MOVING ON AND MOVING OVER

MOVING ON AND MOVING OVER

Good news, folks! At last our new website is up and offering hopefully easy navigation. It's the same address: bernardewell.com.

To keep reading this blog, you'll have to go to the website, click on the very obvious "OUR BLOG" and, I hope, link to it. Now I'm perfectly aware that there are a couple of people linked to this site whom I'd rather shed in the transition, but that probably won't happen. The rest of you will, I hope, create your link.

We are engaged in an aggressive SEO (search engine optimization) campaign and this is all part of that effort. Your linking will help strengthen our site in the eyes of GOOGLE and I'll be grateful.

I plan to be more active in my blogging and I'll make every effort to post interesting and entertaining material. The focus will continue to be on Salvador Dali and I still have lots of stories to tell.

Charles Kurault once said, "If you write enough words, one or two of them may jump up and bite you." Some that I have written already have. Charles Kurault also used to say at the end of a television report, "I'll see you on the radio."

I'll see you on the new blog.

DOING SWIMMINGLY IN THE CANYON

DOING SWIMMINGLY IN THE CANYON

Actually, we don't have enough water in our canyon to actually swim--except when a flash flood comes roaring down the Rio Galisteo at the bottom of our property. Then for anywhere from a few hours to a few days we can hear the water from our house.

So what do I mean by the headline? I mean to indicate that since Suzanne and I moved the offices of Bernard Ewell Art Appraisals, LLC to my home in Apache Canyon from our historic compound on Old Santa Fe Trail in Santa Fe, business has grown steadily. What's the explanation? Who knows?

Our new business model is working very well and we are just about to put up a new and better website. You will still get there through http://www.bernardewell.com/. In just a couple of weeks you should be able to check it out and if you don't find it contains answers to all of your questions or you don't find it easy to navigate, let me know, Please.

I'm just back from the Southwest Art History Conference in Taos, New Mexico so I won't post much this time. I was one of the originators of the conference twenty-three years ago. Curator David Witt was the idea guy and I supported him. It has grown into a very strong annual event and we had speakers from all over the country.

As you can guess from the title, there was no Salvador Dali content other than some discussions with art professionals who need my Dali expertise and some stories I told at meals. There is no shortage of good Dali market stories with better characters than I could make up for a novel.

WHERE ARE WE?

WHERE ARE WE?

A conversation with Dali dealer Joe Nuzzolo today made me ask myself (as he had) where are we in the ongoing Dali Wars?

Lawsuits:  The lawsuits filed by Park West Gallery against Fine Art Registry and the lawsuits filed against Park West by Theresa Franks, Fine Art Registry and various former clients are pretty much in an advanced state of rigormortis. Some claims against Park West have been dismissed (such as Sharon Day's) and papers have been filed seeking to dismiss the others. The class action suits against Park West have pretty much evaporated like a late morning coastal fog.

I currently have no involvement in any of the legal proceedings and have no relationship with Park West Gallery. As you know, at one time I examined and gave opinions about the authenticity of Dali prints that Park West bought, but never did an appraisal for them. I have, through all of the online attacks by Fine Art Registry, depositions and court testimony, had no reason to change any of the opinions that I developed. They were developed through examining prints, doing research and, especially, through being the only Dali expert to do due diligence by traveling to Italy and Spain and confirming all information at the source. Of course, in the court cases, I have been the only truly experienced and independent expert.

Dali dealers continue to sell good and bad Dali prints and original works. Almost none do due diligence by having me check out what they sell. Their clientele are no better protected than they were in the worst days of the Dali market. If the dealers use one of the "catalogs" to "authenticate" a print, they are on very shaky ground. If they use one of the self-styled "experts" to "authenticate" a print, they are on very shaky ground. Both Sotheby's and Christie's continue to follow very compromised and dangerous paths to Dali "authentications" and I am anxious for one of them to be named a defendant in a lawsuit as a result. Because of the disservice and personal vendettas of their bogus Dali "expert" they have turned away some pretty fine original Dali artworks and thus tainted the pieces and greatly hurt the sellers. I just don't understand why they won't listed to reason and change their policy to better and more honestly serve their clientele.

Artful Dodgers: Fraud and Foolishness in the Art Market is through editing and hopefully will be available to readers soon. My second book, Persistence of Enigma: The Salvador Dali Market is moving forward slowly because of the crush of business and life.

Theresa Franks and Fine Art Registry have backed off on their lies and attacks. As I was quoted as saying in the Fine Art Investigations article (last blog), living in rattlesnake country, I know better than to stir up a viper. If you are reading this, I assume you read that article which is linked to my last posting. It has been picked up and disseminated through other blogs, newsletters and news services but will not do nearly enough to counter the damage done by Franks and FAR.

Online, especially on Facebook, a lot of interesting photographs of Dali have been posted by Enrique Zepeda, Joe Nuzzolo and others. Paul Chimera continues to post some good blogs and the lines between the good guys and the bad continue to be pretty much unchanged.

Here in the canyon we are having a gorgeous Fall. The aspens are pretty much past their prime, but the cottonwoods and willows are gloriously golden. We have a nightly visit from a bear who is trying to bulk up for winter and the coyotes go about their usual business. We had a visit from a roadrunner a couple of days ago. They are always so entertaining. I have finger surgery today and we are hosting a wedding at our house on Saturday. Same old same old........

A MUST READ !!!

A MUST READ REPORT ON THERESA FRANKS AND FINE ART REGISTRY

Much has been said on this blog about Theresa Franks, her bogus "art marking system" and her attacks on me because I am the expert witness who testifies against her. Now a totally independent and disinterested writer, Michael Wilson, has posted the results of an invesitigation he conducted into Theresa Franks and her Fine Art Registry sites.

I believe it is a very fine article as Wilson had to work his way through all of the interlocking chambers of horror that Franks has constructed to defame her targets, stir up ignorant folks with the beiief that they've been screwed, and spread lies about topics on which this self-styled "art expert" (without credentials) believes she has something to say.

Read the full article at http://www.fineartinvestigations.blogspot.com/.http://www.fineartinvestigations.blogspot.com/

ED WESTON PULLS A DALI SHENANIGAN Part 2

ED WESTON PULLS A DALI SHENANIGAN, Part 2

So, I've told you that Ed Weston called to "run an idea" past me which he believed would help him sell a couple of hundred fake prints of "Discovery of America By Christopher Columbus". I knew the edition very well. It was part of my first Dali case in which I served as expert witness for the prosecution - State  of New Mexico vs. Ron Caven, Kurt Caven and Shelby Fine Art.

A transparency of the original 1958-1959 painting titled "The Dream of Columbus" was given to Jean-Paul Delcourt (aka David Mondai; aka David Mondai-Delcourt) by A. Reynolds Morse of The Salvador Dali Museum/Foundation. He quickly revoked his permission for its reproduction, but Delcourt proceeded anyway. He sold a publication contract to Gilbert Hamon who prodused 1,000 prints on "pre-signed paper" which I proved over and over again in court exhibited fake signatures. I believe the paper was signed by John Peter Moore (former Dali secretary) or his wife Katherin (as Moore later suggested to me).

Now, back to Ed's phone call.......

He said, "We all know those things are bogus, Bernard, but how about this.... You know we're coming up on some centennial of Columbus discovering this place (Los Aneles?) and I have friends who know a lot of Mafia guys. You know theyr'e all Italians and I bet they'd buy this shit. Here's what I plan to do.

When the three reproduction ships sail from New York to Florida (after crossing the Atlantic from Spain), I'm going to do this event next to the moored ships in Miami. I'm going to have Diego Colon--the twentieth generation grandson of Christopher Columbus--arrive by helicopter. He'll stamp the family crest on every print and then sign them. If that isn't brilliant enough, I'll also give away a Columbus half-dollar with each print sold. I'll send you a set--print and coin. The Mafia guys should eat it up."

How could I respond except to say, "Ed, I see you're thinking big, as always. Go for it and good luck. Let me know how it goes."

