Theres a myth out there, propagated by the [art] market and some strains of academe, that certain thoroughbred experts can smell authentic art at 100 yards. After more than a century of bad attributions, reattributions and long-lived fakes, youd think we would know better than to believe in such fantasy creatures. The truth is, the connoisseurs eye works brilliantly in that vast majority of attributions where an artwork comes without a name attached but clearly has a single makers signature look. And then that eye fails utterly in those remaining, more iffy cases where a piece looks quite like some artists work, but may almost as easily be by someone else — including a forger.
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 06:27:25 +0000