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.