He did. He called a couple of month later and said, "Aw, the whole thing's in the toilet. Those damn ships never made it. Spain is going crazy over the Olympics and forgot about Columbus. I still got Diego Colon to stamp and sign the prints and I still give away a Columbian half-dollar with each one. Thing is, I still have a lot of them. Don't worry. I'll send you yours."

I don't think Ed did sell very many because I have never been asked to appraise one and with the volume of Dali prints that I appraise, that's surprising. You have to agree, however, my job's more entertaining that almost any other. After all, I am immersed in Salvador Dali every day.

Here is a picture of Diego Colon, twentieth generation grandson of Christopher Columbus, signing Ed's fake prints.

ED WESTON PULLS A DALI SHENANIGAN Part 1

ED WESTON PULLS A DALI SHENANIGAN Part 1

In my thirty-one years of debunking cons and scams related to the sale of prints attributed to Salvador Dali, I have seen some doozies, but perhaps Ed Weston topped all of his competitors. Yes, I know, Edward Weston was a well-known photographer, but I'm talking about the California art publisher and distributor who founded Edward Weston Publishing.

I met Ed one evening when legendary New York print dealer Marty Gordon, who founded Gordon's Print Price Annual, asked me to accompany him to have dinner in Los Angeles with a friend. We drove to the St. James Club on Sunset Blvd. in a fabulous Art Deco building. The club was very upscale (the cashews in the bar came mounted on little wheels because they were so huge). I liked Ed from the first, but sensed that he was somewhat of a flim-flam man. I was to learn that he was actually a flaboyant pirate in a business made up of fantastic characters.

What was I doing hanging with Marty in Los Angeles, anyway? We had both been hired by Forest Lawn Corporation (yes, that Forest Lawn) which owned a lot of businesses other than the famous cemetary. One was Upstairs Gallery, whose four locations had recently been raided by a multi-agency police squad. I was to examine and pass judgement on all of the Dali prints in the Upstairs inventory and Marty was to do the same for the Miros. Our opinions would then be used by the DA to press charges, or not. We worked every day in the evidence room of the LAPD in the basement of Parker Center. We were surrounded by the proof that every item on earth has been used at some time to kill someone. It was the beginning of a very close and mutually rewarding friendship between me and Marty. I still miss him.

Well that evening at the St. James the three of us had a delighful and very amusing time. Ed and I later kept in touch and I even hired him to be part of a team of expert witnesses I assembled for a court case. Later, my beloved Melinda and I stayed at Ed's home for several days. Right after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, I called to check on him and he told me he was up to his knees in smashed Picasso ceramics and fully a third of his extensive collection was gone.

Since we talked frequently, I was not surprised when Ed called one day to "run an idea" past me. It involved one of the best know editions of fake prints attributed to and sold as being original Dali prints.

You are going to love what Ed proposed to do to sell a couple of hundred prints. He had designed an elaborate event to launch the sales of what everyone knew were fake prints; but these had been enhanced in a most ingenious way. I'll tell that story in Ed Weston Pulls A Dali Shenanigan Part 2.

Ed died at the age of 82 in 2007. He lived well and he lived large. He was unique.

Oh, what print was it? "Discovery of America By Christopher Columbus".

NO OTHER PLACE LIKE SANTA FE

NO OTHER PLACE LIKE SANTA FE

When I first moved to Santa Fe eleven years ago (after doing business here monthly for almost thirty years) people would ask why, after thirty years in Colorado, I had moved. I would tell them it was because Santa Fe is the most spiritual place I know. After a while I changed the answer to "Because Santa Fe is the most entertaining place I know."

I just returned from a 2,300 mile driving trip. I went first to Colorado Springs to pick up my son Duncan, daughter-in-law Mariana and their enormous Rhodesian Ridgeback. We drove to Houston where they took flight for Rio de Janeiro--Mariana's home. The job prospects are much better there than in Colorado. I then drove back to Santa Fe. As always, I was very glad to be back in my canyon paradise where we live within a National Historic Park. I didn't remember that Texas was so huge and so boring.

The lead line of the lead article in the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper reminded me of what an entertaining place this is:

"Santa Fe County road maintenance manager Diego Gomez said Thursday that his decision to use county equipment and staff to work on a private driveway had nothing to do with the fact that his mother-in-law lives at the end of it."

Actually, I think he got tired of having his wife demand, why, with all the equipment and men he had, her elderly mother was still having to travel over tha wretched road. The poor guy didn't mean to do anything unethical, he just wanted some peace.

CONTINUING CASUALTIES OF GOOGLEBOMB

CONTINUING CASUALTIES OF GOOGLE BOMB

Just as with all warfare, the casualties last far beyond the live action. Throughout 2008, 2009 and 2010, Theresa Franks of the bogus Fine Art Registry posted lies about me on the Internet. Some were posted in her own name, some were hatchet jobs by paid assassins and some were posted with aliases to hide their true origin. Why was I targeted?

More than anything else, it was because I was to be the expert witness in lawsuits in which Theresa Franks and Fine Art Registry were defendants. Today it's possible to destroy the credibility of an opposing expert before the trial even begins. Scary, unjust and just plain despicable. Not surprising considering the source.

Today a writer asked me some questions about Theresa Franks and I was at a loss to fully answer. I told him I was hampered by a lack of knowledge about psychological disorders. I also told him that I live in rattlesnake country. I know how to catch, move and release snakes. I also know better than to stir up vipers. This post may do just that, but not nearly to the extent that a lawsuit against my attackers would.

The real tragedy of all of this twisted lying is that a career of exemplary professional services, unsurpassed credibility and total integrity has been almost destroyed. When people with Salvador Dali artworks are given my name, they probably Google me and are treated to a series of fabricated lies about my knowledge, professionalism and reputation. Not surprising, they go elsewhere. This means they probably become the victims of those in the market who don't know what they should.
The very best--and only totally didinterested Dali expert has thus been pushed aside. At the same time, my business has suffered and I have been unable to help a lot of people who would otherwise greatly benefit from my knowledge. Perhaps I'll have to stir up that viper after all.

ANTONIO GATTORNO ARTWORK FOR SALE

GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO PURCHASE SURREAL ART

GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO PURCHASE SURREALIST ART

I have been contacted privately about an offering of works by a major surrealist whose work is little known. Antonio Gattorno (Cuban 1904-1980) created a large body of art, much of which is clearly Dali-inspired, but never derivative. Born in the same year as the Spanish Master, Gattorno developed a huge reputation in Cuba, was a close friend of Ernest Hemingway (who wrote a book about him) and John Dos Pasos. He then went to New York where he was supported by his wife and conequently did not develop a commercial career of gallery shows, museum exhibitions and publications.

When I appraised the artist's daughter's estate in 1995 (I was referred by The Salvador Dali Museum), I was stunned by the exceptional quality of the work and its relationship to the perceptions and theories of Dali. The Antonio Gattorno Foundation was set up by the artist's neice and her husband and in time they published a gorgious book titled Gattorno: A Cuban Painter For The World. Now, they are offering nine original works in various mediums at very reasonable prices.

In the Introduction to Sean Pooles book, Juan A. Martinez wrote, "The wonder kid of Cuba's art academy in the 1920s, one of the leading figures in the Cuban modernist art movement in the 1930s and a recognized painter of the New Romanticism trend in New York in the 1940s (photographed by Walker Evans), today Gattorno has become practically unknown." A look at the book or the website http://www.artbyantoniogattorno.com/ will show what an accomplished and diverse artist he was.

Can't afford a Dali? Take a look at Gattorno. Contact Terri Cabral or Sean Poole at http://www.agattorno/

EARLY REYNOLDS MORSE Part three

Lincoln in Dalivision

Once again we turn to Reynolds Morse's ca. 1989-1990 Memorandum For Prosecutors, Judges and Juries Involved in Dali Art Fraud Cases and find him discussing the Dali print that would end up being faked more than any other image (even Persistence of Memory). Yes, that would be the image released in 1976 in edition of 1,240 mixed media prints as Lincoln in Dalivision. The publisher was Levine & Levine in New York and one of the major distributors was Martin Lawrence Limited Editions in Van Nuys, California. Just a few year later Martin Lawrence would claim to have no records of the publication and sales.

