoted as original works of visual art ie., lithographs, taxidermy and the like in editions attributed to Theodor Geisel (d 1991) even though he was six of more years dead when they was forged.

On page 137 of the Seventh Edition of Black’s Law Dictionary, -bait & switch- is defined, in part, as: “Most states prohibit the bait and switch when the original product is not actually available as advertised.”[FN 32]

So, would offering for sale the "Art of Dr. Seuss" and giving the public non-disclosed posthumous forgeries qualify as a -bait and switch-?

http://www.rrobertsgallery.com/

Yet, R. Roberts Gallery, on their website, would have the public believe and act on that belief that “it’s our mission to consistently provide a level of art, artful custom framing, value, and service that exceeds customer expectations."[FN 33]

R. Roberts Gallery is using -art- is as an euphemism for -forgery-.

To learn more about these contentious issues of authentcity with the so-called Art of Dr. Seuss -fraud, click on:

Art of Dr. Seuss FRAUD
Art of Dr. Seuss Fraud COVERUP

LAW, ETHICS AND THE VISUAL ARTS

On page 816-817 of Kluwer Law International’s published 1998 Law, Ethics and the Visual Arts, Third Edition by John Henry Merryman and Albert E. Elsen wrote about “Counterfeit Art.”[FN 34]

TRUTH

Finally, under the subtitle “Truth,” the authors wrote: “The most serious harm that good counterfeits do is to confuse and misdirect the search for valid learning. The counterfeit objects falsifies history and misdirects inquiry.”[FN 35]

RESOURCE ALLOCATION

Additionally, under the subtitle “Resource Allocation,” the authors wrote: “Museum and art historical resources are always limited. What gets acquired, displayed, conserved and studied is the result of a continuous process of triage, in which some objects can be favoured only at the expenses of others. Counterfeit objects distort the process.”[FN 36]

FRAUD

Furthermore, under the subtitle “Fraud,” the authors wrote: “There remains the most obvious harm of all: counterfeit cultural objects are instruments of fraud. Most are created in order to deceive and defraud, but even “innocent” counterfeits can, and often will, be so used. The same considerations of justice and social order that make deliberate fraud of others kinds criminal apply equally to fraud through the medium of counterfeit art...”[FN 37]

CONCLUSION

Just as the R. Roberts Gallery’s September 2010 Renoir & The Master Impressionists exhibition from the State of Nevada-based Afna Inc. a.k.a Road Show Company, potentially contained for sale non-disclosed posthumous forgeries, falsely attributed to Mary Cassatt and others, the gallery’s December 2, 2010 Art of Dr. Seuss exhibition contains non-disclosed posthumous forgeries, with counterfeit "Dr. Seuss" signatures applied, misrepresented for sale as original works of visual art ie., “lithographs,” “serigraphs" and "sculptures" for $325 to $1,695 or more each.

The dead don't lithograph, serigraph or sculpt.

Therefore, in support of the R. Roberts Gallery's “mission to consistently provide a level of art, artful custom framing, value, and service that exceeds customer expectations,”[FN 38] this monograph documents the potential contentious issues of authenticity with their prior Renoir & The Master Impressionist exhibition from Nevada-based AFNA Inc. a.k.a Road Show Company and their Art of Dr. Seuss exhibition from Illinois-based The Chase Group, so that with full and honest disclosure the gallery patrons might be able to give informed consent on whether or not to attend these exhibitions, much less purchase one of thousands upon thousands of non-disclosed forgeries offered for sale.

The reputations and legacy of living and past artists, present and future museum art patrons and the art-buying public deserve the re-establishment of the obvious; that the living presence and participation of the artist to once again be required, as it always should have been, to create the piece of art attributable to the artist if indeed it is attributed to them, much less purported to have been signed by them.

FOOTNOTES:
1.http://jacksonville.com/entertainment/2010-11-23/story/gift-guide-heirloom-gifts-are-something-treasure-forever

2. http://www.moma.org/collectionbrowse_result.php?object-xl=6349

3.http://picasso.shsu.edu/index.php?view=ArchiveArticle&year=1997&page=8&id=242

4.Ibid

5. From: C. Bracken Johnson (bracken [at] rrobertsgallery [dot] com)
Sent: Tue 11/23/10 2:38 PM
To: gwarseneau [at] hotmail [dot] com
(Alteration [at] and [dot] mine)

6.http://picasso.shsu.edu/index.php?view=ArchiveArticle&year=1997&page=8&id=242

7.http://www.getty.edu/vow/AATFullDisplay?find=counterfeit&logic=AND&note=&english=N&prev_page=1&subjectid=300121305

8.From: gary arseneau (gwarseneau [at] hotmail [dot] com)
Sent: Tue 11/23/10 8:48 PM
To: bracken [at] rrobertsgallery [dot] com
(Alteration [at] and [dot] mine)

9. From: C. Bracken Johnson (bracken [at] rrobertsgallery [dot] com)
Sent: Wed 11/24/10 2:00 PM

10. Ibid

11. Copyright © 1999, By West Group, ISBN 0-314-22864-0

12. Ibid

13. Ibid

14. Ibid

15.http://www.roadshowcompany.com/artists/Impressionists/01.html

16.http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/legal/informed_compliance_pubs/

17.http://www.roadshowcompany.com/artists/Impressionists/01.html

18. Copyright © 1999, By West Group, ISBN 0-314-22864-0

19. p 350, Copyright © 1991 by Bena Mayer, ISBN 0-06-461012-8 (pbk.)

20.http://www.roadshowcompany.com/artists/Impressionists/The_Impressionists.htm

21.www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#101

22.http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/Reference/dictionary/artdictionary/h/HorsdeCommerce%20.html

23.http://www.roadshowcompany.com/Testimonials.htm

24.. Renoir Sculptor by Paul Haesaerts, Published 1947, Printed by V. Van Dieren & Co and J. E. Buschmann, Printed in Belgium.

25..Ibid

26. Ibid

27. Ibid

28. http://www.rrobertsgallery.com/events-calendar.php

29 Ibid

30. http://www.drseussart.com/contact.html

31.On the www.legis.state.il.us/legislation/ilcs/ch815/ch815act345.htm website, the Illinois Fine Print Disclosure Act additionally states:
(815 ILCS 345/2)
Sec. 2.
“Nothing in this Act applies to any print when offered for sale or sold at wholesale or retail unframed for $50 or less, or framed for $60 or less. (Source: P. A. 77-1398.)
(815 ILCS 345/5) Sec. 5.
“No catalogue, prospectus or circular offering fine prints for sale in this State shall be knowingly published or distributed, or both, unless it clearly and conspicuously discloses the relevant informational detail concerning each edition of such prints so offered as required by Section 7.
“If the person offering such prints by means of such publication disclaims knowledge as to any relevant detail required by Section 7, he shall so state specifically and categorically with regard to each such detail to the end that the purchaser shall be enabled to judge the degree of uniqueness or scarcity of each print contained in the edition so offered. Describing the edition as an edition of "reproductions" eliminates the need to furnish further informational details unless such edition was allegedly published in a signed, numbered, or limited edition, or any combination thereof, in which case all of the informational details are required to be furnished. (Source: P. A. 77-1398.)”

32. Copyright © 1999, By West Group, ISBN 0-314-22864-0

33. http://www.rrobertsgallery.com/about-gallery.php

34. © Kluwer Law International 1998, ISBN 90-411-0697-9

35. Ibid

36. Ibid

37. Ibid

38. http://www.rrobertsgallery.com/about-gallery.php

PRINCIPALS:
Nim Vaswani
owner
Afna Inc.
4326 [Micah’s] Canyon Court
Las Vegas, NV 89129-1608
(702) 891-9700
[correction mine]
“Afna Inc is a private company categorized under Promotion Service and located in Las Vegas, NV. Current estimates show this company has an annual revenue of $1 to 2.5 million and employs a staff of approximately 5 to 9.”
The link is: http://www.manta.com/c/mttd4s4/afna-inc

a.k.a. Road Show Company
4326 Micah's Canyon
Las Vegas, NV 89129
Tel: 702.891.9700
Fax: 702.597.0800
Cell: 305.458.3000
nim [at] roadshowcompany [dot] com
The link is: http://www.roadshowcompany.com/Contact.htm

Catherine Bracken Sansbury
Gallery Director & Art Consultant
R. Roberts Gallery
3606 St. Johns Avenue
Jacksonville, FL 32205
904-388-1188
704-579-0291(cell)
bracken [at] rrobertsgallery [dot] com
www.rrobertsgallery.com
Gallery Hours: Tues. - Sat. 11a - 6p

Bill Dreyer
Curator, Art of Dr. Seuss collection
The Chase Group
847.564.2000 x 26
bill [at] chaseart [dot] com

Ryan McLaughlin
Media Relations
Mac Strategies Group
312-588-4102
ryan [at] macstrategiesgroup [dot] com

Picasso Looks at Degas -forgeries- at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute

2010-08-28T16:42:00.030-04:00

NOTE: Footnotes are enclosed as follows: [FN].

Updated: August 29, 2010 with quote attribution to Arthur Beale.

Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, 1879–81
Bronze, with gauze tutu and silk ribbon, on wooden base, height: 99 cm
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts (1955.45)
http://www.clarkart.edu/exhibitions/picasso-degas/content/checklist.cfm
NON-DISCLOSED POSTHUMOUS FORGERY

All so-called “bronzes by Degas,”[FN 1] much less in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute’s June 13 to September 12, 2010 Picasso Looks at Degas exhibition, are non-disclosed posthumous -forgeries-.

On page 660 of the Seventh Edition of Black's Law Dictionary, -forgery- is defined as: "The act of fraudulently making a false document or altering a real one to be used as if genuine."[FN 2]

ALL DEGAS BRONZES ARE POSTHUMOUS FORGERIES
Here are three references that confirm all bronzes, attributed to Edgar Degas, are posthumous forgeries:

1. On page 180 of the National Gallery of Art’s published 1998 Degas at the Races catalogue, in the “The Horse in Wax and Bronze” essay, the authors Daphne S. Barbour and Shelly G. Strum wrote: “Degas never cast his sculpture in bronze, claiming that it was a “tremendous responsibility to leave anything behind in bronze -- the medium is for eternity.”[FN 3]

2. On page 609, of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s published 1988 Degas catalogue, in his “A Note on Degas’s Bronzes” essay, the curator Gary Tinterow wrote: “The bronzes included in this exhibition, like those widely distributed throughout the world, are posthumous, second-generation casts of the original wax sculptures by Degas.”’[FN 4]

3. On page 152 of the Art Institute of Chicago’s published 1984 Degas catalogue by Richard R. Brettell and Suzanne Folds McCullagh, the authors wrote: “Because they were cast posthumously with neither the knowledge nor the supervision of the artist, Degas’s bronzes have a problematic existence as works of art.” [FN 5]

Therefore, the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute’s “act of fraudulently making a false document or altering a real one to be used as if genuine," is confirmed by the following facts:

FIRST, on the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute’s checklist’[FN 6] for their Picasso Looks at Degas exhibition, all ten so-called “bronzes by Degas” have dates that predates his 1917 death:

1. “Dressed Dancer at Rest, Hands behind Her Back, Right Leg Forward, c. 1895 Bronze, height: 42.9 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929 (29.100.392)

2. “Fourth Position Front, On the Left Leg, c. 1880s Bronze, height: 57.5 cm Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts (1955.49)

3. “Grand Arabesque, First Time, c. 1880s Bronze, height: 48.2 cm Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts (1955.46)

4. “Grand Arabesque, Second Time, c. 1880s Bronze, height: 48.2 cm Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts (1955.47)

5. “Head of a Woman (Mlle Salle), 1892 Bronze, height: 25.5 cm Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Bequest of Margarett Sargent McKean (1979.509)

6. “Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, 1879–81 Bronze, with gauze tutu and silk ribbon, on wooden base, height: 99 cm Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts (1955.45)

7. “Nude Study for “Little Dancer Aged Fourteen,” c. 1878 Bronze, height: 72.4 cm The National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh (NG 1624)

8. “Pregnant Woman, c. 1896–1911 Bronze, height: 43.2 cm Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. The Joseph H. Hirshhorn Bequest, 1981 (HMSG 86.1415)

9. “The Tub, c. 1889 Bronze, height: 22.2 cm The National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh (NG 2286)

10. “Woman Arranging Her Hair (La Coiffure), c. 1896–1911 Bronze, height: 46.7 cm Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1966 (HMSG 66.1305)”

Irrefutably, by posting this Picasso Looks at Degas exhibition checklist on their website, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute believes or wants the admission paying public to believe or both that the so-called “bronzes by Degas” in this exhibition were cast in bronze during his lifetime.

