Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Forgerypalooza: Pop Quiz

Below is a sketch done for a fan by Katzenjammer Kids artist Harold Knerr in 1945:


And below is a drawing just listed on eBay by the Gallery on Baum attributed to the same artist working in the same year:


Now, Pony Pals™, the quiz: using just the evidence before you and what you've learned over the past several weeks on this blog, how would you characterize the second drawing shown above?

UPDATE: Here's another one, also from 1945. Compare/contrast:


One of these things is not like the others!

15 comments:

samael7 said...

An ugly-ass forgery that someone did from memory of an inverted picture?

The Cat's Meow said...

Um, a fake? I'm kinda guessing, because I don't know Hugh Hefner.

Lulu Maude said...

HAIRDO?

Peteykins said...

Haw, Lulu, it's like my interests are converging, right?

Even after the shockingly, obviously bad Bushmiller fake, the GoB continues to astonish me with their offerings. They so consistently come up with the absolute WORST examples of so many otherwise brilliant artists!

This one is so egregious that, again, I'm simply nonplussed. I'll never be able to prove, of course, that the Gallery on Baum is producing these fakes themselves, but my goodness, if they aren't, they sure do have lousy taste.

Dave Latchaw said...

That drawing is terrible but the signature is even worse.

Anonymous said...

I'll ask again: Is selling forged artwork illegal?

Toriko said...

Both of the colored images have a little v under the nose, I suppose to represent the septum, also all four colored noses are full circles. Suddenly the artist decides to draw a half circle on the black and white image. On the black and white one the lines are a bit wiggly, and unsure, on curves that should be long and smooth like the smiles and the chins. Also the shoulder to elbow line got all jacked up on the right hand side. Lulu already mentioned hairstyle.

I've been paying a lot of attention to this series of your posts. Firstly, the child in me likes the 'ooooooo someone's doing something naughty' aspect of the thing. Secondly, I dearly love that I am learning more about style, draftsmanship, and art. Thank you.

Peteykins said...

Anonymous, the question isn't whether selling forgeries is illegal. The question is if selling forgeries is illegal if you know they're forgeries and deny that they are. That's fraud, plain and simple.

I have no way of proving Gallery on Baum knows they're selling forgeries or not. They've repeatedly stated that they believe everything they have is genuine. Of course, I've conclusively demonstrated that many things they've sold are fakes, but they appear to reject my opinion.

I have never once accused the Gallery on Baum of breaking the law on this blog.

Matthew Hubbard said...

This is "not even trying" bad. You'd think someone with even a smidgen of self respect would crumple this, toss it and try again. Pen and paper are not that expensive.

I haven't been on the gallery. How many things do they have up on eBay at any time? Do you have any estimate what the legit to forgery ratio is?

ErgoDan said...

A little hard to tell from the second image, but it appears to be drawn with a felt tip marker. These didn't come along until the 1950's.

Peteykins said...

Felt tip markers existed long before the 50s.

davedave said...

Perhaps the second image is worth more because it's a rare example of an artist misspelling his own last name.

The Cat's Meow said...

I'd like to see Gallery on Baum versions of the Mona Lisa, Girl With a Pearl Earring, Guernica, and any one of Van Gogh's self-portraits.

Lulu Maude said...

I like your advocacy.

Comrade Physioprof said...

The forged one has flipped the face and hair, but the hands stayed the same. And damn, those forged hands look fucken horrible. I find it impossible to believe that anyone who is an expert comic dealer could reasonably think that is not a fake.