The original image was Salvador Dali's original oil painting Gala Looking At The Mediterranean Sea Which at a Distance of Twenty Meters is Transformed Into The Portrait of Abraham Lincoln (Homage to Rothko). The prints were originally described as original lithographs. Morse wrote in his memorandum, "When I pointed out to Dali it was not a lithograph but a reproduction of his painting, he produced a small "original" etching (or drawing) of a small head which was printed in red at the lower right of this limited edition so that the word "original" could be left in the literature."

I heard Ren tell this story many times, but he was never able to confirm that Dali created the small Picassoesque head with extended tongue as an etching--something I very much doubt. If Dali had created the image on a plate, it would have been a drypoint. When examining the prints with the remarque printed on them, I have never been convinced that it was printed from an original plate. It appears rather to be an embossed reproduction of the original image. None the less, it was accepted by all and indeed the prices paid did rise.

Many fake versions of the image quickly appeared; most with forged signatures. How many bogus editions are in circulation? Who knows. I have tracked at least eight and, at one time, had samples of six of them together in a single location--Upstairs Gallery's warehouse in Huntington Beach, California. I had been hired by the gallery's parent company--Forest Lawn Corporation--to examine prints of many Dali images that were returned by collectors after the Los Angeles District Attorney busted four Upstairs locations. Some examples from the fake editions were sold by various galleries for up to $25,000, as original prints by Salvador Dali, of course.

The Lincoln in Dalivision  image was also used for bogus stamped brass bas reliefs, 4,500 solid metal castings with precious metal patinas (silver, gold and platinum) and a "tapestry". This last was actually a printed serigraph on fabric and the design was not woven as it must be for a tapestry. Dali had nothing to do with these efforts to capitalize on the popularity of his imagery. 

I continue to see examples from every edition with regularity. Yes, I also see "good" prints from the Levine & Levine edition. I'm always happy to check them out for collectors and dealers and give them all of the information known.

The edition was released at an initial price of $750 and sold out very quickly. In fact, the whirlwind sales caused the vendors to start announcing that the value would quickly climb to as high as $30,000. My files are full of the high hype mailings. Some of the fakes were sold for $25,000 and it is clear from current EBay listings that there are still owners who have note learned anything beyond the sales pitch they heard in the late 1970s and 1980s.

EARLY REYNOLDS MORSE Part 2

EARLY REYNOLDS MORSE Part 2

In his ca. 1990 Memorandum For Prosecutors, Judges and Juries Involved in Dali Art Fraud Cases, Ren Morse, President of The Salvador Dali Foundation and The Salvador Dali Museum, refers to, "The most flagrant case where a commissioned Dali subject was ripped off is the reprinting of certain watercolors from the illustrated book, Alice In Wonderland by Collectors Guild in collaboration with American Express." He states that, "it was reportedly a successful five million dollar scam."

Well, I have the rest of the story. I was the government's expert in that case and traveled to both Washington and New York to work with the Federal Trade Commission on the investigation. In New York I examined Alice In Wonderland prints at both the American Express headquarters at the World Financial Center (across the street from the World Trade Center) and a warehouse in Mt. Vernon in Westchester County. It was at this latter location that I was accompanied by my eleven year old daughter who afterwards said to me and our FTC and FBI companions, "Those guys were really creepy. They were just like the Maffia." The FBI agent replied that they were the Maffia.

In 1968, Salvador Dali painted twelve original gouaches to illustrate the Lewis Carroll classic. He was paid $5,000. Maecenas Press (a division of Random House) printed reproductions of the twelve watercolors as well as a drypoint and issued an edition of 2,800 portfolios.

The rights to the images were acquired by Max Munn of Collectors Guild, Ltd. and he cut a distribution deal with American Express who offered four of the reprinted images to cardholders in July, 1984. The AmEx brochure stated the prints were "original lithographs by Salvador Dali" and there were "no prior states of these original lithographs, and no prior editons." The promotional mailing also said the images on Arches paper, "were signed by Salvador Dali before the lithographs were individually hand-pulled, numbered and custom-framed."

I  was able to prove that none of this was true. In his opinion on the case, Judge Pierre N. Level wrote, "The prints appear to have been signed by Dali, whereas in fact Dali never saw them or even knew they were being printed." Collectors Guild agreed with the FTC to stop misrepresenting the prints and American Express eventually made refunds totaling about $2.5 million to cardholders.

OK, so what's the rest of the rest of the story? American Express did some fancy footwork and in large measure avoided any legal responsibility. Their letters to cardholders who had bought and then questioned the prints are an interesting read. Early on, all assurances were made that the prints were fully original and legitimate. As the scheme unravelled, however, the responses waffle more and more, but never actually accept responsibility. In fact, American Express, expressing indignation at being fooled themselves, actually became a party to the action on the side of the Government against Collectors Guild. Not all purchasers of the bogus prints were contacted and reimbursed either.

EARLY INFO. FROM REYNOLDS MORSE

EARLY INFO. FROM REYNOLDS MORSE

I'd almost forgotten about the undated essay I received from Reynolds Morse, probably in  1988-1990.  The founder and president of The Salvador Dali Museum and I were corresponding about the massive increase in fake prints attributed to Salvador Dali. We had met and shared what each of us knew and we'd also had meetings with prosecutors who were filing charges and scheduling court cases. Little did I know that in the next five years I'd spent as much as 70% of my time as an expert for almost every federal law enforcement and regulatory agency as well as a great many state and private entities.

The document is titled MEMORANDUM for Prosecutors, Judges and Juries Involved in Dali Art Fraud Cases. The cover page is on the letterhead of The Salvador Dali Foundation, Inc. and IMS Company, Morse's plastic injection molding company. There is a typed message "With my compliments and gratitude. When evil is Bold Right must be Strong. Ren Morse."

There is then a hand-written note: "Dear Bernard: Here is the first "final" draft of something I have felt needed by all who are trying to stem the flood of Dali bogus reproductions. Any comments or suggestions will be appreciated to make this more useful. Sincerely, Ren."

In the opening paragraph, Ren uses a word he coined from which I have always gotten a kick. He refers to "unscrupulous art dealsters (dealer-gangsters)," a concept that was to prove far more true and wide spread than either of us knew at the time.

He goes on to point out that the "dealsters" and their lawyers keep confusing prosecutors and judges with "verbal obfuscations" to "muddy and distort simple facts." He was so right as he was in his observation that, "...a sort of clandestine art mafia has grown up..." he just didn't know the extent of the problem. Or, perhaps he did because he then mentions, "the sheer enormity of the multi-billion dollar Dali scams"

Ren Morse, in his memo, addresses the various purported mediums of the genuine and the fake prints. I am especially interested to note something that I had forgotten he said, but which I had probably figured out by then. Dali's etchings are not etchings, but are drypoints.

He wrote, "Many were by his own hand, and were done between 1934 and 1978. On some plates, professional help was supplied. But in the end, for all practical purposes here, all of his etchings (drypoints) were produced under his own personal supervision and were signed by him for specific clients such as Pierre Argillet and others."

Unfortunately, the market generally believes that all intaglio prints by Dali are etchings. In fact, they are drypoints. The problem is that few people know the difference. Having actually done both, I do. A drypoint is created when the artist scratches the design into the surface of a copper or zinc plate and that plate is inked and polished prior to passing through the press with a piece of paper. The lines in the plate that hold the ink for an etching are created (bitten) by acid and in an engraving they are gouged out of the surface. Each intaglio medium looks sightly different and connoisseurship is required to properly identify the resulting prints.

Salvador Dali chose drypoint because it was immediate. He "drew" on the plate with his diamond point in a totally spontaneous act of creation and did not have to muck around with ground, acid, proofs and all the rest of what he considered the tiresome process of creating an etching.

Does it matter? It does if one is examining a print to discern all of the clues that demonstrate it is a genuine Dali. It does if one is interested in accuracy. It is also one of the many tell-tale signs that an art professional is, or ain't.