SECOND, the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute contradicts itself on its’ website when an online audio for their Picasso Looks at Degas exhibition, the moderator stated the museum’s -Little Dancer Aged Fourteen- is "one of number of casts made from Degas’ wax original after the artist’s death." [FN 7]

This contradiction is further confirmed on page 1 in the “Introduction” of the Joslyn Art Museum’s published 1998 Degas and the Little Dancer catalogue by Richard Kendall (one of two Picasso Looks at Degas exhibition curators), where the author wrote: “More than its illustrious companions, the Little Dancer has achieved a special kind of fame through multiplicity; made originally by Degas in wax and dressed by him in a fabric tutu, hair wig, and silk ribbon, the figure was replicated after the artist’s death...”[FN 8]

Aside that Edgar Degas -never- worked exclusively in wax and replicate[FN 9] by definition is an original work of visual art created by a living artist, we now discover that Picasso Looks at Degas exhibition curator Richard Kendall knew that Edgar Degas was dead when the so-called -Little Dancer Aged Fourteen- was forged.

The dead don’t bronze.

THIRD, as a member of the Association of Art Museum Directors’[FN 10], the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute’s director Michael Conforti (and former AAMD president), not to mention other thirteen participating AAMD museum members (see Addendum) in the Picasso Looks at Degas exhibition, endorses the College Art Association's ethical guidelines on sculptural reproductions which in part state: "any transfer into new material, unless specifically condoned by the artist, is to be considered inauthentic or counterfeit and should not be acquired or exhibited as works of art."[FN 11]

The dead don’t condone.

Page 101, Joslyn Art Museum’s 1998 Degas and the Little Dancer catalogue by Richard Kendall
NON-DISCLOSED POSTHUMOUS FORGERY

FOURTH, on page 101 of the Joslyn Art Museum’s published 1998 Degas and the Little Dancer catalogue by Richard Kendall, a contributor Arthur Beale, in his "Little Dancer Aged Fourteen: The Search for the Lost Modele" essay, wrote of the museum's posthumously (1920-21) forged plaster: “Quite simply put, if one looks for a stable sculptural medium that brings us through time close to the hand of Degas, then plaster meets the criterion. In addition, if my observations and conclusions are correct, the Joslyn Art Museum plaster cast (fig. 71) also possesses significant historic importance in that it represents the mother of the some twenty-three or more bronze casts of the sculpture now found world wide (cat. 45).”[FN 12]

So, the Picasso Looks at Degas exhibition curator Richard Kendall knew in 1998 that the -Little Dancer Age Fourteen- bronzes were posthumously forged, not from any waxes that Edgar Degas did not work exclusively in, but from posthumous plasters forged by the hands of the Hebrard foundry workers.

The dead don't plaster.

Edgar Degas, Pregnant Woman, c. 1896—1911. Bronze, height: 43.2 cm. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. The Joseph H. Hirshhorn Bequest, 1981 (HMSG 86.1415) / Photo by Lee Stalsworth.
http://blog.clarkart.edu/2010/08/10/behind-the-scenes-of-picasso-looks-at-degas/pregnant-woman-degas/
NON-DISCLOSED POSTHUMOUS FORGERY

FIFTH, on the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute’s website, in the same audio for their Picasso Looks at Degas exhibition, the moderator stated: “It is not surprising... Degas should have depicted pregnancy in a notably sympathetic manner on several occasions... the startling sculpture of a completely naked pregnant woman that now belongs in the collection of the Hirshhorn museum...”[FN 13]

On the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden’s website, this same “Pregnant Woman,” ie., "startling sculpture" as characterized by the moderator, on loan to the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute’s Picasso Looks at Degas exhibition, is listed as: “cast 1919-1925.”[FN 14]

Edgar Degas died in 1917.

The dead don't sculpt.

SIXTH, are we to suspend disbelief or just believe when the Picasso Looks at Degas exhibition catalogue is promoted by the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute as -this groundbreaking study- by “noted Degas scholar Richard Kendall and Picasso expert Elizabeth Cowling” who “present well-documented instances of Picasso's direct responses to Degas's work, as well as more conceptual and challenging affinities between their oeuvres?”’[FN 15]

On page 922 of the Random House College Dictionary, -oeuvre- is defined as: “the works of a writer, painter, or the like.’[FN 16]

The dead don’t have an oeuvre.

SEVENTH, to go from the ridiculous to the sublime, in the “Behind the Scenes: ‘Picasso Looks at Degas’” posted on the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute’s blog, one of the exhibition curators Professor Emeritus of History of Art at Edinburgh University Elizabeth Cowling wrote: “All the works, whatever their medium, seem to interact with each other, and the more you look the more connections between them you notice. It’s almost dizzying, to the point where one forgets who—Picasso or Degas—made what.”[FN 17]

The dead don't make what.

Page 104 of Joslyn Art Museum's published 1998 Degas and the Little Dancer by Richard Kendall
POSTHUMOUS COUNTERFEIT DEGAS SIGNATURE

EIGHTH, to add insult to injury, all posthumous bronze forgeries, falsely attributed to Edgar Degas, have a so-called “Degas” signature inscribed to them.

Edgar Degas -never- signed his original mixed-media sculptures.

This is confirmed on the National Gallery of Art’s www.nga.gov/education/degas-11.htm website, where it stated: “By comparing the sculpture to stylistic changes in Degas' paintings and pastels, we are developing a chronology for the sculpture, which Degas did not date or sign.”

On page 1387 in the Seventh Edition of Black’s Law Dictionary, the term -signature- is defined as: “A person’s name or mark written by that person or at the person’s direction.”[FN 18]

Yet, on page 103 of the Joslyn Art Museum's published 1998 Degas and the Little Dancer catalogue by Richard Kendall, a contributor Arthur Beale, in his "Little Dancer Aged Fourteen: The Search for the Lost Modele" essay, wrote: "Degas' signature was added by the Founder by a stamp impressed in wax and added when the model version was still in wax."[FN 19]

The dead don't sign.

Resting on the Bed, c. 1876-77
Monotype, 12.1 x 15.9 cm
Private collection, Switzerland
Works by Edgar Degas (1835-1917)
http://www.clarkart.edu/exhibitions/picasso-degas/content/checklist.cfm
Photo: http://www.clarkart.edu/exhibitions/picasso-degas/content/brother-scenes.cfm

NINTH, and finally, the American Association of Museum’s Board of Directors approved July 2000 Guidelines on Exhibiting Borrowed Objects. In part, it stated: “Before considering exhibiting borrowed objects, a museum should have in place a written policy, approved by its governing authority and publicly accessible on request, that addresses the following issues:"'[FN 20]

One of those issues is: “requiring the museum to examine the lender's relationship to the institution to determine if there are potential conflicts of interest, or an appearance of a conflict, such as in cases where the lender has a formal or informal connection to museum decision making (for example, as a board member, staff member or donor).”[FN 21]

How can this be transparently accomplished when many of the lenders (See Addendum Private Collections for complete list) in this Picasso Looks at Degas exhibition are anonymous?

Additionally, it stated: “Adhering to an ethical standard that exceeds legal minimums. AAM's Code takes as given that museums comply with all applicable local, state and federal laws and international conventions. The Code also makes clear that museums must abide by ethical standards that frequently exceed legal minimums because the purpose of the Code is to foster conduct that merits the confidence of the public. Without public confidence, museums cannot effectively carry out their missions.”[FN 22]

In other words, without transparency on who the lenders are, much less what they are truly lending, how will the public ever know there is no inherent conflict of interest?

LAW, ETHICS AND THE VISUAL ARTS
On page 816-817 of Kluwer Law International’s published 1998 Law, Ethics and the Visual Arts, Third Edition by John Henry Merryman and Albert E. Elsen wrote about “Counterfeit Art.”[FN 23]

TRUTH
Under the subtitle “Truth,” the authors wrote: “The most serious harm that good counterfeits do is to confuse and misdirect the search for valid learning. The counterfeit objects falsifies history and misdirects inquiry.”[FN 24]

RESOURCE ALLOCATION
Additionally, under the subtitle “Resource Allocation,” the authors wrote: “Museum and art historical resources are always limited. What gets acquired, displayed, conserved and studied is the result of a continuous process of triage, in which some objects can be favoured only at the expenses of others. Counterfeit objects distort the process.”[FN 25]

FRAUD
Furthermore, under the subtitle “Fraud,” the authors wrote: “There remains the most obvious harm of all: counterfeit cultural objects are instruments of fraud. Most are created in order to deceive and defraud, but even “innocent” counterfeits can, and often will, be so used. The same considerations of justice and social order that make deliberate fraud of others kinds criminal apply equally to fraud through the medium of counterfeit art...”[FN 26]

CONCLUSION
The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute's Picasso Looks at Degas exhibition contains at least ten non-disclosed posthumous forgeries, with counterfeit "Degas" signatures applied, misrepresented to the public as "bronzes by Degas" and "sculptures" for the $15 price of adult admission, city-state-federal grants, corporate sponsorship and potentially future monetary benefits such as tax-write-offs and outright sales.

In an heighten sense of hyprocrisy, the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute and thirteen of the participating museums, as members of the Association of Art Museum Directors, are violating their own endorsed ethical guidelines that state: "any transfer into new material, unless specifically condoned by the artist, is to be considered inauthentic or counterfeit and should not be acquired or exhibited as works of art."

Remember, the dead don't bronze, condone, sculpt, plaster, have oeuvres, or make what, much less sign.

The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute's "Mission," posted on its' website, in part states: "The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute is an art museum and a center for research and higher education, dedicated to advancing and extending the public understanding of art."[FN 27]

Therefore, in support of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute's dedication "to advancing and extending the public understanding of art," this monograph documents the contentious issues of authenticity with all so-called "bronzes by Degas" so that with full and honest disclosure the museum patrons might be able to give informed consent on whether or not to attend this Picasso Looks at Degas exhibition, much less pay the price of admission.

The reputations and legacy of living and past artists, present and future museum art patrons and the art-buying public deserve the re-establishment of the obvious; that the living presence and participation of the artist to once again be required, as it always should have been, to create the piece of art attributable to the artist if indeed it is attributed to them, much less purported to have been signed by them.

FOOTNOTES:
1. http://www.clarkart.edu/exhibitions/picasso-degas/content/the-ballet.cfm

2. © 1999 By West Group, ISBN 0314022864

3. © 1998 National Gallery of Art ISBN 0-300-07517-0

4. © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1988, ISBN 0-88884-581-2 (National Gallery of Canada)

5. Copyright © 1984 by The Art Institute of Chicago, ISBN 0-8109-0804-2 (hard: H.N. Abrams)

6. http://www.clarkart.edu/exhibitions/picasso-degas/content/checklist.cfm

7. http://www.clarkart.edu/exhibitions/picasso-degas/content/audio.cfm

8. Copyright © 1998 by Joslyn Art Museum, ISBN 0-936-36428-9

9. On page 350 of Ralph Mayer’s Definitions of Art Terms & Technique, -replica- is defined as: “an exact copy or duplicate of a work, done in the same size and in the same medium, and done by the artist who created the original.” Copyright © 1991 by Bena Mayer, ISBN 0-06-461012-8 (pbk.)

10. http://www.aamd.org/about/#Members

11. www.collegeart.org/caa/ethics/sculpture.html “A Statement on Standards for Sculptural Reproduction and Preventive Measures to Combat Unethical Casting in Bronze Approved by the CAA Board of Directors, April 27, 1974. Endorsed by the Association of Art Museum Directors and the Art Dealers Association of America.”

12. Copyright © 1998 by Joslyn Art Museum, ISBN 0-936-36428-9

13. http://www.clarkart.edu/exhibitions/picasso-degas/content/audio.cfm

14. http://hirshhorn.si.edu/visit/collection_object.asp?key=32&subkey=5998

15. http://www.clarkart.edu/exhibitions/picasso-degas/content/catalogue.cfm

16. Copyright © 1980 by Randon House Inc., ISBN 0-394-43500-1

17. http://blog.clarkart.edu/2010/08/10/behind-the-scenes-of-picasso-looks-at-degas/

18. © 1999 By West Group, ISBN 0314022864

19. Copyright © 1998 by Joslyn Art Museum, ISBN 0-936-36428-9

20. http://www.aam-us.org/museumresources/ethics/borrowb.cfm

21. Ibid

22. Ibid

23. © Kluwer Law International 1998, ISBN 90-411-0697-9

24. Ibid

25. Ibid

26. Ibid

27. http://www.clarkart.edu/about/content.cfm?ID=37

ADDENDUM:

CURATORS:
Elizabeth Cowling is Professor Emeritus of History of Art at Edinburgh University, and an independent scholar and exhibition curator.
History of Art: School of Arts, Culture and Environment (ACE)
The University of Edinburgh
20 Chambers Street
EH1 1JZ
Scotland
United Kingdom
elizabeth.cowling@ed.ac.uk

Richard Kendall is Curator-at-Large at the Clark, as well as an independent scholar and exhibition curator.

Cécile Godefroy is a researcher at the Fundación Almine y Bernard Ruiz-Picasso para el Arte in Madrid.

Sarah Lees is Associate Curator of European Art at the Clark.

Montse Torras is Exhibitions Coordinator at the Museu Picasso in Barcelona.

