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.