We'll look further at Reynold Morse's memo in future postings. In the meantime,don't refer to "Dali's etchings".

BACK ON THE TRAIL AGAIN

BACK ON THE TRAIL AGAIN

 There comes a time in the affairs of man...when it's time to move on. Actually, I've not so much moved on as I have picked up and moved twelve miles south. I've sold my marvelous ca. 1820s compound on Old Santa Fe Trail because I no longer need a staff of four or five and one of the most visible locations in Santa Fe. After all, I'm semi-retired.

My splendid assistant Suzanne and I are now comfortably settled in the large studio attached to my home in Lower Canoncito at the bottom of Apache Canyon. Since I live within a National Historic Park, it is a really dramatic and beautiful setting. This is also the great transportation corridor through the southern spur of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

Behind our property is the Santa Fe Trail, which in the nineteenth century (1820-1885) connected New Mexico Territory with the rest of the United States--primarily Missouri. Running parallel to it is Old Las Vegas (NM) highway which was Route 66 prior to 1937 when Route 66 was rerouted. Also passing through the canyon are the old Indian and Spanish trail along Rio Galisteo, the mainline of the Santa Fe Railroad (which carries only two Amtrack trains a day) and Interstate 25 which runs from Mexico to Canada. I have developed a six page chronology of the Spanish expeditions (starting with Coronado in 1542), famous people, armies, stage coach lines and special freight (first printing press, first piano) that have traveled through my front yard. A rugged ridge separates us from the Interstate so our location at the end of our road and within the park is remote and private.

From here, I can handle my international practice in the authentication and appraisal of artworks attributed to Salvador Dali and all other appraisal assignments that I choose to accept. I feel really good about being home every day with my wife, pets and wildlife.

The mailing address of the business is now: PMB #447; 7 Avenida Vista Grande B-7; Santa Fe, New Mexico 87508. The email address is still  artpro@bernardewell.com and the telephone numbers are still 505-954-4113 and 800-884-3254.

"PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN"

"PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN"

Shortly after the 1987 broadcast of CBS News' 60 Minutes telecast about abuses in the  Salvador Dali market I had an eye-opening experience. I had taken the story to the network and then worked closely with Mike Wallace and his producer to put the program together. I had hoped it would alert art buyers to the extent of fraud in the market, but was not free to appear on-air because I was also serving as the prosecution's expert witness in the trial of Ron and Kurt Caven of Shelby Fine Arts. They had forty-three galleries around the southwest and eventually plead guilty to selling a vast number of fake prints attributed to Dali.

I was generally satisfied with Wallace's report, but soon found out that it had not had the effect I had hoped for.

On a visit to a gallery that heavily advertised its offerings of Dali prints, I was at first pleased to find that a monitor in the main gallery room was showing the 60 Minutes segment. When it ended, however, the dealer, a smarmy character in sharkskin suit and diamond pinkie ring, walked over and addressed the small crowd that had been watching.

"That really frosts me," he said with feeling. "We work our butts off doing the right thing and selling only the best and guys like that taint the whole market because they get greedy." His lack of articulation as he continued was remarkable. I left the gallery soon after satisfying myself that fully two thirds of the "Dali" prints he was offering were fakes.

I was reminded of the scene in The Wizard of Oz in which the dog Toto pulls back a curtain to reveal that the "Great and Terrible Oz" was actually the humbug carnival balloonist from Kansas. The Salvador Dali market has been the playground of many such imposters.


A WORD ABOUT COMMENTS ON THIS BLOG

It is not uncommon for a posting on this blog to be followed by my receiving comments which I rarely post. Why? They usually consist of two types. There are those which fully agree with me and blast the same rotton apples that I try to counter, but have decided not to attack here because it just results in their ranting at higher volume. Many of these supportive come from a very well-informed and articulate Dali scholar in Germany. 

The second type are not worth my time or yours.

LET'S GET THIS STRAIGHT

LET'S GET THIS STRAIGHT:

After I posted about the expected sale of the fine collection of Salvador Dali original artworks to be offered by Baron Philippe duNoyer, this blog received a comment that I have posted below. It asked why I would say lauditory things about "a real schmuck" like Philippe Noyer. I presume this is a reference to the artist of that name. It also mentions his son Dennis.

Philippe duNoyer has no son and certainly is not a schmuck. Case of mistaken identity. The comment submitter said I should know better than to compliment Phillip Noyer. I had no such intention.

DEATH OF GALA

DEATH OF GALA

That is the title of this poem. Who do you think wrote it?

I had a dream that Gala died
With no one standing by her side,
For even death refused to host
Such a terrifying ghost.

All lived in mortal fear of her,
A tigress with deep ruffled fur.
Adder-tongued, she struck at friends
To leave a scar that never mends.
Born too soon, died too late,
She deserved a better fate.

The sort of legend she became,
Tied to Dali's clounish fame,
Created minions who would poke
Specious fun at her and joke
About her ways behind her back.
Nor did their jibes irreverence lack,
Though to her face they would pretend
Her reign as queen would never end.

Who can count the human cost
To have a soul of Russian frost?
When none are left who can recall
The eyes that pierced a lover's wall
How sad no one should be bereft
When only Gala's name is left!
When mortal friends have been denied
And no one cares that one has died,
A force like Gala's fades away,
 While Dali's courtiers mince and play.
Now all are gone who could endure
The weight of hatred so mature
It rejected love and chose
Just the callowest of those
Who came to love and stayed to hate
The temptress by the white-whashed-gate.
So the day that Gala died
No one mourned and no one cried.
With no lovers left to see
Her tarnished immortality,
The friends her tongue had wounded said,
"Her bitter soul is better dead."

OK, who do you think wrote that? It was privately printed in 1991 in a book titled Some Fifty Unprofessional Poems 1988-1933 (that's right). The book was given to me by the author along with another which contained olumns he had written about mining for a Colorado mountain newspaper.

It was written by A. Reynolds Morse, the great Dali collector, founder of The Salvador Dali Museum and The Salvador Dali Foundation.

GREAT DALI COLLECTION TO BE OFFERED FOR SALE

GREAT DALI COLLECTION TO BE OFFERED FOR SALE

Remember, you heard it here first--even if we don't have all the details yet.

The Baron Philippe duNoyer, a longtime player in the market for Salvador Dali artworks, told me in a personal telephone call I made to him on his birthday that he is about to release his splendid collection of original Dali works. He accumulated them during the years that he was a Dali dealer in New York. He was also the exclusive North American representative for the great French publisher Pierre Argillet and the exclusive Albaretto Collection of Turin, Italy.

I have had the pleasure of examinng each of the original artworks and believe them to be a very fine selection. I also visited the chateau of Pierre Argillet and twice was a guest of the Albaretto family. In fact, I am the only person calling himself a Dali expert who has made those two efforts in pursuit of due dilligence. I know the sources of Philippe's art, I have seen the documentation, I have questioned the previous owners and I am fully satisfied that each of the artworks is genuine. Of course, it is the works themselves that really hold the clues for an art detective. Believe me, this is good stuff.

Now, about Baron Philippe himself. He and I have traveled in Europe together. I have watched him import and sell a great quantity of Dali artworks. I have been retained to examine and give opinions of authenticity for hundreds of pieces that he has handled. He has shipped art to me for examination. I have examined art in warehouses in New York and in Philippe's professional space. We have jointly investigated sources and have spent a vast amount of time discussing Dali, the market and the other players, both good and bad.
I have know him to always play it straight and be honest. He says, "If the cards are not all on the table, there is no game."

This will be an important offering of very good original Dali material. What I can't yet tell you is where and when it will be available. Watch this space for those details when Philippe is ready to release them.

Of Glass and Class

OF GLASS AND CLASS

In my almost four decades of developing and pursuing a career as an international fine art appraiser, I have, of course, encountered a great many very accomplished artists, many of whom had international reputations. Few have impressed me as much as Ana Thiel of San Miguel de Alliende, Mexico. Her international reputation as a major artist working in glass in richly deserved. Her reputation as a very lovely person is also richly deserved and I am very proud to call her my friend.