ASSOCIATION OF ART MUSEUM DIRECTORS MEMBERS:
1. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Richard Koshalek
PO Box 37012
MRC Code 350

2. Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Michael Govan
5905 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90036

3. The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.
Dorothy Kosinski
1600 21st Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009

4. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts
Michael Conforti
225 South Street
P.O. Box 8
Williamstown MA 01267

5. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Malcolm Rogers
465 Huntington Ave of the Arts
Boston MA 02115

6. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
Richard Armstrong
1071 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10128

7. The Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland
Doreen Bolger
10 Art Museum Drive
Baltimore MD 21218-3898

8. The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Glenn Lowry
11 W. 53rd Street
New York NY 10019

9. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Thomas Campbell
1000 Fifth Avenue
New York NY 10028-0194

10. Brooklyn Museum, New York
Arnold L. Lehman
200 Eastern Parkway
Brooklyn NY 11238

11. The Art Institute of Chicago
James Cuno
111 South Michigan Avenue
Chicago IL 60603-6110

12. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Earl A. Powell, III
2000 B South Club Drive
Landover, MD 20785

13. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Marc Mayer
380 Sussex Drive, P.O. Box 427
Ottawa Ontario K1N 9N4

14. Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College
Stephanie Wiles
87 North Main Street
Oberlin OH 44074

OTHER U.S. MUSEUMS:
15. Dumbarton Oaks House Collection, Washington, D.C.
Jan M. Ziolkowski
1703 32nd Street Northwest
Washington, DC 20007-2961
(202) 339-6401

16. The Kreeger Museum, Washington, D.C.
Judy A. Greenberg
2401 Foxhall Road, NW
Washington, D.C. 20007
(202)337-3050
publicrelations@kreegermuseum.org

FORIEGN MUSEUMS:
17. Museu Picasso, Barcelona
C/ Montcada, 15-23
08003 Barcelona, España
933 196 310
museupicasso@bcn.cat

18. Musée National Picasso
5 Rue Thorigny
75003 Paris, France
01 42 71 25 21

19. Museum Ludwig, Cologne
Heinrich-Böll-Platz 1
50667 Köln, Deutschland
0221 221-26165

20. Museo del Novecento, Milan
Piazza del Duomo, 12
20122 Milano, Italia
02 72095659

21. Kunstmuseum Basel, Kupferstichkabinett
Dr. Bernhard Mendes Bürgi
St. Alban-Graben 16
CH-4010 Basel
Telefon 0041 (0)61 206 62 62

22. Sainsbury Centre, Norwich, England
Nichola Johnson, Director
University of East Anglia/Earlham Road
Norwich NR47TJ, United Kingdom
01603 593193
n.johnson@uea.ac.uk

23. Bibliothèque de l’Institut national d’histoire de l’art, Paris

24. The National Gallery, London
Trafalgar Square
London
WC2N 5DN
44 (0)20 7747 2885
information@ng-london.org.uk
NOTE: The National Gallery, London ironically has a current June 30 - September 12, 2010 exhibition titled: Close Examination: Fakes, Mistakes and Discoveries.

25. Tate, London
44 (0) 20 7887 8888
pressoffice@tate.org.uk
NOTE: The Tate collection contains numerous non-disclosed forgeries falsely attributed to Edgar Degas, as well as other artists. Here are links to two examples: http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?workid=3705&searchid=29067
http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?workid=4031&searchid=29073

26. Musée d’Orsay, Paris
1 Rue de la Légion d'Honneur
75007 Paris, France
01 40 49 48 14

27. The National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
The Mound
Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh EH2 2EL, United Kingdom
0131 624 6200
enquiries@nationalgalleries.org

28. Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, England
Chamberlain Square
Birmingham B3 3DH, United Kingdom
0121 303 1966
rita.mclean@birmingham.gov.uk

29. British Museum, London
Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3DG, United Kingdom
020 7323 8000
communications@britishmuseum.org

PRIVATE COLLECTIONS:

Works by Pablo Picasso (1881–1973)

An Artist (Portrait of Degas), 6 February 1968
Oil on canvas, 81 x 65 cm
Private collection

Bather, 1931
Bronze, height: 40 cm
Private collection. Courtesy Fundación Almine y Bernard Ruiz-Picasso para el Arte (55297)

Nude Wringing Her Hair, 7 October 1952
Oil on wood panel, 150.5 x 119.4 cm
Private collection

Running Woman, 1931–32
Plaster and wood, height: 52 cm
Private collection

Seven Dancers, 1919–20
Ink and watercolor on paper, 26.3 x 39.5 cm
Private collection

Two Seated Dancers, 1925
Pencil on paper, 50 x 40 cm
Private collection

Works by Edgar Degas (1834–1917)

Conversation, c. 1876–77
Monotype, 16 x 12.1 cm
Private collection, Switzerland

Resting on the Bed, c. 1876–77
Monotype, 12.1 x 15.9 cm
Private collection, Switzerland

Self-Portrait, c. 1895
Original print with modifications, possibly made by Picasso. Inscribed on the reverse in Picasso’s hand “Portrait P.H. / de E. Degas,” 18.2 x 24.2 cm
Private collection. Courtesy Fundación Almine y Bernard Ruiz-Picasso para el Arte

Studies for the “Little Dancer Aged Fourteen” (Nude), c. 1878–80
Charcoal heightened with white chalk on gray paper; stamped with red signature lower right, 48 x 63 cm
Private collection, London

The Tub, c. 1878–80
Monotype, 16 x 21.1 cm
Private collection

Two Dancers in the Wings, c. 1880–95
Pastel on paper mounted on cardboard on a wooden stretcher, 59 x 46.4 cm
Private collection

Woman Combing Her Hair, c. 1896–99
Charcoal and pastel on tracing paper, 109 x 76.3 cm
Private collection

Renoir Sculptural Forgeries in -The Late Renoir- exhibition & the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s collection

2010-08-06T18:31:00.021-04:00

Updated August 7, 2010 w/TOC & August 9, 2010 photos w/signatures

NOTE: Footnotes are enclosed with [ ].

NON-DISCLOSED FORGERYEuropean Painting before 1900, Johnson Collection, Head of Coco, Made in France, Modeled in plaster 1908; cast in bronze c.1920, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French, 1841 - 1919, Bronze cast by C. Valsuani, Paris., Bronze, 10 3/4 x 7 5/8 x 7 1/2 inches (27.3 x 19.4 x 19.1 cm), Currently not on view, 1950-92-47, Bequest of Lisa Norris Elkins, 1950
http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/52099.html?mulR=31958

There are -no- sculptures by Pierre-Auguste Renoir in the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s The Late Renoir exhibition.

With the exception of the non-disclosed reproduction titled: “Coco” (bronze medallion), the other eighteen so-called Pierre-Auguste Renoir sculptures in this exhibition and the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s collection, are -forgeries-.

On page 660 of the Seventh Edition of Black's Law Dictionary, -forgery- is defined as: "The act of fraudulently making a false document or altering a real one to be used as if genuine."[FN 1]

J. Paul Getty Museum, under their Getty Research, defines -counterfeit- as: "forgeries (derivative objects)" with a note stating: "Reproductions of whole objects when the intention is to deceive; includes sculptures cast without the artist's permission."[FN 2]

One example of these eighteen forgeries is the titled “Head of Coco” attributed to Pierre-Auguste Renoir as a “sculpture” [FN 3] and listed as: “cast in bronze c. 1920,” in the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s collection and The Later Renoir exhibition.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir died December 3, 1919.

The dead don’t sculpt, much less give permission.

Then going from the ridiculous to the sublime, on page 346 of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s Renoir in the 20th Century exhibition catalogue, this non-disclosed forgery is listed as: “Coco, Circa 1920, 10 3/4 x 7 5/8 x 7 1/2 in. (27.3 x 19.4 x 19.1 cm), Signed at the front on the right: RENOIR; foundry stamp: 20/20 Cire perdue C. Valsuani, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of art, Bequest of Lisa Norris Elkins, 1950, 1950-92-47.”[FN 4]

Remember, Pierre-Auguste Renoir died in 1919.

The dead don't sign.

Yet, on page 17, in the “Preface” for the Renoir in the 2oth Century catalogue, the Administrateur general Reunion des Musees Nationaux Thomas Grenon, Musee d’Orsay President Guy Cogeval, Los Angeles County Museum of Art Director Michael Govan and Philadelphia Museum of Art Director Timothy Rub wrote: “The purpose of the present exhibition is to look into the artist’s late years.”[FN 5]

Therefore, the -purpose- of this monograph will be to document that The Late Renoir exhibition, organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Reunion des Musees Nationaux and the Musee d’Orsay in collaboration with the Philadelphia Museum of Art, misrepresented one reproduction and eighteen lifetime & posthumous forgeries as sculptures by Pierre-Auguste Renoir who did not create them.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction
Table of Contents
Checklist

1. Entirely with His Own Hands, Renoir's Two Sculptures
2. Not only an Old Man but a Helpless Paralytic
3. Renoir Crippled by Illness - Worked with Guino
4. Ambroise Vollard, Man Behind the Scheme
5. How is a Sculpture Really Created?
6. Reproduction & Forgeries in -The Late Renoir-
7. Association of Art Museum Directors
8. Arts and Artifacts Indemnity Program
9. Law, Ethics and The Visual Arts

Conclusion

-Association of Art Museum Directors members participating in The Late Renoir exhibition
-Honorary Committee (The Late Renoir)
-Exhibition Committee (The Late Renoir)
-Renoir in the 20th century catalogue Coordinated By
-Sponsors & Support (The Late Renoir)
-Footnotes

CHECKLIST
Lifetime cast/reproduction:
1907-08
1. Coco, Circa 1907-08

Eighteen lifetime & posthumous forgeries
1913-1918
1. The Judgment of Paris (Le Jugement de Paris), 1913-14
2. The Judgment of Paris (Le Jugement de Paris), 1914
3. Venus Victrix (Venus Victrix [Venus victorieuse], 1913-15
4. Venus Victrix, 1913-15
5. Hymn to Life (Hymne a law vie)
6. Fire, or Small Blacksmith (Feu, or Petit Forgeron), 1914-16 or post-1916
7. Water or Small Washerwoman (Eau or Petite Laveuse), 1916
8. Water or Small Washerwoman (Eau or Petite Laveuse), 1916
9. Water or Large Washerwoman (Eau or Grande Laveuse), 1917?
10. Large Washerwoman, Circa 1918

Pierre-Auguste Renoir died 1919.

After 1919
11. Fire, or Small Blacksmith (Feu, or Petit Forgeron), 1914-16 or post-1916
12. Coco, Circa 1907-08
13. Coco, Circa 1920

1950’s
14. Dancer with Tambourine I (Danseuse au tambourine I)
15. Dancer with Tambourine II (Danseuse au tambourine II)
16. Flute Player (Jouerur de fluteau)
17. Dancer with Tambourine II, Made in France, c. 1918-19
18. Pipe-Player III, Made in France, c. 1918-19

RENOIR IN 1912
“Renoir in his old age, sitting in his studio 1912, Gelatin-silver print,
11 1/2 x 9 1/4 in. (29.3 x 23.5 cm), Paris, Musee National Picasso
Archives Picasso” (detail), p 124, Renoir in the 20th Century catalogue

1. ENTIRELY WITH HIS OWN HANDS, RENOIR'S TWO SCULPTURES
In the 1947 Renoir Sculptor biography by Paul Haesaerts, the author wrote that Pierre Auguste Renoir created, in 1907, “entirely with his own hands, which even at that time were partially paralyzed,”[FN 6] only two sculptures, “Medallion” and the “Bust” of his son Coco.

