Forgeries and Original Art Master - works Shown at Fogg

Typical forgeries of works of art are being shown alongside the original master-works in an exhibit now on public view at the Fogg Museum. Including some seventy genuine and counterfeit works in painting, sculpture, metal working, and decorative arts, some going back almost four thousand years, the display was arranged by students of The Museum Class, of the Fogg Museum and opened yesterday.

In many cases the genuine art objects are not distinguished by label from the counterfeit, and the observer is asked to judge for himself.

Many Artists

Among the great artists whose works are shown both in the original and in counterfeit are Albrecht Durer, Corot, Ingres, Guardi, Bellini, and Constable. Also exhibited are originals and forgeries of Chinese bronze vessels and various Chinese jade objects, Persian miniatures, Egyptian sculptured heads, and early Greek terracotta figuriries.

In many cases, it is shown, the counterfeit can be detected from the original by the clumsiness and inferiority of the forger's hand. In other cases, modern scientific methods have proven valuable.

For instance, a clever imitation of a painted limestone Egyptian head, purporting to date from 2750 B.C. was found to be a forgery when chemical analysis proved the paint was not of the period. Fogg Museum experts, in another case, found that a purported drawing by Fllippino Lippi, was in reality a clever reproduction by a photographic process.

Some imitations of ancient Chinese bronze castings were found to be of modern casting, and the patina was found to have been artificially created. Modern artisans try to simulate ancient Chinese jade knives and objects by treating soft stones with acid and dirt, to give the appearance of old jade, recently excavated.

Artist Reworks Plate

An engraving is shown, in which one artist tried to remove the master's name from the engraving plate and substitute his own. The work depicts St. George and the dragon, and was originally done by a late 15th century Netherlands artist whose initials were F. V. B.

At some later date, the artist Israhel van Meckenem reworked the plate, and superimposed his own initials over those of the original engraver. Both sets of initials can be seen.

While all the counterfeit works were loaned anonymously for the exhibit, the master-works were secured by the students on loan from the Boston Public Library, the Fogg Museum, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Peabody Museum, Mr. Duncan Phillips, of Washington, D.C.; Mr. Leseing J. Rosenwald, of Philadelphia, Pa.; Paul J. Sachs, professor of Fine Arts; and several anonymous collectors and many dealers.