Glass is unique in many of its limitations and the demands it makes on the artist. The degree of success represented by an artwork in glass is largely due to the artist's success in overcoming the limitations, pushing the medium and creating new effects and shapes. Ana's reputation is therefore indicative of her success in bending the material to her creative imagination and vision. Not only is her work a testiment to her technical virtuosity, but most of it is very beautiful also. Some of her pieces can be seen at her website www.anathiel.net.

Tomorrow (May 5) Ana has an exhibition opening at the Museo de Arte y Vivrio--The Museum of Art and Glass in Madrid, Spain. She has shown her work numerous times in Spain as well as having solo shows in Mexico, Sweden, USA, Japan, Portugal, Finland, Canada, Germany, Peru and Costa Rica. She has also been in group exhibits in many of these countries and also in France, Panama, Egypt, China, Ukraine, Belgium, Czechoslovakia (as it was then) and Switzerland. She seems far too young for such a resume, but she works very hard at her large studio in San Miguel and at numerous other studios where she does residencies and seminars--such as Pilchuck in Washington state.

Ana Thiel is the subject of a gorgious new book as well as being included in 10 other books and an extensive list of catalogs and journals. I am especially glad that she has received so much recognition because I was thrilled by her work when Melinda and I three times visited her home and studio. I believe I can say that I immediately knew I was in the presence of a major artistic talent. When we met at a lunch arranged by friends so we could meet, we enjoyed her as a beautiful, engaging and very kind person, but her work itself told me that I now knew a glass artist of true international significance. We are so pleased that she'll be lecturing--and hopefully exhibiting--in Santa Fe next year.

WANNA BUY A PAINTING?

WANNA BUY A PAINTING?

I've been asked more than once, "So how much does a painting usually cost?" There is, of course, no definitive answer to this unreasonable question, but the parameters within which it might be answered have just expanded--explosively. Have you ever given an estimate as to how high a price might someday be paid for a single painting? For several decades we've all been raising our estimates. Are you sitting down?

An unconfirmed, but widely accepted report has it that recently one of the five Paul Cezanne "The Card Players" paintings has sold privately for $250 million! It was owned by the late Greek shipping magnate George Embiricos. Others from the set--painted late in the artist's career--are owned by the Barnes Foundation, Courtauld Institute, Musee d'Orsay, and the Metropolitan Museum.

The reportedly sold painting measures 97 X 130 centimeters. That's 38.3 X 51.3 inches (just right for your living room) so the price paid, if correct, equals $127,240.07 per square inch. Sorry you weren't in on the deal.

BOUND FOR SPAIN? POSSIBLY

BOUND FOR SPAIN? POSSIBLY

The Fundacio Gala-Salvador Dali has announced that with several other entities it will sponsor an international seminar on authentication and the identification of fake works of art. The goal is to bring together experts who will exchange information on detection techniques, experiences and ideas for legal measures. It is scheduled for June 19, 20 and 21.

Enrique Zepeda and I are discussing attending, but must first find out more about the agenda and goals of the seminar. If it is intended to focus on artworks attributed to Salvador Dali, we will definitely go. That will give us the opportunity to celebrate Enrique's birthday with a paella and Catalan wine! (Oh, yes, we do knoiw how to have fun). We presume, but don't yet know, that the seminar will be in Figures.

Since graphic works (prints) are to be one topic, it is especially important for me to be there if Dali is the focus. After all, I have examined over 55,000--more than anyone else--and I have the files and expertise to offer assistance to my colleagues, museums, collectors and yes, the Fundacio itself.

Will they, or won't they? (go)  Stay tuned.

THE DIEGO RIVERA PICKPOCKET and ARTFUL DODGERS

THE DIEGO RIVERA PICKPOCKET AND ARTFUL DODGERS

You have read here about the fun we had with Enrique and Silvia Zepeda in Mexico City. One of the things we did was to visit the Diego Rivera Mural Museum which displays a huge painting containing most of the historic figures of the history of Mexico. Enrique and I enjoyed identifying the portraits to each other and discussing the myriad of interesting details.

One was a small boy lower left who is picking the pocket of a gentleman--possibly the 1890s. I made mention to Enrique that perhaps I should consider using the image for the cover of my book Artful Dodgers: Fraud and Foolishness In The Art Market. The title, of course, is taken from the Charles Dickens pickpocket character in Oliver Twist. Being the splendid fellow he is, I soon received an e-mail from Enrique with that image from the mural attached.

The book is in final rewrite and will go to an editor for preliminary review next week. I feel it is going to be well-received, provide a lot of perspectives on the art market that hardly anyone (except the insiders) know, and piss off a lot of dealers. As John Pope Hennessey wrote, "A dedication to the truth can make one many enemies". Who knows that better than me; the target of a Googlebomb, online lies and attacks from the lower reaches of the Dali market?

It will be good to soon move on to full concentration on my next book, Persistence of Enigma: The Salvador Dali Market. Now that one's really going to upset some people, but after all, if they'd live their lives better, I'd have nothing to write about.

THE EYES HAVE IT!

THE EYES HAVE IT!

Yes, Melinda's eye operation was a great success even though the doctor said that because of all of her challenges it was a hard one. He was sufficiently satisfied with the results to take photographs to use in teaching at the University of North Carolina Medical Center. She is dazzled by how bright the world is and has even been able to reduce the size of the print on her Kendel reader. It will be a new day for her in many respects and we both thank you for the positive energy and prayers you sent her way. She'll be home next Tuesday.

NEED SOME PRAYERS

NEED SOME PRAYERS

Whatever your religious and spiritual beliefs may be, I would really appreciate your saying a prayer for my darling wife Melinda who will be having eye surgery at the University of North Carolina on Monday. Her left eye will hava a cataract removed and receive a new lense. While everyone says this is a relatively routine procedure these days, Melinda faces a special challenge.

She has almost no vision in her right eye, so this operation on her left is the one big chance to see better in the future. She has gone through weeks of concern about the possibility (one in a thousand) of something going wrong and then facing a future of virtual blindness.

Melinda and I have three adopted kids in India and we have visited them a couple of times. All three are Tibetan refugees and one, Wangchuk, is a monk in a Buddhist monestary outside Mysore. Melinda also sponsors four monks at the Drepong Losling Monestary further north. Because of our years long association with the monestaries, we have been assured that prayers are being said in every Tibetan Buddhist monestary in India.

Here in Santa Fe, they are praying at Santo Domingo Pueblo and a Hispanic women's prayer group. So please join in and add your best thoughts and wishes and prayers to the collective energy that will accompany her tomorrow. Many thanks for your blessings. Stay tuned for a report.

SUCH A GUY, THAT ENRIQUE!

SUCH A GUY, THAT ENRIQUE!

Well it took me long enough to find the time here in San Miguel de Alliende, Mexico to post a report of our visit with Enrique and Silvia Zepeda in Mexico City last week end. Vacations like this are not what they used to be. I'm sitting here in my third floor writing studio. I can hear Cuban music from the Jardin (main plaza) because the annual Cuba Fest is on. Melinda is joining friends for lunch but I begged off to work on editing Artful Dodgers and I'm surrounded by a computer and three telephones. What's wrong with this picture?

OK. Enough whining. Rather, I'll think about Mexico City and the marvelous time we had with Enrique and Silvia and their two very bright boys (8 & 11). We spent an awful lot of time in the car (Enrique and Silvia were tireless in dealing with the traffic) but saw a lot of really terrific art as well. Of course we had some memorable meals, saw the sites and thoroughly enjoyed the delightful family. For me personally, however, the time that Enrique and I spent looking at his Dali collection of artworks and books, talking Dali subjects, comparing notes on the various players in the Dali market and sharing as only two total nuts on a subject can, was invaluable. Silvia looked slightly perturbed/bored a couple of times, but we tried not to impose too much on the lovely ladies. Especially as both are so much fun and so interesting themselves. (Silvia is a sparkling doll!)