AFTER 1910 RENOIR’S HANDS WERE ENTIRELY RIGID
Additionally, in Paul Haesaerts’ 1947 Renoir Sculptor biography, the author wrote that when Pierre Auguste Renoir “wanted to go back to modeling three or four years later, his hands were entirely rigid.”[FN 7]

RENOIR’S HANDS TERRIBLY DEFORMED FROM RHEUMATISM
Pierre Auguste Rodin’s devastating disability is further confirmed in Barbara Ehrlich White’s 1984 Renoir, His Life, Art and Letters biography where on page 245 the author wrote that in early 1919 Renoir’s “hands were terribly deformed. Rheumatism had cracked the joints, bending the thumb toward the palm and the other fingers toward the wrist. Although his fingers were paralyzed, he retained the ability to move his wrists and arms. Jean explained: "His hands, with the fingers curled inward, could no longer pick up anything. It has been said, and written, that his brush was fastened to his hand. That is not entirely accurate. The truth is that Renoir's skin had become so tender that contact with the wooden handle of the brush injured it. To avoid this difficulty, he had a little piece of cloth inserted in the hollow...” [FN 8]

RENOIR IN 1912
Renoir, Aline and Coco, 1912, Cat. 157, p 273,
Renoir in the 20th Century catalogue

2. NOT ONLY AN OLD MAN BUT A HELPLESS PARALYTIC
On page 10 of the Paul Haesaerts’ 1947 Renoir Sculptor biography, the author wrote: “With the exception of a very few earlier attempts, Renoir devoted himself to sculpture on the eve and at the beginning of the war of 1914-1918, in other words between his seventy-third and seventy-fifth years. At the time he was not only an old man but a helpless paralytic. He was carried from his bed (where often enough he needed a cage to keep the bedclothes from touching his aching limbs) either in a sedan chair or in a wheelchair. His body was almost mummified. Not only was he deprived of the use of his legs, but his hands were stiffened and shrived. To allow him to paint, a brush was fixed between his rigidly curled fingers; thenceforth the work was done by arm movements, not by those of the hand and fingers.”[FN 9]

HOW RENOIR COPED WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS
To fully appreciate how severe Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s disability was and how it progressively affected his ability to paint, much less to sculpt[sic], I have excerpt from the British Medical Journal’s published December 20, 1997 “How Renoir coped with rheumatoid arthritis” correspondence by rheumatologist Annelies Boonen, 13th European congress of rheumatology president Jan van de Rest, rheumatologist Jan Dequeker and rheumatologist Sjef van der Linden. [FN 10]

The rheumatology doctors wrote: “Few people know that Pierre-Auguste Renoir, who lived from 1841 to 1919, suffered from severe rheumatoid arthritis for the last 25 years of his life. At the 13th European congress of rheumatology in Amsterdam in 1995 Mr Paul Renoir, the artist's 70 year old grandson, revealed several previously unpublished aspects of his grandfather's disease.”[FN 11]

"Fig 4 With these deformed hands Renoir continued to roll his own
cigarettes and completed more than 400 works of art. The bandages
served to absorb the sweat to prevent maceration."
(Photograph from British Medical Journal's
published December 20, 1997 "How Renoir coped
with rheumatoid arthritis" article)

THE DISEASE LEAD TO POOR HAND FUNCTION
From photograph albums offered from the grandson Paul Renoir, the rheumatology doctors made the following observations: “In a photograph of 1896, when he was 55, the swelling of the metacarpophalangeal joints can be clearly seen (fig 1). Five years later, in 1901, when he was 60, he could still use his hands fully as witnessed in the way he holds his pipe (fig 2). Then the arthritis became more aggressive, and in the photograph of 1903 (fig 3), at the age of 62, we see the dramatic change where he tries to hold his inseparable cigarette in his deformed hands. The aggressive nature of the disease resulted in the destruction and ankylosis of his right shoulder and ruptures of several extensor tendons of fingers and wrists, leading to poor hand function, as shown in the picture of his hands of 1912 (fig 4), when he was 71.”[FN 12]

1912 STROKE LEFT RENOIR PARTIALLY PARALYZED
As if Pierre-Auguste Renoir did not suffer enough from the progressive nature of the disease, the doctors wrote: “In 1912, at the age of 71, a stroke was reported, which partially paralyzed his arms and legs. It is more likely that the paralysis was due to rheumatoid arthritis, affecting the cervical spine. From then on he could not walk anymore and he was confined to a wheelchair.”[FN 13]

"Fig 10 Renoir in 1915, when rheumatoid cachexia was clearly visible."(Photograph from British Medical Journal's published December 20, 1997 "How Renoir coped with rheumatoid arthritis" article)

PLEURITIS, FACIAL PALSY, LOST WEIGHT & BEDSORES
Finally, the doctors wrote: “There is evidence that the rheumatoid arthritis affected not only his joints. At the beginning of the disease a pleuritis is reported and later a facial palsy, which was treated with electrotherapy. From 1904 onwards, at the age of 63, he began to lose weight because of rheumatoid cachexia (fig 10). He reports this quite cynically in a letter: "I can't stay seated because I'm so thin. Forty six kilos, that can't be called fat. My bones are sticking through my skin and this despite a good appetite." Renoir's rheumatoid arthritis was nodulous and the nodules on his back became particularly troublesome after 1912, the year he became wheelchair bound. These nodules were removed by Dr Prat, a surgeon at the Belvédère Hospital in Nice. In 1918 gangrene of his foot was described. Despite good care, he also developed bedsores. Finally, in 1919, on his return from Paris to his house in the south of France, he caught pneumonia and died on 3 December, having spent several hours painting that evening on a still life of apples in a basket that his youngest son, Coco, had brought him.”[FN 14]

So, how does the Renoir in the 20th Century exhibition catalogue and the principals, who wrote it, reconcile Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s progressively deteriorating physical condition the last six years of his life, with the prolific attribution of sculpture to him during those same six years, much less since his death?

RICHARD GUINO IN 1912
Richard Guino dans son atelier de la rue Daguerre, en 1912
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Richard_Guino_1912.jpg/250px-Richard_Guino_1912.jpg

3. RENOIR CRIPPLED BY ILLNESS - WORKED WITH GUINO
These contentious issues of authenticity are glossed over or ignored in the "Renoir the Sculptor?" essay by Reunion des Musees Nationaux’s Emmanuelle Heran in the Renoir in the 20th Century exhibition catalogue. In part, the author wrote: “Most of the sculptures were in fact created a the end of his life, at a time when the painter was crippled by illness and could hardly use his hands. So, he worked with a young sculptor, Richard Guino, a collaboration that produced some twenty reliefs and sculptures in the round.”[FN 15]

Suspending disbelief that stroke-ridden paralytic old man who could barely hold a brush somehow contributed anything to the so-called sculptures attributed to him that were ultimately forged by Richard Guino and others, what explanation will be offered for the posthumous forgeries in The Late Renoir exhibition?

AMBROISE VOLLARD, CIRCA 1920-30
“Ambroise Vollard in front of Renoir’s Great Bathers,
the version the dealer had commissioned in 1903,
Circa 1920-30” (detail), p 403, Renoir in the 20th Century
catalogue

4. AMBROISE VOLLARD, MAN BEHIND THE SCHEME
In 1913, the art dealer Ambroise Vollard hatched a scheme to cash-in on the popularity of the artist Pierre Auguste Renoir by hiring, “at his own expense,”[FN 16] sculptor Richard Guino to forge work and pass those forgeries off as Pierre Auguste Renoir’s sculpture.

On page 1346, of the Seventh Edition of Black’s Law Dictionary, -scheme- is defined as: “an artful plot or plan usu. to deceive others.”[FN 17]

Once again, on page 660 of the Seventh Edition of Black's Law Dictionary, -forgery- is defined as: "The act of fraudulently making a false document or altering a real one to be used as if genuine."[FN 18]

When paralytic Pierre-Auguste Renoir was approached about the idea of sculpture by Ambroise Vollard, what was the artist’s response?

MY DEAR FRIEND, DON’T YOU SEE THE STATE I’M IN?
On pages 17-18 in the 1947 Renoir Sculptor biography by Paul Haesaerts, author wrote: Ambroise Vollard “still had to persuade Renoir, whose scruples persisted, to put himself seriously to work. It was not easy. Poor Renoir, perfectly aware of his condition, could do nothing but hold out his twisted, inert hands and say: 'But my dear friend, don't you see the state I'm in?'"[FN 19]

VOLLARD HAD HIS WAY BY TIRING OUT HIS VICTIM
Unfortunately, as Paul Haesaerts wrote "The painter's entourage could not help being annoyed by Vollard's importunity. It was noted with displeasure that this stubborn merchant always had his way by tiring out his victim."[FN 20]

So, the paralytic Pierre Auguste Renoir “who at first was somewhat surprised and hesitant about the arrangement"[FN 21] abdicated his scruples, as they were, to Ambroise Vollard’s avarice.

How did this so-called collaboration work between Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Richard Guino?

GUINO MODELED & DESIGNED
On page 74 in her “Renoir the Sculptor?” essay in the Renoir in the 20th Century exhibition catalogue, Emmanuelle Heran wrote: “Now the role played by Guino went far beyond that of a simple practitioner or assistant. He modeled clay for an artist who was not a trained sculptor and who was no longer able to model because of the paralysis crippling his hands. He helped to design the works, from both a theoretical and aesthetic perspective...”[FN 22]

GUINO WILL ARRANGE THINGS WITH VOLLARD NOT RENOIR
Additionally, on page 74 in her “Renoir the Sculptor?” essay in the Renoir in the 20th Century exhibition catalogue, Emmanuelle Heran wrote: “Vollard initially informed Guino: “I have agreed it with Monsieur Renoir; he will not have anything to do with your work. You will arrange things with me.”[FN 23]

GUINO CAST, MOLD, RETOUCH, ENLARGE, REPAIR & PROOF
Furthermore, on page 74-75, Emmanuelle Heran wrote: “[Cast in plaster] would normally be a mold-maker who carried out this work, but we know Guino took responsibility for this personally - even retouched the plasters - enlargement of the Venus - receive the casts in his own studio in order to repair them before sending them to the metal founder [and] Renoir probably did not see all the proofs sold by Vollard, on the other hand it is possible, even probable, that Guino, the first-rate sculptor, validated them.”[FN 24]

So, what was Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s contribution to this collaboration?

RENOIR HOLDING A CANE DICTATING ORDERS
This is addressed, on page 74, where Emmanuelle Heran wrote: ‘Vollard described the painter as holding “a long stick in his hand, dictating the volumes of his Venus Victrix to his practitioners,’ but also talks of a ‘cane.’”[FN 25]

RENOIR SAW IT AFTER THE PIECE WAS FINISHED
In the Telegraph published May 5, 2002 "The Renoir Wars" article by Alix Kirsta, the reporter wrote: “Some claim that Guino carried out only the heavy moulding and chiseling Renoir was too frail to undertake, while he issued instructions using a baton. According to Michel and his sister Marie, the truth was different. They often heard their father describe how he worked alone at the bottom of the garden, making preparatory sketches and sculpting all the bronzes, including Venus Victrix. 'Indoors, Renoir painted in his studio on the first floor, unable to walk. So he couldn't constantly supervise the work,' Marie says. 'When my father finished a work, he cut a piece of clay, Renoir put his name on it and it went on to the sculpture. Papa told me no one saw him making La Grande Laveuse. Renoir saw it in Paris after the piece was finished.” [FN 26]

VOLLARD NEVER MENTIONED THE DREADED NAME OF GUINO
Ambroise Vollard’s avarice and lack of credibility was never more evident when on page 21 in Renoir Sculptor biography, the author Paul Haesaerts wrote: “He maneuvered in such a way as to have the exclusive right to sell these sculptures; he made himself practically their sole proprietor, or at the very least their 'publisher'. There after it was in his interest to create the impression that the works he was holding and selling were by Renoir alone. He never mentioned the dreaded name of Guino (the 'Assistant,' he called him, and changed the subject). He spoke freely of several 'executants' whose intervention, he implied, was quite as important as Guino's.”[FN 27]

SCULPTURES MADE IN MY ABSENCE I DO NOT KNOW ABOUT
If there was any doubt that Pierre Auguste Renoir understood that he was involved in a scheme with the art dealer Ambroise Vollard and forger Richard Guino, the art critic George Besson answered that question when he quoted Renoir stating: “‘I no longer want to be the author of sculptures made in my absence, from my old sketches.’ Another concern being: ‘Vollard has the stamp of my signature. Will he use it, like a brand name, on all sorts of pieces, some of which may be successful but which I do not know about?”[FN 28]

There is no honor among thieves.

5. HOW IS A SCULPTURE REALLY CREATED?
On page 372 in Ralph Mayer’s HarperCollins Dictionary of Art Terms & Techniques, -sculpture- is defined as: “the creation of three dimensional forms by carving, modeling or assembly. In carving, the sculptor removes unwanted material.... In modeling on the other hand, the sculptor creates a form by building it up...”[FN 29]

WHO IS A SCULPTOR?
The J. Paul Getty Trust’s Getty Vocabulary Program, defines -sculptor- as: “artists who specialize in creating images and forms that are carried out primarily in three dimensions, generally in the media of stone, wood, or metal.”[FN 30]

WHAT IS A SCULPTURE UNDER U.S. COPYRIGHT LAW?
Under U.S. Copyright Law 101. Definitions, a -work of visual art- ie., -sculpture- is defined as: “multiple cast, carved, or fabricated sculptures of 200 or fewer that are consecutively numbered by the author and bear the signature or other identifying mark of the author.”[FN 31]

In other words, sculptures are created by sculptors, much less signed by them.

As noted earlier, but important to mention again, J. Paul Getty Museum, under their Getty Research, defines -counterfeit- as: "forgeries (derivative objects)" with a note stating: "Reproductions of whole objects when the intention is to deceive; includes sculptures cast without the artist's permission."[FN 32]

Therefore, would “reproductions of whole objects when the intention is to deceive,” such as the bronzes cast from plasters made from Richard Guino’s hand and subsequently misrepresented as Renoir sculptures, qualify as forgeries?

PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART IN PENNSYLVANIA, USA
Despite, The Late Renoir exhibition current venue in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, located in the State of Pennsylvania of the United States of America, some may argue that French Law is applicable to explain away these contentious issues of authenticity.

