A very unethical practice is spreading
through the art world. While technology
has brought us many great developments
that are used by today’s artist from the
camera, computer, and printers, most
artists use these tools in an ethical manner
in their business. The general public has
an idea that artists draw their compositions
and paint them on a blank canvas. There is
an unsavory element preying on its own
customers.
This unsavory element print photographs
on canvas and merely paint over the
photograph. These painted photographs
are then sold as “original” pieces of art.
These painted photographs have even
been entered in competitions. Several art
authorities and organizations have deemed
it to be more than just unethical; they have
called it criminal, fraudulent, and
unscrupulous.
The process itself might be acceptable if
the perpetrators would declare their
process or inform the public of what they
are doing or what the customer is buying;
the term enhanced giclee is used to
describe this process when it is fully
disclosed. For example it is not illegal to
produce or sell cubic zirconium (fake
diamonds) as long as they are disclosed as
such, but if cubic zirconium or costume
jewelry is sold as “real diamonds”, the
criminals would be severely punished.
The legal issues in the art world have
always dealt with issue of “what is art?” and
protected with a “buyer beware” attitude.
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I applaud the actions of both the Watercolor
Society of America and AAEA, it’s a step in
the right direction. This is more serious
than someone crashing an art organization
that they obviously don’t have the talent to
be a part of without cheating. It’s also a
financial scandal. One person actually has
the nerve to post a very impressive list of
clients on their web site. None of these
people have any idea of how they have
been swindled by paying outrageous prices
for what the art world has determined is
NOT art.
These paintings can be spotted if you know
what to look for. No artist would ever paint
on giclee printer canvas unless they were
painting over a photograph. Giclee canvas
is a polyblend material and is very white
and slick to touch. Identify the canvas and
uncover the truth. Another commonality is
that the use of water based oil paints. The
chemicals and solvents in traditional oil
paints will react with the inks in the
photograph and dissolve the inks as the
paint is applied. I have actually wet a spot
one of these fake paintings and rubbed the
paint off to expose the photo underneath.
If the world expects the buyer to beware, at
least you are better prepared to know what
you should be aware of how to recognize it.
If you have already bought and paid for a
piece like this, my advice is to consult an
attorney and see what action you want to
pursue.
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