Enrique really knows a lot about Dali, Mexican art, the art market and a host of other subjects. With a career as a diplomat, a career with the Attorney General's office and a career as a lawyer, he can speak on almost any topic. He is never separated from his iPad (probably even in the shower) and he has the world at his fingertips. This is the type of intellectually stimulating person I most like to be with. This was our third time together and I'm looking forward to more. We've tentatively set our next visit for Santa Fe.

At the Bellas Artes (national gallery of art) and the Museo Dolores Oumeda, Enrique and I had a terrific opportunity to look at art together--especially Diego Rivera--and compare notes. I love doing this with another art expert because I always learn things I didn't know and learn about how much the other person knows. With Enrique, it was especially rewarding. That man knows alot. He also has a very good eye and brings a lot of perspectives (especially historic) to viewing art.

Better still, he fully exemplifies the first part of my motto:

If a person has integrity, nothing else matters

If a person does not have integrity, nothing else matters.

MIA CULPA - AGAIN

MIA CULPA - AGAIN

No sooner had I returned from Mexico City and a splendid visit with Dali collector and scholar Enrique Zepeda, than I received an email from him pointing out that in my last blog posting I had referred to him as "Ernesto Zepeda".

Ernesto Zepeda is an Argentinian painter who lived for years in Santa Fe. I saw him frequently, we talked often and I consider him a fine man. Even so, he is no Enrique Zepeda, who continues to impress me with the breadth of his general knowledge, his insightful awareness of most things Dali and his generous kindness. I'll be posting a blog later today describing the fun and intellectual sharing of our visit, but for now, I want to sincerely apologize for referring to him by other than his correct name--my friend, Enrique Esteban Zepeda Vasquez.

And by the way, if anyone knows how I can insert the accents that a name such as Enrique's should properly have, please send instructions to me at artpro@bernardewell.com. I do not have Enrique's technical prowess. He carries an iPad everywhere and can make it do wonderous things.

HOLA FROM MEXICO !

Hola From Mexico !

Here I again sit in my third floor writing studio working on the rewrite of Artful Dodgers: Fraud and Foolishness in the Art Market. With a terrific torta Cubana and a Cerveza Pacifico close at hand, gentle breezes wafting in from my roof-top terrace and all of San Miguel de Alliende around and below me, I am reminded of the thought that "the best revenge is to live well". So how am I doing?

With the promise of a luxury bus ride to Mexico City on Friday and several days with my friend Ernesto Zepeda, the Dali collector and scholar, the nastiness of Fine Art Registry and those associated with them seem a very long way away. A host of strong and supportive comments have come in from people who really do know the truth, but the settlement agreement in a recent lawsuit precludes me from publishing them. Pity, but it's the cost of deciding that no matter how badly I've been treated, no matter how many lies have been posted about me and no matter how flawed other "Dali experts" may be, I just don't want to spend the next three years of my life in a lawsuit proving myself right. The people who really matter and the people who really do know don't have to have me prove anything to them. I'll concentrate on living well and try to keep the poison extruded by others out of my life.

Oh, by the way...... One comment sent to this blog by someone too chicken to identify themself (although it's obvious who it is) referred to my posting in which I said I had never worked for Park West Gallery and said that I was lying. NO. I have never worked for Park West Gallery. I have only been retained as an independent Dali expert and believe me, that is a whole different role, especially when my reputation is everything and I shall never be influenced by a client to report opinions that I don't fully believe are true. Ever notice how those who don't understand integrity assume that everyone else is cheating?

So, about Artful Dodgers..... The rewrite (always a part of the process) is going well even though at one point I thought I might be in the position of Felix Mendelssohn who said after completing his Italian Symphony, "Of everything I have written down, as much was deleted as was allowed to stand."


Unraveling Dali's Les Caprices de Goya

Recently I received an interesting assignment. Actually, they all are.
Janice Embry Brown, docent extraordinaire at The Salvador Dali Museum, was asked a question about the printing methods used to produce the 80 prints of the Dali suite Les Caprices de Goya. She, always wanting to give the full and correct answers, passed the question on to Professor Elliott King who suggested she ask me since it is an area of my specialization.

Before leaving Santa Fe for San Miguel I did my research, copied entries from the two catalogues of Dali prints and other printed references and added notes from my files (the most extensive in the world) on my personal examination of a suite of the prints.

I found that the catalogues, as usual, were confused. Dali et Les Livres came the closest. My determination was as follows.

Salvador Dali obtained a set of reproductions of the eighty Francisco Goya images from the Musee de Castres--the Goya Museum--about two hundred fifty miles southwest of Paris. Between 1973 and 1977 he created drypoint plates which, when printed over reproductions of the Goyas, produced eighty two-artist prints. These were then hand colored with watercolor applied through stencils at Atelier J. J. Rigal.

The prints exhibit printed facsimile Goya signatures, titles and plate numbers, drypoint signatures of Dali and pencil signatures of Dali. The total edition size is 250 sets.

If you have any further explanation, additional information or new perspectives on this one of innumerable Dali print enigmas, please pass it on to me at artpro@bernardewell.com. I always appreciate such contributions.

Hasta Luego!

ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS

ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS

So, there I was enjoying breakfast with friends in a beautiful courtyard restaurant in San Miguel de Alliende, Mexico, when that frequently asked question again came up. "What's happening with the Dali court cases and those crazies who were attacking you on-line? It seems that lots of people want to know that because for a couple of year there it was such a big topic and recently it's hardly been mentioned. OK, here goes.

THE DALI COURT CASES:

You'll remember that in August, Federal Court Judge Zatkoff dismissed the jury decision against Park West Gallery. That set up the stage for a second trial in Port Huron, Michigan. Park West Gallery would still be the plaintiff and the defendants would still be Fine Art Registry, Theresa Franks and David Phillips, her writer.

In December, Judge Zatkoff denied the FAR motion to overturn his ruling, but did give the defendants the opportunity to appeal his decision to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. They have done so, but it is far from unclear that the court will accept the case. If they do, FAR will file their brief, Park West's attorneys will respond and the Circuit Court will hear verbal arguments before ruling. If they do not accept the case, Judge Zatkoff will order the retrial. Either way, it's going to be some months before there is forward movement.

Will I testify again? I don't know. I would expect that I will, but I currently have no contract with or retainer from either Park West Gallery of their law firm.

Now, about the attempted class action suits that FAR and others make so much noise about. Either they have been dismissed or are in the process of Park West moving for their dismissal. None have been certified to go forward or are even close to certification.

The State Court case filed by Fine Art Registry and others has been stayed pending an appeal by Frank Hunter of a decision to keep him in the case as a FAR witness. This matter also has a long way to go before either dying with a wimper or, less likely it seems, being tried.


THE LYING BASTARDS:

With no discernable purpose other than keeping the pot boiling, the FAR witch keeps throwing fuel onto the fire beneath her caldron of lies, innuendos and insults. She apparently continues to see me as a potent threat or she wouldn't continue her tirades.

How amusing to see that Fine Art Registry posted a photograph of me (taken from this blog) dressed in my costume for the Surreal Parade from The Salvador Dali Museum to the opening of the New Dali Museum. This they point to as evidence that I'm somehow irresponsible and ridiculous. They obviously know nothing of Dalinian culture and didn't even recognize that the action figure in my breast pocket was Sigmund Freud.

The posting refers to me as "...Park West Gallery's lone, self-proclaimed Dali authenticator, Bernie Ewell, an appraiser (so he claims) residing in New Mexico." That's "Thirty-nine year Accredited Senior Appraiser of The American Society of Appraisers" to you, Lady.

Interesting how a slimy comment like "self-proclaimed" is used to question the credibility and reputation recognized in many countries of the world where I am the expert of choice for those who know.

The posting repeats the old lie that I "worked for Park West Gallery for more than a decade (and was paid handsomely)." Not even close. I NEVER worked for Park West. I have always been a totally independent and disinterested third party expert who was called as an EXPERT WITNESS. And the "paid handsomely" part? Nowhere near enough for the grief, reputation assasination and business destruction that I have suffered at the hands of these loonies. Fortunately saying what they say ("impotent and clownish") doesn't make it true.