FRENCH DECREE - FULL DISCLOSURE OF REPRODUCTIONS
This is quickly dispelled by the March 3, 1981 French decree no. 81.255, Article 9, which states: “All facsimiles, casts of casts, copies, or other reproductions of an original work of art as set out in Article 71 of Appendix III of the General Code of Taxes, executed after the date of effectiveness of the present decree, must carry in a visible and indelible manner the notation ‘Reproduction’.”[FN 33]

So, whether it is U.S. Copyright Law or a French decree, reproductions are -reproductions-, unless of course they are forgeries.

Aside the $24 per adult admission to view The Late Renoir exhibition, “The exhibition is supported in part by The Annenberg Foundation Fund for Major Exhibitions and by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. Major foundation support for this exhibition is provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts, 1675 Foundation, and The Robert Lehman Foundation. Additional support is provided by The Women's Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art; Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Abramson, Barbara B. and Theodore R. Aronson, Maude de Schauensee, Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Linck, Martha Hamilton Morris and I. Wistar Morris III, Mr. and Mrs. John M. Thalheimer, Harriet and Larry Weiss, and other generous contributors to the Renoir Salon; and other individual donors. Promotional support provided by NBC 10 WCAU; Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau (PCVB) and the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC); The Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News, and Philly.com; and Amtrak.” [FN 34]

So, would misrepresenting reproductions, much less forgeries, as original works of visual art ie., sculptures, for $24 per adult admission, city-state-federal grants, corporate sponsorship, tax write-offs, and other monetary considerations, be considered “a knowing misrepresentation of the truth or concealment of a material fact to induce another to act to his or her detriment”[FN 35] which is one legal definition of -fraud-?

6. REPRODUCTION & FORGERIES IN -THE LATE RENOIR-

1 Lifetime Cast/REPRODUCTION
“Cat.89, Coco, Circa 1907-08, Lost-wax cast bronze medallion, 8 5/8 (diam.) x 13/4 in. (22 x 4.5 cm), Inscribed signature: Renoir; on the edge: 1/4, Paris, Musee d’Orsay, RF 1999. {pages 346 Renoir in the 20th Century catalogue}

On page 19 of the Paul Haesaerts’ 1947 Renoir Sculptor biography, the author wrote: “The medallion, which is only 8 1/2 inches (22 cm.) in diameter, was undertaken in 1907, and was intended to decorate the fireplace of the dining room in Cagnes, where it was set when finished. Its outline is irregular, conforming with Renoir’s ideas on the virtues of what he calls ‘irregularism” (he left an essay on this subject.”[FN 36]

1 of 18 FORGERIES
“Cat. 68, Pierre Auguste Renoir and Richard Guino, The Judgment of Paris (Le Jugement de Paris), 1913-14, Haut-relief, plaster, patinated terracotta, 30 x 37 1/4 x 4 in. (76.2 x 94.5 x 10 cm), Signed and dated bottom right: Renoir 1914, Paris, Musee d’Orsay, RF 2745, -Exhibited in Paris.” {pages 306 & 311, Renoir in the 20th Century catalogue}

2 of 18 FORGERIES
“Pierre Auguste Renoir and Richard Guino, The Judgment of Paris (Le Jugement de Paris), 1914 Haut-relief, bronze, 29 1/4 x 35 1/2 x 6 3/4 in. (74.3 x 90.2 x 17.2 cm), Signed and dated bottom right: Renoir 1914, Cleveland, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchased 1941.591, - Exhibited in Los Angeles and Philadelphia Not illustrated-.” (page 306 Renoir in the 20th Century catalogue}

RENOIR ASKED GUINO TO ROUGH OUT A BAS-RELIEF
On page 26 of Paul Haesaerts’ 1947 Renoir Sculptor biography, the author wrote of Renoir asking Guino “his sculptor to rough out a bas-relief which might eventually serve to ornament the base of the Small Venus.” “For this purpose,” Pierre-Auguste Renoir gave Richard Guino “as a basic outline, the photograph of a drawing done in 1908, the same year in which he had also painted a Judgment of Paris in oils on canvas.”[FN 37]

RICHARD GUINO WORKED IN HIS STUDIO & LES COLLETTES
Additionally, on page 26, Paul Haesaerts wrote: “in his Paris studio, Guino worked on this small plaque in low relief “ [then] “Guino started another treatment of the theme, this time in high relief. He worked on this at Les Collettes during the year of 1918.”[FN 38]

EXECUTED BY GUINO UNDER RENOIR GUIDANCE
Yet, on page 40, Paul Haesaerts wrote that the “Large Judgment of Paris” (“Height: 30 in.; width 36 in. {73 x 91 cm.}”) was: “executed by Guino on Vollard’s order and under Renoir’s guidance.[FN 39]

There seems to be no record of Pierre-Auguste Renoir ever being carried to Richard Guino’s studio to supervise the forger at work.

3 of 18 FORGERIES
“Cat. 69, Richard Guino and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Venus Victrix (Venus Victorious), or Small Venus Standing on a Socle (Venus Victrix [Venus victorieuse] or Petite Venus debout au socle), 1913-15, Bronze statuette on a socle, cast by Alexis Rudier, Statuette without socle: 23 1/2 x 11 3/4 x 8 1/8 in. (59.7 x 29.8 x 20.5 cm.), Socle: 9 1/2 x 9 5/8 x 9 1/2 in. (24.2 x 24.5 x 24 cm), Signature inscribed on the upper side of the base: Renoir, Stanford, Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Ben C. Deane, 1978-230, Exhibition, New York, 1941, no. 87 (first exhibition of the small Venus).” {pages 312 & 316 Renoir in the 20th Century catalogue}

RENOIR WANTED RODIN TO BELIEVE HE CREATED THE WORKS
Once again as noted earlier, in the Telegraph published May 5, 2002 “The Renoir Wars” article by Alix Kirsta, the reporter wrote: ”The suppression of Guino's contribution began early, Michel says. 'My father knew he was trapped after coming back to Les Collettes from a day off and finding the cloths he had placed over the Venus Victrix he was working on had been removed. Asking who had moved them, Renoir replied, "Monsieur Rodin".' It dawned on Guino that Renoir had told him to go and relax in Monaco that day because Rodin, with Vollard, had been invited to Les Collettes and would be shown the sculptures. 'He realized they intended to give Rodin the impression that Renoir had created the works and Guino was merely the assistant.'”[FN 40]

Another example of Pierre Auguste Renoir’s complicity in this deception.

4 of 18 FORGERIES
“Cat. 70, Richard Guino and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Venus Victrix, 1913-15, Patinated plaster, 72 1/2 x 44 7/8 x 29 7/8 in. (184 x 114 x 76 cm), Signature inscribed on the upper side of the base: Renoir Paris, private collection, Exhibition: Paris 1913, no. 152 (“second proof of 1st state” bronze) -Exhibited in Paris-.” {pages 312 & 315 Renoir in the 20th Century catalogue}

TRANSFORMED INTO A SCULPTURE
On page 313 in the Renoir in the 20th Century catalogue, Emmanuelle Heran wrote: “Venus Victix is unquestionably a triumph.” The author later wrote: “The figure of Venus is based on the image of the goddess in Renoir’s Judgment of Paris Cat. 65-68 who, lifted from the canvas, has been transformed into a sculpture in the round.”[FN 41]

RENOIR IN 1914-15
“Renoir and Coco in the garden of Les Collettes 1914-15,
” (detail), page 398 Renoir in the 20th Century catalogueSculptures, like any original work of visual art, are created by the sculptor. So, who took Renoir image on canvas and “transformed into a sculpture?”

GUINO SCULPTED FOR RENOIR & PRODUCED MULTIPLE COPIES
This is answered on page 314 of the Renoir in the 20th Century exhibition catalogue, where Emmanuelle Heran wrote: “in June, Guino received the sum of 5,000 francs for “alterations to the statue of Venus and a plaster proof.” Did he go back and work on the bronze? It is possible he did, because in addition to sculpting for Renoir, Guino was also charged by Vollard with producing multiple copies of all or part of the Venus right away.”[FN 42]

In other words, Pierre-Auguste Renoir was -not- the sculptor for the “Venus Victix,” Richard Guino was the forger.

5 of 18 FORGERIES
“Cat. 91, Richard Guino and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Hymn to Life (Hymne a law vie), Bronze clock, lost-wax casting, 28 x 20 1/8 x 10 7/8 in. (71 x 51.2 x 27.5 cm.), Signed and dated at the back of the socle, level with the woman’s left foot: Renoir 1914; foundry stamp: No 1/cire perdue/Bisceglia/aParis; other mark: C. Alfred Daber Paris, Paris, Musee d’Orsay, Gift of Alfred Daber, OAO 567” {page 348, Renoir in the 20th Century catalogue}

Ambroise Vollard and his employee Richard Guino were wholly responsible for the forging in plaster and its’ subsequent casting in bronze the so-called “Hymn to Life,” falsely attributed to a paralytic Pierre Auguste Renoir.

VOLLARD TO GUINO - COULD YOU FINISH THE CLOCK
This is confirmed on page 348 in the Renoir in the 20th Century exhibition catalogue, where using his private archives, Emmanuelle Heran wrote the:: “clock was not completed before the summer of 1914. We know this from a letter sent by Vollard to Guino and dated June 16, 1914: ‘Dear Monsieur Guino, Renoir has arrived. Could you bring him the clock. If you can finish it at his house, all the better.’ But then, between November 1915 and June 1916, Guino proceeded to retouch the piece, as we know from an invoice that Vollard settled by paying 3,000 francs for work executed by Guino at Renoir’s house in Cagnes during this period. Haesaerts dates the final completion to as late as 1917. -- On June 30, 1914, Vollard again wrote to Guino: “I have seen Monsieur Renoir who has told me what he wants for the man on the clock; he wants someone to find him a male model with feminine grace but at the same time something in his attitude that say: ‘Look at me... Try to flush out this rare bird.’”[FN 43]

Ambroise Vollard letter to Richard Guino seems to sum up Pierre Auguste Renoir’s so-called career as a sculptor: “Could you bring him the clock, If you can finish it at his house, all the better.”

RENOIR IN CIRCA 1916
“Attributed to Pierre Bonnard, Pierre Auguste Renoir
and his son Jean Circa 1916” (detail), p 401,
Renoir in the 20th Century catalogue

6 of 18 FORGERIES
“Richard Guino and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Fire, or Small Blacksmith (Feu, or Petit Forgeron), 1914-16 or post-1916, Lost-wax cast bronze, 12 3/4 x 8 1/4 x 12 5/8 in. (32.5 x 21 x 32.3 cm.), Signed on the socle, near the left foot: RENOIR, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Bryant W. Langston, 1957, 1957-43-1,-Exhibited in Los Angeles and Philadelphia, Not illustrated-.” {page 350, Renoir in the 20th Century catalogue}

Since Richard Guino was Ambroise Vollard’s employee and paralytic Pierre Auguste Renoir gave, with or without intent, Ambroise Vollard free rein over these forgeries, they multiplied with impunity.

VALSUANI APPARENTLY CAST A SECOND SERIES
This is never more evident on page 351 in the Renoir in the 20th Century exhibition catalogue, where Emmanuelle Heran wrote: “It seems that Vollard immediately produced ten bronzes of Fire, Then, on behalf of the Galerie Renou et Poyet, Valsuani apparently cast a second series of ten bronzes, which included the one now kept at the Musee d’Orsay. However, this is not certain, as there are few of these bronzes in museums. We have located bronzes with the stamps of Ruder, Susse, and Godard. Vollard appears to have had Water cast by Alexis Rudier. There are also bronzes made from one or another version by various casters, including that given by Vollard to the Musee Leon-Dierx in Saint-Denis-de-la-Reunion. there are several examples of the large version of Water cast by Rudier, including the bronze at the Musee d-Orsay which has not stamp but was acquired from Rudier in 1950. Other examples can be found in Amsterdam, Berlin, London, New York, Philadelphia, Sao Paulo, Toledo and Winterthur. Only the Musee d’Orsay is in a position to exhibit all three of these works, although the small version of Water does not belong to the museum; it was recovered after World War II and placed in the care of the French national museums. The owner still remains unknown.”[FN 44]

RENOIR IN 1916-17
“Claude Renoir, Renoir painting under a
parasol 1916-17,” (detail), p 399,
Renoir in the 20th Century catalogue

7 of 18 FORGERIES
Cat. 93, Richard Guino and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Water or Small Washerwoman (Eau or Petite Laveuse), 1916, Lost-wax cast bronze, 13 3/8 x 7 1/2 x 12 1/4 in. (34 x 19 x 31 cm.), Signed on the socle on the right: Renoir, Paris, Musee d’Orsay, work rediscovered in Germany after WW II and placed into the keeping of the National Museums, attached to the Louvre Museum by the Office des Biens et Inerets prives in 1951, RFR 58. -Exhibited in Paris-. {page 350, Renoir in the 20th Century catalogue}

8 of 18 FORGERIES
Richard Guino and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Water or Small Washerwoman (Eau or Petite Laveuse), 1916, Lost-wax cast bronze, 13 1/4 x 7 1/8 x 12 3/8 in. (33.7 x 20 x 31.3 cm.), Signed on the socle, near the left leg: RENOIR, Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Louis E. Stern Collection, 1963, 1963-181-100, -Exhibited in Los Angeles and Philadelphia- Not illustrated. {page 350, Renoir in the 20th Century catalogue}

GUINO MADE STUDIES CAST IN PLASTER & REWORKED
On page 31 of Paul Haesaerts’ 1947 Renoir Sculptor biography, the author wrote: “Several preliminary studies [Washerwoman] were made, on which Guino worked at Cagnes in 1916 and 1917. Renoir gave him the general handling of them by tracing a few sketchy drawings. The originals of these first sculptured studies were in terra cotta, about 14 inches high (35 cm.). They were then cast in plaster to reworked.”[FN 45]

MADE BY GUINO ON VOLLARD’S ORDER
On page 35, Paul Haesaerts wrote the “Small Stooping Washer Woman” was: “first in terra cotta; they were made by Guino at Cagnes on Vollard’s order and under Renoir’s direction. Several copies were made in plaster, to be reworked in preparation for the rendering of the statue in larger dimensions.”[FN 46]

Sculpture requires the hands on participation of the sculptor for which these published references sadly documents that Pierre-Auguste Renoir was incapable of.

9 of 18 FORGERIES
Cat. 94. Richard Guino and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Water or Large Washerwoman (Eau or Grande Laveuse), 1917?, Bronze, cast by Alexis Rudier, 48 3/8 x 27 1/8 x 53 1/8 in. (123 x 69 x 135 cm.), Signed on upper side of base, near the right knee: Renoir O Paris, Musee d’Orsay, RF 2703 {page 351, Renoir in the 20th Century catalogue}

RENOIR SAW IT AFTER THE PIECE WAS FINISHED
In the Telegraph published May 5, 2002 "The Renoir Wars" article by Alix Kirsta, the reporter wrote: “Some claim that Guino carried out only the heavy moulding and chiseling Renoir was too frail to undertake, while he issued instructions using a baton. According to Michel and his sister Marie, the truth was different. They often heard their father describe how he worked alone at the bottom of the garden, making preparatory sketches and sculpting all the bronzes, including Venus Victrix. 'Indoors, Renoir painted in his studio on the first floor, unable to walk. So he couldn't constantly supervise the work,' Marie says. 'When my father finished a work, he cut a piece of clay, Renoir put his name on it and it went on to the sculpture. Papa told me no one saw him making La Grande Laveuse. Renoir saw it in Paris after the piece was finished.” [FN 47]

Therefore, despite, Emmanuelle Heran’s admission in her essay that Richard Guino worked for Ambroise Vollard, not Renoir, for modeling and molding work with little or no oversight by Renoir, the Reunion des Musees Nationaux “Commissaire pour la sculpture” still has the hubris to state: “’Renoir’s sculpted works are certainly inseparable from his work as a painter.” [FN 48]

That nonsensical statement is only plausible if Pierre Auguste Renoir did not create his paintings any more than the forgeries passed off as his sculptures.

RENOIR IN 1918
March 11, 1918, page 402, Renoir in the 20th Century catalogue
10 of 18 FORGERIES
Richard Guino and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Large Washerwoman, Circa 1918, Bronze, 48 x 50 1/2 x 30 in. (121.9 x 128.3 x 76.2 cm.), Signed on the base near the left knee: RENOIR O; dated on the base, on left 1917;stamp below the right foot: Alexis Rudier Paris, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Purchased with the Diamond Jubilee Fund subscribed by Members and Friends of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1952, 1952-84-1 {page 351, Renoir in the 20th Century catalogue}

GUINO ENLARGED AND RENOIR HARDLY INTERVENED
On page 31 of Paul Haesaerts’ Renoir Sculptor biography, the author wrote: “Guino undertook the roughing-out the Stooping Washerwoman on a larger scale. - At no time did Guino use a model; he was guided by the already completed small statue of the Washerwoman, by certain drawings of Renoir which later became Vollard’s property. - In its present state, even though unfinished (Renoir hardly intervened at all in its’ elaboration).”[FN 49]

It should be clear now Pierre-Auguste Renoir was not only physically incapable of creating sculpture but was a pawn of Ambroise Vollard’s scheme to cash-in on the artist’s popularity and impending death.

RENOIR DIED DECEMBER 3, 1919
Essoyes Cimetiere
Essoyes, Aube
Champagne-Ardenne Region, France
"In December 1919, he contracted pneumonia which
resulted in a heart attack that took his life. He was
interred in the village cemetery at Essoyes, France.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8087

11 of 18 FORGERIES
Cat. 92, Richard Guino and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Fire, or Small Blacksmith (Feu, or Petit Forgeron), 1914-16 or post-1916, Lost-wax cast bronze, 12 3/4 x 8 1/4 x 12 5/8 in. (32.5 x 21 x 32.3 cm.), Signed on the left of the socle: Renoir; foundry mark at the back: cire perdue / C. Valsuani; stamp of the Renoir estate, Paris, Musee d’Orsay, RF 2741, -Exhibited in Paris-. {page 350, Renoir in the 20th Century catalogue}

On page 567 of the Seventh Edition of Black’s Law Dictionary, -estate- is defined as: “The property that one leaves after death; the collective assets and liabilities of a dead person.”[FN 50]

Since the above titled “Fire” or “Small Blacksmith” has the “stamp of the Renoir estate,” it had to be posthumously forged with a counterfeit “Renoir” signature applied.

The dead don’t sign.

12 of 18 FORGERIES
Cat. 90, Coco, Circa 1907-08, Bronze bust, cast by Valsuani, 14 5/8 x 7 7/8 x 7 7/8 in. (37 x 20 x 20 cm), Signed on the left of the base; Renoir; foundry stamp: cire perdue/Valsuani/ 21/20, Paris, Petit Palais, Musee des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, PPS 3420 - Exhibited in Paris-. {page 346, Renoir in the 20th Century catalogue}

13 of 18 FORGERIES
Coco, Circa 1920, Bronze Bust, 10 3/4 x 7 5/8 x 7 1/2 in. (27.3 x 19.4 x 19.1 cm.), Signed at the front: Renoir; foundry stamp: 20/20 Cire perdue C. Valsuani, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Bequest of Lisa Norris Elkins, 1950, 1950-92-47 -Exhibited in Los Angeles and Philadelphia, not illustrated here. {page 346, Renoir in the 20th Century catalogue}

CAST AFTER RENOIR’S DEATH
On page 346 in the Renoir in the 20th Century exhibition catalogue, Emmanuelle Heran wrote: “The bronzes of the bust were all cast after Renoir’s death from this unlocated plaster piece, which carries certain telltale marks, in particular some notches on the lip, on the nose above the right nostril, and on the left cheek, close to the ear -- Robida claims that Gabrielle Renard dropped it on the Nice tram!”[FN 51]

Both “Coco” bronzes are listed, in Renoir in the 20th Century exhibition catalogue, as “Signed Renoir,” despite the admission by Emmanuelle Heran they are posthumous,

On page 1386 of the Seventh Edition of Black’s Law Dictionary, -sign- is defined as: “to identify (a record) by means of a signature or other symbol with intent to authenticate it as an act or agreement of the person identifying it.”[52]

p. 189, “Girl in a Red Ruff (Femme a la collerette rouge), Circa 1896, Oil on canvas, (16 1/4 x 13 1/8 in. (41.3 x 33. cm), Signed top right: Renoir”[54] & "Renoir" signature detail.

PAINTINGS SIGNED BY RENOIR
Throughout the Renoir in the 20th Century exhibition catalogue, Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s paintings are listed as: -Signed Renoir-. Here are just three examples of paintings being signed by Pierre-Auguste Renoir:

1. p 184, “Caryatids (Cariatides), Circa 1897, Oil on canvas, 51 1/8 x 16 3/4 in. (130 x 45 cm), Signed bottom right: Renoir”[53]

2. p. 189, “Girl in a Red Ruff (Femme a la collerette rouge), Circa 1896, Oil on canvas, (16 1/4 x 13 1/8 in. (41.3 x 33. cm), Signed top right: Renoir”[54]

3. p. 292, “Washerwoman (Les Laveuses), Circa 1912, Oil on Canvas, 25 3/4 x 21 1/2 in. (65.5 x 54.5 cm), Signed bottom right: Renoir.”[55]

p 354, "Louis Morel and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Dancer with Tambourine I, called “with garland and extended arms” (Danseuse au tambourine I, called “avec guirlande et les bras etendus”) Terracotta relief, edition of Renou and Colle, Paris, 23 1/4 x 16 1/8 x 5 1/8 in. (59 x 41 x 13 cm.), inscribed signature bottom left, at the foot of the figure: Renoir" & "Renoir" signature detail.

POSTHUMOUS FORGERIES LISTED AS SIGNED RENOIR
Yet, here are three of the non-disclosed posthumous forgeries in The Late Renoir exhibition that are listed as -Signed Renoir- or listed as having his -signature Renoir-:
1. p 350, "Richard Guino and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Fire, or Small Blacksmith (Feu, or Petit Forgeron), 1914-16 or post-1916, Lost-wax cast bronze, 12 3/4 x 8 1/4 x 12 5/8 in. (32.5 x 21 x 32.3 cm.), Signed on the left of the socle: Renoir,"

2. p 346, "Coco, Circa 1920, Bronze Bust, 10 3/4 x 7 5/8 x 7 1/2 in. (27.3 x 19.4 x 19.1 cm.), Signed at the front: Renoir,"

3. p 354, "Louis Morel and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Dancer with Tambourine I, called “with garland and extended arms” (Danseuse au tambourine I, called “avec guirlande et les bras etendus”) Terracotta relief, edition of Renou and Colle, Paris, 23 1/4 x 16 1/8 x 5 1/8 in. (59 x 41 x 13 cm.), inscribed signature bottom left, at the foot of the figure: Renoir."

Therefore, what are we to make of those “Honorary Committee” of museum directors & presidents who created The Late Renoir exhibition and the “Exhibition Committee” of curators who wrote this Renoir in the 20th Century exhibition catalogue who promote themselves as scholars and connoisseurs but either don’t know the true definition of -sign- or don’t want the public to know or both?

14 of 18 FORGERIES
Cat. 96, Louis Morel and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Dancer with Tambourine I, called “with garland and extended arms” (Danseuse au tambourine I, called “avec guirlande et les bras etendus”) Terracotta relief, edition of Renou and Colle, Paris, 23 1/4 x 16 1/8 x 5 1/8 in. (59 x 41 x 13 cm.), inscribed signature bottom left, at the foot of the figure: Renoir, Cagnes-sur-Mer, Musee Renoir, 51.16.1 -Exhibited in Paris- {page 352, Renoir in the 20th Century catalogue}

ALL THE CASTINGS OF THESE RELIEFS ARE POSTHUMOUS
On page 352, in the Renoir in the 20th Century catalogue, where Emmanuelle Heran wrote: “It was the sculptor Louis Fernand Morel who assisted Renoir in the execution of this traid” and “According to Haesaerts, Morel worked in fresh plaster, not clay. All the castings of these reliefs, whether in terracotta or bronze, are posthumous. ”[FN 56]

Emmanuelle Heran left out one very important point Paul Haesaerts made on page 43 of his Renoir Sculptor biography about those fresh plasters Louis Fernand Morel forged for Pierre Auguste Renoir.

The plasters were “not signed.”

ORIGINAL PLASTERS NOT SIGNED
Once again, that disclosure is found on page 43 of Paul Haesaerts’ 1947 Renoir Sculptor biography, for “Dancer with a Tambourine I,” “Dancer with a Tambourine II” and “Pipe Player” a.k.a. “The Flute Player.” The Paul Haesaerts wrote not only were the plasters “not signed”/“unsigned” but that a so-called “Renoir” signature was “signed”/“scratched” on the terracottas:

“DANCER WITH A TAMBOURINE I
“High-relief in terra cotta. Height 23 in.; width 16 in. (58 x 42 cm.), Executed in 1918. Original plaster not signed: terra cotta replicas signed “Renoir” at the foot of the figure. Not dated. Published by Renou and Colle, Paris.

“DANCER WITH A TAMBOURINE II
“High-relief in terra cotta. Height 23 in.: width 16 in. (58 x 41 cm.). Executed in 1918. Original plaster unsigned: signature “Renoir scratched on the terra cotta at the feet of the figure. Undated. Published by Renou and Colle, Paris.

“PIPE PLAYER
“High-relief in terra cotta. Height 23 in.: width 16 in. (58 x 41 cm.). Executed in 1918. Original plaster unsigned: signature “Renoir scratched on the terra cotta in lower left. Undated. Published by Renou and Colle, Paris.”[FN 57]

Remember, in her "Renoir The Sculptor?" essay, Emmanuelle Heran wrote: “All the castings of these reliefs, whether in terracotta or bronze, are posthumous. ”

On page 1387 of the Seventh Edition of Black’s Law Dictionary, -signature- is defined as: “a person’s name or mark written by that person or at the person’s direction.”[FN 58]

On page 354 of the Seventh Edition of Black’s Law Dictionary, -counterfeit- is defined as: “to forge, copy, or imitate (something) without a right to do so and with the purpose of deceiving or defrauding.”[FN 59]

Therefore, when the Renou and Colle, Paris [gallery] posthumously cast an unsigned plaster into terracottas with “Renoir” inscriptions posthumously applied, would that be “to forge, copy, or imitate (something) without a right to do so and with the purpose of deceiving or defrauding?”