There have been some wonderful comments sent to this blog expressing outrage at the way Fine Art Registry has targeted me for a Google Bomb. I appreciate the support and faith of those who have sent them, but have decided that to post them would just further push an obviously unbalanced woman closer to the edge.

Unfortunately this crap will continue. They'll keep pouring toxins into the Dali market pond which will spread out to sicken or kill all other organisms. The legitimate players see this and complain about their sick market, but do and say nothing. Sometimes I wonder why I continue to work on their behalf when they are so unwilling to clean their own pond.


POSITIVE, EXCITING MEETINGS:

When Melinda and I were in Dallas/Fort Worth airport on our way to Mexico, who should come along with a huge smile and his dynamite glasses but our friend Elliott King? He pulled up a chair to our table and we had a great catch-up chat. Elliott was on his way to Canada for the reinstallation of "Santiago El Grande" which had thrilled many thousands at his splendid Dali: The Later Years show in Atlanta. He was pleased to hear that while we were in Mexico we would be traveling down to Mexico City to visit our mutual friend Enrique Zepeda. I'll enjoy telling you all about our adventures in a couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, I'll work on the revision of Artful Dodgers: Fraud and Foolishness in the Art Market and enjoy Central Mexico. Hasta luego!

DALI POPS AND POP DALI

DALI POPS AND POP DALI

Did you see that? A Salvador Dali oil on panel painting has once again set a new record at auction. They almost always do, you know.

In this case, the winner was "Etude pour 'Le Miel est plus doux que le Sang'" which, of course, you'll know is "Study for 'Honey Is Sweeter Than Blood'", a 1926 painting that has been in a private collection. In very Dalinian fashion, it contains several of the visual elements found in the work for which it is a "study", but there is little other direct correlation. The painting, which sold at Christie's, London for an astounding (but not unreasonable) $6,561,070, includes the severed head of Federico Garcia Lorca (Spanish poet and Dali's lover), a putrefied donkey, the apparatus and hand and other recognizable Dali imagery of the era.

This is clearly the best Salvador Dali painting to appear on the international auction scene in some time, but it is far from the top tier of works which, if one became available, could finally blow the top off the Dali market. It's long past time for a work by The Master to break the $20 million mark and not at all impossible for one of the best to go to $50 million or higher.

Remember, you heard it here first. How long will it take? Let the betting pools begin.


Now, in other news........ I fired up my computer to take care of some quick business before leaving for Mexico for a month, and what should Internet Explorer show me than Lady Gaga being carried into the Grammy Awards ceremony in a huge egg! That is soooooo Dalinian. Don't we have videos of Dali and Gala stepping out of better shaped giant eggs on the beach at Port Lligat? Isn't the museum in Figures at the Fundacio Gala-Salvador Dali surmounted by giant eggs? On Facebook I said, "There us nothing new on the face of the Earth since Dali."

Enrique Zepeda (that very clever Dali collector and rapidly expanding expert) responded that her name is "LADI GAGA" and he is sure it is an anagram for "Dali". I love it.

I remember when my son Duncan was young and used to watch television. I never did so he would dash in to where I was reading or writing and shout, "Dad, come on. There's and ad on TV that is straight Dali!!!" He was always right. He is very sharp on Dali images and a real joy to take to Spain. Check out the older blogs about those experiences alone in the museums with Duncan.

OK. Off to Mexico. See you from San Miguel de Alliende and I'll tell you about my visit with Enrique in Mexico City. If he doesn't show me a good time, I'll let you know.

MY FRIENDS REN AND ELEANORE

Attending the Grand Opening of the splendid new Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida (story and pics below), I thought frequently of how thrilled A. Reynolds and Eleanore Morse would have been to see the culmination of their half-century efforts to build the world's best Dali collection. Perhaps they were with us. I almost thought at times that I heard Ren's chuckling.

He and I first met in 1987 when he stopped by my Colorado Springs appraisal office to discuss an upcoming prosecution of two Denver brothers whose 43 galleries sold fake Dali prints throughout the southwest. He would testify and I was the prosecution's chief expert witness.

Biographies and obituaries (both in The New York Times) are easily available online. The memories I have of the Morses are both personal and enjoyable.

If he was here today, I believe that Ren would agree that we hit it off immediately--as he told Eleanor when we called her from my office. As he saw it, he and I were both Colorado boys. He had grown up in the state, graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Colorado, was a Board member of the Denver Natural History Museum, had published a newspaper column titled Gold Links Tailings about life in the gold mining town of Leadville, and collected and wrote about etchings by George Elbert Burr.

I was the Past-President of the Colorado Open Space Council and the Colorado Nature Conservancy, owned a wildlife preserve on the west side of Pikes Peak, was an expert on etchings and he and I had climbed many of the same mountains. In St. Petersburg he loved the fact that I, like he, wore a bolo tie.

When I visited Ren and Eleanor in 1987, 1993 and 1998 to appraise the museum collection and to lecture, Ren frequently brought me volumes of his journals and read me passages. Eleanor would tell me stories about the acquisition of one work or another. When we went to dinner at their favorite restaurant, we would often be accompanied by curator Joan Kropf who was really good about going through the experience yet again and hearing the same stories yet again.

The first time they took me to their house, in 1987, Ren pointed at a handsome polished ebony sculpture on a stand in the living room. "Bet you don't know what that is," he said. When I identified it as the rowing post from a Venetian gondola he was amazed because he said I was the first person to ever pass his little test.

Sweet Eleanore (with a core of iron) was an accomplished French scholar and translated numerous Dali books, including Robert Descharnes' 1984 monumental Salvador Dali: The Work the Man. When she heard that my wife Melinda and I would be attending the 2004 Dali centennial seminars at the Museum, she invited us to dinner at the Yacht Club and her box at the symphony. She and Melinda had become fond of each other when Melinda assisted me with the 1998 appraisal. Every year I also did appraisals of the artworks that the Morses donated to the Museum.

Eleanor was less passionate that Ren who often burst out with opinions before carefully considering them. When he heard for the first time about the Albaretto Collection in Turin, Italy, he stated that the works must be fakes because he didn't know about them. Later the couple became close to the other collecting couple, Giuseppe and Mara Albaretto, visited their home and exchanged warm letters, which I have read. When I twice visited the Albarettos, we shared stories about our mutual friends from Florida. Unfortunately, Ren's first response has been used by the bad guys in the Dali market to taint the Albaretto reputation. Dali had carefully kept his major collectors from knowing about each other.

As the new museum opens to welcome its annual quarter of a million visitors, I enjoy thinking about what it would mean to my friends Ren and Eleanore. The building is enormous, the collection is magnificently hung and the curatorial staff is far larger and more scholarly that the Morses every knew. Dr. William Jeffett's splendid 2010 book Dali Doubled is a must-have for every Dali fan. Ren, who wrote seven Dali books, would be impressed and proud.

The top image is the wonderful new home of The Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. Just below it are Elliott King, Dali scholar and the curator of Dali: The Later Years in Atlanta and me in my Dalinian costume for the surreal parade from the old museum to the new

ATLANTA TO ST. PETERSBURG

ATLANTA TO ST. PETERSBURG

My last post shared some of the excitement expressed by the droves of visitors to the all-night "closing" of the major exhibition at the High Museum in Atlanta, Dali: The Later Years. Well now we have the numbers.

When we again linked up a couple of days later in St. Petersburg, Florida, the show's curator Elliott King told me that over 15,000 people waited in line, paid their money and viewed the exhibit. That would be phenomenal, a dream or impossible for almost any other artist, but not for Dali and not for a show of this quality and importance.

It was evident from the people swirling around Elliott and me that they considered seeing the show before it closed was a personal priority. It was fun to point out to people that the tall young man with the sequined tie and sequined shoes standing next to me was the curator who had, in one year, identified the works he wanted to display, borrowed them from museums and private collections, written the catalog, received and hung the shipped artworks and hosted the surrounding events. The responses were always such as to make Elliott's mother very proud. They also showed that the viewers had some idea of the curator's Herculean task.


OPENING OF THE NEW SALVADOR DALI MUSEUM

Well, we were finally at the anticipated date - 1/11/2011 - the opening of the magnificent new building that will henceforth offer to the world the unrivalled collection and changing exhibitions of The Salvador Dali Museum. Not only that, but I was waking up to the day in the Hilton Bayside Hotel just a couple of blocks away in St. Petersburg, Florida. I was there because Elliott King had been kind enough to call me when he arrived in Atlanta and heard an ice storm was forecast for Monday when he and I were scheduled to fly to Tampa. We both changed our airline reservations to get out of Dodge on Sunday. I am so grateful for this kindness and view with horror the possibility that I might otherwise have been stuck in Atlanta when the airport was shut down. I would not then have been waking up to the great day in St. Petersburg.

The surreal parade from the wonderful old museum to the new building was great fun. Lots of people dressed up in Dalinian costumes and there were fun marching groups with props, including some I never identified. The route was lined with television and other cameras and six broadcast trucks had their antennas raised for transmission.

Having been to the members' preview at the museum when I arrived from Atlanta on the previous Sunday, I was less concerned with seeing the interior and installation in the new building, than I was in seeing the characters who showed up, some other Dali heavy hitters, the panel of speakers and S.A.R. la Infanta Cristina of Spain. The Princess, whose life my wife well knows from HOLA! magazine, gave a generous short speech before cutting the ribbon, one half of which will be delivered to the Fundacio Gala-Salvador Dali in Figures, Spain.

Since I first visited the (now old) Dali Museum in 1987 to do the first of three appraisals of the collection for founder A. Reynolds Morse, I have examine each piece in the collection under magnification, so my visit during the preview was a visit to many old friends. No longer are the huge masterpieces lined up on a single wall somewhat remote from visitors. Each has its own alcove and visitors can get really close to each. This is great for viewers and I hope it will never prove to be too close. The small, intimate works, each protected by glass, continue to be lined up for close viewing. I assume that the guards, as was the practice in the previous facility, will have to clean nose and finger prints off the glass twice a day.

It was good to again see Curator Peter Tush and discuss how we thought the building would "work". There is no question that it is an inspiring design. It is dominated by a free-standing three story high spiral staircase on the inside and an irregularly shaped glass dome that flows from the roof to the ground on the outside. Constructed of 1,026 individually sized triangles of glass, the "Glass Enigma" suggests that a Buckminster Fuller geodesic dome may have melted in the Florida sun. From the atrium inside, it opens the building to a lovely exterior view of gardens, palm trees and a yacht marina across the street.

The Salvador Dali Museum has housed the world's largest and best collection of original Salvador Dali paintings in St.Petersburg since 1982. It has become the state's most-attended museum (over 200,000 a year) and will certainly attract even more visitors with its new building.

Everyone who works for the museum, the outstanding army of volunteers and the movers and shakers of St. Petersburg can be very proud of their new gem. The Dali world has a new icon at which people can experience the genius and universal appeal of Salvador Dali. I am so pleased to have been part of the celebration.

ATLANTA SHOW CONFIRMS DALI'S APPEAL

ATLANTA SHOW CONFIRMS DALI'S APPEAL

SALVADOR DALI: THE LATE WORK, currated by Elliott King at the High Museum Of Art in Atlanta was just as splendid a show as I had hoped. When you read a high-quality show catalog, the curator's essay will reveal just how much he or she "gets" the artist's work and will also frequently demonstrate how much he or she likes it. In the case of an Elliott King, you have a curator with a life-long dedication to the study of the artist so an exhibition he organizes can be expected to offer special insights. This one absolutely did and the crowds responded big time.

The High Museum's idea was to mount a final celebration titled "Dali 'till Dawn" that would keep the exhibition open for its final 31 hours. King was scheduled to lead three tours - 1am, 3am and 5am! The next afternoon, after we both flew to St. Petersburg ahead of Atlanta's snow storm, he called to ask if I could join him and some other Dali people for drinks and possibly dinner. What stamina! What youth!

Elliott and I linked up in Atlanta (as planned) and went to meet a very engaging and stimulating coupe for drinks. We then swung past the museum at about 8:00 to see what was happening. The line for admission was about three blocks long. We went back to the hotel and agreed to visit the exhibition at 10:00 PM. Again, when we arrived we were stunned to see the line had not diminished and the museum was packed. The atmosphere was electric and the excitement easily negated the fact that the temperature was 38 degrees and a strong, cold wind was blowing. Apparently hundreds of people thought the discomfort was worth braving. They were eventually well rewarded.

I also got the reward I had long anticipated as Elliott gave me a personal tour of the show and we discussed the works, their history and techniques and a great deal more about our mutual passion--Salvador Dali. It is always so exciting to be with an intellectual and well informed companion, especially at such an exhibition. The show was really splendid in spite of the fact that 18 artworks had been reurned to The Salvador Dali Museum to be hung for the grand opening of their new building on the 11th. I, of course, had examined every one of them under magnification when I appraised the museum's collection three times throughout the years.

When I left the High Museum at 1:30 in the morning with two companions with whom I discussed Dali until 2:30 back at my hotel, the line to get into the exhibition was still two blocks long! The temperature had dropped even lower, but these folks would not be denied. The show was crowded all night. What a recognition of the fascination people have with Salvador Dali and what a recognition of the show that Elliott King had curated--in just one year. Wow.

I arrived in St. POetersburg in time for the members' reception at the new museum. The Grand opening is tomorrow. Stay tuned for a report of all of the fun and foolishness and my opinions of the new buiding.

ARGILLET BEFORE ATLANTA

ARGILLET BEFORE ATLANTA

What a surprise to have a quick flurry of e-mails and telephone calls with Christine Argillet who, with her very talented artist husband Jean and her son and his girlfriend had decided to make a trip to Santa Fe. Christine and Jean have been here about three times before and my wife Melinda and I are always delighted to see them. What a sparkling and fun evening we have when we meet for dinner. It has been equally fun to meet for lunch or to have them visit our home in the canyon. We have also gotten together several times at their home in Venice, California.

Naturally there was talk of Christine's totally unique father, art publisher, photographer and gallerist Pierre Argillet. I remembered my visit with Pierre at his chateau south of Paris and the Argillet's added much from their extensive experiences. Viken Argillet had spent a lot of time with his grandfather on various occasions, including when he could not fly out of Paris because of the 9/11 attacks. I suggested that these experiences helped him develop his "eye" as a filmmaker and he enthusiastically agreed.

Christine told me that when her father and Dali hit on an idea for a suite of prints illustrating a text, they were both so impatient to see the results that their joint energy was frenetic. I have seen many of the preliminary sketches that Dali did during their discussions. I have also seen a lot of the "home movies" Pierre made of the "happenings" they staged and of other visits to the chateau by Salvador and Gala. The best of all--which Baron Philippe duNoyer has promised me a copy of--is a short clip of Salvador Dali dancing the Charleston on the lawn.

What a pleasure it was to get a Dali fix from this delightful family just days before I fly to Atlanta for the closing of Elliot King's A-1 exhibition of the late works of The Master. How do I know the show is so good before I even see it? I've been spending time with the excellent catalog that Elliott gave me when we met for lunch last month.

And.....speaking of the show and the catalog, there is something that I have not mentioned previously. Elliott astounded me with the information that he had only a year to plan the exhibition with the staff of the High Museum, arrange loans of the major works from institutions in the US and Spain, write the catalog with essays by other Dali scholars and pull all of the thousands of details together prior to the opening. I was astounded. Such an exhibition usually takes three or four years of work.

I'm getting pretty excited about the trip to Atlanta and then on to St. Petersburg. I have seen a great many of the works in the show, and, of course, have appraised all of the paintings at The Salvador Dali Museum. Elliott was even able to include the iconic and internationally-known 1931 oil "Persistence of Memory" from the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. I always enjoy asking people who have not seen the actual painting how large they think it is. The answer is usually expressed with hand movements indicating a work about 20 by 24 inches or larger. It's only 9 1/2 by 13 inches! That makes it even more impressive.