15 of 18 FORGERIES
“Cat. 97, Louis Morel and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Dancer with Tambourine II, called “with garland and arms together” (Danseuse au tambourine II, called “sans guirlande et les bras rassembles”) Terracotta relief, edition of Renou and Colle, Paris, 22 7/8 x 16 1/8 x 2 3/4 in. (58 x 41 x 7 cm.), inscribed signature bottom right, level with the figure’s feet: Renoir Cagnes-sur-Mer, Musee Renoir, 51.16.2 -Exhibited in Paris-” {page 352, Renoir in the 20th Century catalogue}

THE LAST THREE DECADES BEFORE HIS DEATH
The Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Communications Department published a news release, for The Late Renoir exhibition, that stated: ”The Philadelphia Museum of Art will present the first exhibition to survey the achievement of the great impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), during the last three decades before his death?”[FN 60]

THREE DECADES AFTER HIS DEATH
Yet, on page 352, in the Renoir in the 20th Century catalogue, Emmanuelle Heran wrote: “Vollard played no part in this trade, which remained under the control of Renoir’s heirs. The castings first appeared in the early 1950’s, in Paris at the Galerie Renou et Poyet at 164, rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honore.”[FN 61]

At best, the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Communication Department has not read page 352 in the Renoir in the 20th Century exhibition catalogue.

16 of 18 FORGERIES
“Cat.98, Louis Morel and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Flute Player (Jouerur de fluteau), Terracotta relief, edition of Renou and Colle, Paris, 22 7/8 x 16 1/8 in. (58 x 41 cm.), inscribed signature bottom left, at the base of the tree trunk: Renoir Cagnes-sur-Mer, Musee Renoir, 51.16.3 -Exhibited in Paris-” {page 352, Renoir in the 20th Century catalogue}

Furthermore, on page 352, in the Renoir in the 20th Century catalogue, Emmanuelle Heran wrote: “Maurice Renou and Pierre Colle produced an unknown number of lost-wax bronzes during the 1950’s; Valsuani later produced another twenty in all. These were widely disseminated by the Galerie Bignou, hence their success in the United States, as witnessed by their presence in the following museums: San Francisco Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Hirshhorn Museum of Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC --the latter being the only institution to own all three motifs. The present terracottas form part of another edition by Renou and Colle and were given to the Musee Renoir in Cagnes by Claude Renoir in 1951. At present, bronzes of questionable quality proliferate on the art market. Terracotta proofs (one of each relief) from Louis Morel’s studio were put up for sale at Troyes on September 28, 2008.”[FN 62]

17 of 18 FORGERIES
“European Painting before 1900, Johnson Collection, Dancer with Tambourine, Dancer with Tambourine II, Made in France, c. 1918-19, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French, 1841 - 1919. Modeled by Louis Morel under Renoir's supervision. Terracotta, 23 x 16 3/8 inches (58.4 x 41.6 cm), Currently not on view, 1991-183-2, Gift of an anonymous donor, 1991”
http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/86426.html?mulR=21986

The Philadelphia Museum of Art, despite having their curators Joseph J. Rishel and Jennifer A. Thompson on the Exhibition Committee for The Late Renoir exhibition with a Renoir in the 20th Century exhibition catalogue as reference, has not updated their collection website, to disclose these terracottas are posthumous and therefore could not have been “modeled by Louis Morel under a Renoir’s supervision.”

The dead don’t supervise.

18 of 18 FORGERIES
“European Painting before 1900, Johnson Collection, Pipe Player, Pipe-Player III, Made in France, c. 1918-19, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French, 1841 - 1919. Modeled by Louis Morel under Renoir's supervision., Terracotta, 23 1/8 x 16 5/8 inches (58.7 x 42.2 cm), Currently not on view, 1991-183-1, Gift of an anonymous donor, 1991”
http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/86425.html?mulR=22943

Aside, that it is misleading listed with a “c. 1918-19” date when it was actually forged in the 1950’s, why does the Philadelphia Museum of Art list it under the following subtitle: “European Painting before 1900?”

7. ASSOCIATION OF ART MUSEUM DIRECTORSThe following Association of Art Museum Director members are loaning work to The Late Renoir exhibition: 1. Baltimore Museum of Art, 2. Indiana University Art Museum, 3. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 4. The Brooklyn Museum, 5. The Albright Know Art Gallery, 6. The Art Institute of Chicago, 7. The Cleveland Museum of Art, 8. Columbus Museum of Art, 9. The Detroit Institute of Art, 10. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 11. New Orleans Museum of Art, 12. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 13. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 14. Virginia Museum of Art, 15. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco- Legion of Honor, 16. Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for the Visual Arts at Stanford University, 17. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 18. The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 19. The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA, 20. Art Gallery of Ontario, and 21. National Gallery of Canada.[FN 63]

1996 AAMD’S STATEMENT OF MISSION
The Association of Art Museum Directors’ -Statement of Mission-, as adopted in June 1996, in part, states: “The purpose of the Association of Art Museum Directors is to aid its members in establishing and maintaining the highest professional standards for themselves and the museums they represent.”[FN 64]

In 1974, the Association of Art Museum Directors organization endorsed the College Art Association ethical guidelines on sculptural reproductions.

INAUTHENTIC OR COUNTERFEIT
In part, these ethical guidelines state: “All bronze casting from finished bronzes, all unauthorized enlargements, and all transfers into new materials, unless specifically condoned by the artist, all works cast as a result of being in the public domain should be considered as inauthentic or counterfeit. Unauthorized casts of works in the public domain cannot be looked upon as accurate presentations of the artist’s achievement. Accordingly, in the absence of relevant laws and for moral reasons, such works should: -- Not be acquired by museums or exhibited as works of art.”[FN 65]

Therefore, all AAMD member museums, participating in The Late Renoir exhibition, are violating their own endorsed ethical guidelines with the exhibition of posthumous forgeries as works of art ie., sculptures.

Then to go from the ridiculous to the sublime, these inauthentic or counterfeit Renoirs, with “signatures, edition numbers, and/or foundry marks” in The Late Renoir exhibition could not even be sold as -reproductions- in their gift shops.

2001 PROFESSIONAL PRACTICES IN ART MUSEUMS
On page 31 of the 2001 Association of Art Museum Director’s Professional Practices in Art Museums booklet, it is written that the: “misleading marketing of reproductions, has created such widespread confusion as to require clarification in order to maintain professional standards. - When producing and/or selling reproductions, museums must clearly indicate, through the use of integral markings on the objects, as well as signs, labels, and advertising, that these items are reproductions.”[FN 66]

The AAMD requires of their members that: (1) “When producing and/or selling reproductions - signatures, edition numbers, and/or foundry marks on sculpture must not appear on the reproduction.,” (2)“ ...the fact that they are reproductions should be clearly indicated on the object.” and (3) “When advertising reproductions, museums should not use language implying that there is any identity of quality between the copy and the original or lead the potential buyer to believe that by purchasing any such reproductions, he or she is acquiring an original work of art.”[FN 67]

8. ARTS AND ARTIFACTS INDEMNITY PROGRAM
The Late Renoir exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art has received an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.[68]

The objectives of 45.201 “Arts and Artifacts Indemnity” program, authorized by the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965[FN 69] and run by Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities is “to provide for indemnification against loss or damage for eligible art works, artifacts, and objects (1) when borrowed from abroad for exhibition in the U.S.; (2) when borrowed from the U.S. for exhibition abroad, preferably when there is an exchange exhibition from a foreign country; (3) when borrowed from the U.S. for exhibition in the U.S. as part of exhibitions from abroad which include foreign-owned objects; and 4) when borrowed from U.S. collections for exhibition in the United States.”[FN 70]

The Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities “makes final decisions on all awards based on recommendations from consulting panels of professionals in the field.”[FN 71}

Within the National Endowment for the Arts, listed under Section 955. National Council on the Arts, there is a “National Council on the Arts” ie., “consulting panels of professionals in the field” referred to as the “Council.” In part, the Council’s responsibilities are to “make recommendations to the {NEA} Chairperson concerning - whether to approve particular applications for financial assistance” and whether it has “artistic excellence and artistic merit.”[FN 72]

Furthermore, under Section 972. Items eligible for indemnity agreements (a), it states: “The Council may make a indemnity agreement under this chapter with respect to - 1) works of art, including tapestries, paintings, sculpture, folk art, graphics and craft arts.”[FN 73]

It does not mention reproductions or forgeries.

WHAT IS THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS’ MISSION?
As an independent federal agency and the official arts organization of the United States government, the National Endowment for the Arts states their -Mission- is: “a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, both new and established; bringing the arts to all Americans; and providing leadership in arts education.”[FN 74]

When it comes to The Late Renoir exhibition, are we to suspend disbelief or just believe?

9. LAW, ETHICS AND THE VISUAL ARTS
On page 816-817 of Kluwer Law International’s published 1998 Law, Ethics and the Visual Arts, Third Edition by John Henry Merryman and Albert E. Elsen wrote about “Counterfeit Art.”[FN 75]

TRUTH
Under the subtitle “Truth,” the authors wrote: “The most serious harm that good counterfeits do is to confuse and misdirect the search for valid learning. The counterfeit objects falsifies history and misdirects inquiry.”[FN 76]

RESOURCE ALLOCATION
Additionally, under the subtitle “Resource Allocation,” the authors wrote: “Museum and art historical resources are always limited. What gets acquired, displayed, conserved and studied is the result of a continuous process of triage, in which some objects can be favoured only at the expenses of others. Counterfeit objects distort the process.”[FN 77]

FRAUD
Finally, under the subtitle “Fraud,” the authors wrote: “There remains the most obvious harm of all: counterfeit cultural objects are instruments of fraud. Most are created in order to deceive and defraud, but even “innocent” counterfeits can, and often will, be so used. The same considerations of justice and social order that make deliberate fraud of others kinds criminal apply equally to fraud through the medium of counterfeit art...”[FN 78]

CONCLUSION
What needs to be accomplished is the full and honest disclosure of all reproductions as -reproductions- by all museums, auction houses and art dealers. If the Philadelphia Museum of Art, much less all participating museums and lenders, will give full and honest disclosure for all reproductions as: -reproductions- it would allow museum patrons to give informed consent on whether they wish to attend an exhibit with reproductions, much less pay the $24 price of admission.

But if these objects are not reproductions by definition and law, but -forgeries- with or without counterfeit signatures or inscriptions applied, much less posthumous, to create the illusion the artist created it, much less approved and signed it, then serious consequences of law may come into play for those who chose to misrepresent these -forgeries- for profit.

The reputations and legacy of living and past artists, present and future museum art patrons and the art-buying public deserve the re-establishment of the obvious; that the living presence and participation of the artist to once again be required, as it always should have been, to create the piece of art attributable to the artist if indeed it is attributed to them, much less purported to have been signed by them.

Association of Art Museum Directors members
participating in The Late Renoir exhibition:
1. Baltimore Museum of Art
Doreen Bolger
10 Art Museum Drive
Baltimore MD 21218-3898
(443)-573-1700

2. Indiana University Art Museum
Adelheid M. Gealt
Bloomington IN 47405
(812)-855-5445

3. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Malcolm Rogers
465 Huntington Ave of the Arts
Boston MA 02115
Tel: (617)-369-3200

4. The Brooklyn Museum
Arnold L. Lehman
200 Eastern Parkway
Brooklyn NY 11238
(718)-501-6200

5. The Albright Know Art Gallery
Louis Grachos
1285 Elmwood Avenue
Buffalo NY 14222
(716)-882-8700

6. The Art Institute of Chicago
James Cuno
111 South Michigan Avenue
Chicago IL 60603-6110
(312)-443-3632

7. The Cleveland Museum of Art
Debbie Gribbon
11150 East Boulevard
Cleveland, OH 44106
(216)-707-2253

8. Columbus Museum of Art
Nannette Maciejunes
480 East Broad Street
Columbus OH 43215
(614)-221-6801

9. The Detroit Institute of Art
Graham W.J. Beal
5200 Woodward Avenue
Detroit MI 48202
(313)-833-7895

10. Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Michael Govan
5905 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323)-857-6001

11. New Orleans Museum of Art
E. John Bullard
P.O Box 19123
New Orleans, LA 70179
(504)-658-4110

12. The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Thomas Campbell
1000 Fifth Avenue
New York NY 10028-0194
(212)-570-3902

13. Philadelphia Museum of Art
Timothy Rub
P.O. Box 7646
Philadelphia, PA 19101-7646
215 684-7705

14. Virginia Museum of Arts
Alexander Lee Nyerges
200 North Boulevard
Richmond, VA 23220-4007
(804)-340-1500

15. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco- Legion of Honor
John Buchanan
Golden Gate Park
50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive
San Francisco CA 94118-4501
(415)-750-3661

16. Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for the Visual Arts at Stanford University
Thomas K. Seligman
Stanford University
Lomita Drive and Museum Way
Stanford CA 94305-5060
(650)-725-0462

17. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Earl A. Powell, III
2000 B South Club Drive
Landover, MD 20785
(202)-842-6001

18. The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.
Dorothy Kosinski
1600 21st Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009
(202) 387-3031

19. The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA
Michael Conforti
225 South Street
P.O. Box 8
Williamstown MA 01267
(413)-458-2303 x 323

20. Art Gallery of Ontario
Matthew Teitelbaum
317 Dundas Street West
Toronto Ontario M5T 1G4 Canada
(416)-979-6613

21. National Gallery of Canada
Marc Mayer
380 Sussex Drive, P.O. Box 427
Ottawa Ontario K1N 9N4 Canada
(613)-990-1927

HONORARY COMMITTEE (THE LATE RENOIR):
1. Marie-Christine Labourdette
Directrice des Musees de France

2. Jean-Paul Cluzel
President du Conseil d’Administration de la Reunion des Musees Nationaux

3. Guy Cogeval
President de l’Etablissement Public du Musee d’Orsay

4. Thomas Grenon
Administrateur general de la Reunion des Musees Nationaux

5. Michael Govan
Chief Executive Officer and Wallis Annenberg Director, Los Angeles County Museum of Art

6. Timothy Rub
The George D. Widener Director and Chief Executive Officer, Philadelphia Museum

EXHIBITION COMMITTEE (THE LATE RENOIR):
Paris
1. Sylivie Patry
Conservateur du patrimoine au Musee d’Orsay

2. Emmanuelle Heran
Conservateur du patrimoine, administratrice adjointe de la RMN en charge de la politique scientifigue
Commissaire pour la sculpture

3. Isabelle Gaetan
Charges d’etudes documentaires au Musee d’Orsay
Commissaire pour les dessins et les photographies

Los Angeles
4. Claudia Einecke
Associate Curator of European Painting and Sculpture, Los Angeles County Museum of Art

5. J. Patrice Marandel
The Robert H. Ahmanson Chief Curator of European Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Philadelphia
6. Joseph J. Rishel
The Gisela and Dennis Alter Senior Curator of European Painting before 1900, Senoir Curator of the John G. Johnson Collection and the Rodin Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art

7. Jennifer A. Thompson
The Gloria and Jack Drosdick Associate Curator of European Painting and Sculpture before 1900 and the Rodin Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Renoir in the 20th century
catalogue COORDINATED BY:
1. Claudia Einecke and Sylvia Patry

with contributions by:
2. Roger Benjamin
Research Professor in the History of Art, The University of Sydney

3. Guy Cogeval
President de l’Etablissement Public du Musee d’Orsay

4. Flavie Durand-Ruel
Directeur, Durand-Ruel & Cie

5. Claudia Einecke
Associate Curator of European Painting and Sculpture, Los Angeles County Museum of Art

6. Isabelle Gaetan
Chargee d’etudes documentaires au Musee d’Orsay

7. Emmanuelle Heran
Conservateur du patrimonine, adminstratrice adjointe de la RMN, en charge de la politique scientifique

8. John House
Walter H. Annenber Professor, Coutauld Institute, London

9. Virginie Journiac
Conservatrice des Musees de Cagne-sur-Mer

10. Martha Lucy
Associate Curator, The Barnes Foundation

11. Laurence Madeline
Conservateur du patrimoine au Musee d’Orsay

12. J. Patrice Marandel
The Robert H. Ahmason Chief Curator of European Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art

13. Monique Nonne
Charges d’etudes documentaires emerite

14. Sylvie Patry
Conservateur du patrimonine au Musee d’Orsay

15. Jennifer A. Thompson
The Gloria and Jack Drosdick Associate Curator of European Painting and Sculpture before 1900 and the Rodin Museum, Philadelphia Museum

16. Elodie Voillot
Doctorante en histoire de l’art

SPONSORS & SUPPORT (The Late Renoir):
1. Iris Cantor
President and Chairman
Iris & B. Cantor Foundation

2. The Annenberg Foundation Fund for Major Exhibitions

3. The Pew Charitable Trusts

4. The Robert Lehman Foundation

5. The Women’s Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art

(SOURCE: Renoir in the 20th Century exhibition catalogue)

FOOTNOTES:
1. © 1999 By West Group, ISBN 0314022864

2.http://www.getty.edu/vow/AATFullDisplay?find=counterfeit&logic=AND&;note=&english=N&prev_page=1&subjectid=300121305

3.http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/52099.html?mulR=31958
“Label, Although primarily a painter, Renoir also was interested in sculpture. He often visited the Musée du Louvre to admire ancient and Renaissance sculpture. In his sixties, Renoir tackled sculpture for the first time, modeling with his own hands the portrait of his youngest son, Claude (nicknamed Coco), first as a medallion, then as a bust. These fresh and somewhat naive works were for his personal pleasure only; he did not exhibit or sell them.”

4. Edited by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Philadelphia © Hatje Cantz Verlag, Ostfidern, and authors, ISBN 978-3-7757-2539-2

5. Ibid

6. p 19-20, Renoir Sculptor by Paul Haesaerts, Published 1947, Printed by V. Van Dieren & Co and J. E. Buschmann, Printed in Belgium. Under the subtitle: "RENOIR'S FIRST SCULPTURES,” "Renoir, wholly absorbed by his discovery of light painting, did not pursure these first attempts, which were rather the work of an artisan and decorator than that of a sculptor. I was not until 1907 that he took up modeling again." - "Coco [son] was his inspiration for a medallion and a head in sculpture. - The head of Coco, executed some months later."

7. p 20, Ibid, "These two sculptures, the Medallion and the Bust, are the only ones which Renoir executed entirely with his own hands, which even at that time were partially paralyzed."

8. Translated from the French by John Shepley, with Claude Choquet, ISBN 0-8109-8088-6

9. Renoir Sculptor by Paul Haesaerts, Published 1947, Printed by V. Van Dieren & Co and J. E. Buschmann, Printed in Belgium.

10. © 1997 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/315/7123/1704?maxtoshow=&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=renoir&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=date&resourcetype=HWCIT

11. Ibid

12. Ibid

13. Ibid

14. Ibid

15. p 70 of the Renoir in the 20th Century catalogue, in the “Renoir the Sculptor?” essay by Conservateur du patrimoine, adminstratrice adjointe de la RMN, en charge de la politique scientifique Emmanuelle Heran

16. p 16, Renoir Sculptor by Paul Haesaerts, Published 1947, Printed by V. Van Dieren & Co and J. E. Buschmann, Printed in Belgium

17. © 1999 By West Group, ISBN 0314022864

18. Ibid

19. Renoir Sculptor by Paul Haesaerts, Published 1947, Printed by V. Van Dieren & Co and J. E. Buschmann, Printed in Belgium

20. p 17-18, Ibid

21. p 16, Ibid

22. p 74 of the Renoir in the 20th Century catalogue, in the “Renoir the Sculptor?” essay by Conservateur du patrimoine, adminstratrice adjointe de la RMN, en charge de la politique scientifique Emmanuelle Heran

23. Ibid

24. Ibid

25. Ibid

26 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3664946/The-Renoir-wars.html

27. Renoir Sculptor by Paul Haesaerts, Published 1947, Printed by V. Van Dieren & Co and J. E. Buschmann, Printed in Belgium

28. p 75 of the Renoir in the 20th Century catalogue, in the “Renoir the Sculptor?” essay by Conservateur du patrimoine, adminstratrice adjointe de la RMN, en charge de la politique scientifique Emmanuelle Heran

29. © 1991 by Bena Mayer, ISBN 0-006-461012-8 (pbk.)

30. www.getty.edu

31. http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#101

32.http://www.getty.edu/vow/AATFullDisplay?find=counterfeit&logic=AND&note=&english=N&prev_page=1&subjectid=300121305

33. On page 281, Jean Chatelain’s “Original in Sculpture,” 1981 Rodin Rediscovered ISBN 0-89468-001-3 (pbk)So, whether it is U.S. Copyright Law or a French decree, reproductions are -reproductions-.

34. http://www.philamuseum.org/press/releases/2010/810.html

35. p 670 of the Seventh Edition of Black’s Law Dictionary, © 1999 By West Group, ISBN 0314022864

36. Renoir Sculptor by Paul Haesaerts, Published 1947, Printed by V. Van Dieren & Co and J. E. Buschmann, Printed in Belgium

37. Ibid

38. Ibid

39. Ibid

40. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3664946/The-Renoir-wars.html

41. Renoir Sculptor by Paul Haesaerts, Published 1947, Printed by V. Van Dieren & Co and J. E. Buschmann, Printed in Belgium

42. Edited by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Philadelphia © Hatje Cantz Verlag, Ostfidern, and authors, ISBN 978-3-7757-2539-2

43. Ibid

44. Ibid

45. Renoir Sculptor by Paul Haesaerts, Published 1947, Printed by V. Van Dieren & Co and J. E. Buschmann, Printed in Belgium

46. Ibid

47. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3664946/The-Renoir-wars.html

48. Edited by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Philadelphia © Hatje Cantz Verlag, Ostfidern, and authors, ISBN 978-3-7757-2539-2

49. Renoir Sculptor by Paul Haesaerts, Published 1947, Printed by V. Van Dieren & Co and J. E. Buschmann, Printed in Belgium

50. © 1999 By West Group, ISBN 0314022864

51. Edited by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Philadelphia © Hatje Cantz Verlag, Ostfidern, and authors, ISBN 978-3-7757-2539-2

52. © 1999 By West Group, ISBN 0314022864

53. Edited by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Philadelphia © Hatje Cantz Verlag, Ostfidern, and authors, ISBN 978-3-7757-2539-2

54. Ibid

55. Ibid

56. Ibid

57. Renoir Sculptor by Paul Haesaerts, Published 1947, Printed by V. Van Dieren & Co and J. E. Buschmann, Printed in Belgium

58. © 1999 By West Group, ISBN 0314022864

59. Ibid

60. http://media-newswire.com/release_1122130.html

61. Edited by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Philadelphia © Hatje Cantz Verlag, Ostfidern, and authors, ISBN 978-3-7757-2539-2

62. Edited by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Philadelphia © Hatje Cantz Verlag, Ostfidern, and authors, ISBN 978-3-7757-2539-2

63 http://www.aamd.org/about/#Members

64. www.aamd.org/AAMDmission.shtml

65. www.collegeart.org/caa/ethics/sculpture.html “A Statement on Standards for Sculptural Reproduction and Preventive Measures to Combat Unethical Casting in Bronze Approved by the CAA Board of Directors, April 27, 1974. Endorsed by the Association of Art Museum Directors and the Art Dealers Association of America.”

66. Under the title “Reproductions of Works of Art” and documented as “adopted by the membership of the AAMD, January 1979; amended 2001, Copyright 2001 by the Association of Art Museum Directors ( ISBN 1-880974-02-0 ) Address: 41 East 65th Street, New York, New York 10021
“Art museums legitimately generate income through the sale of such educational materials as catalogues, books, postcards, and reproductions. The manufacture and knowledgeable use of reproductions for teaching purposes or in a decorative context is appropriate. However, a proliferation of “art-derived” materials, coupled with misleading marketing of reproductions, has created such widespread confusion as to require clarification in order to maintain professional standards.
“When producing and/or selling reproductions, museums must clearly indicate, through the use of integral markings on the objects, as well as signs, labels, and advertising, that these items are reproductions. Signatures, print edition numbers, and printer’s symbols or titles must not appear in the reproduction if in the original they occur outside the borders of the image. Similarly, signatures, edition numbers, and/or foundry marks on sculpture must not appear on the reproduction.
“Reproductions must be in materials and/or sizes other than those uses by the artist in the original works of art. Although reproductions of decorative arts serving functional purposes may pose special problems in this regard, the fact that they are reproductions should be clearly indicated on the object.
“The touting of exaggerated investment value of reproductions must be avoided because of object or work being offered for purchase is not original and the resale value is highly in doubt.
“When advertising reproductions, museums should not use language implying that there is any identity of quality between the copy and the original or lead the potential buyer to believe that by purchasing any such reproductions, he or she is acquiring an original work of art.”

67. Ibid

68. http://www.philamuseum.org/exhibitions/359.html

69. http://www.federalgrantswire.com/arts-and-artifacts-indemnity.html

70. Ibid

71. Ibid

72. Ibid

73. Ibid

74. www.nea.gov/about/Facts/AtAGlance.html
Alice M. Whelihan National Endowment for the Arts
1100 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, District of Columbia 20506 Email: whelihaa@arts.gov Phone: 202-682-5574

75. © Kluwer Law International 1998, ISBN 90-411-0697-9

76. Ibid

77. Ibid

78. Ibid