Frederic Remington fakes and forgeries
The mission of the Frederic Remington Art Museum in Ogdensburg is to collect, exhibit, preserve and interpret the art and archives of Frederic Remington, but as our Sarah Hagen tells us, that mission also means being able to spot fakes and forgeries.
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OGDENSBURG, N.Y. -- Experts say Frederic Remington was the most popular artist in America at the turn of the century.
Frederic Remington Art Museum Curator Laura Foster said, "His work kept him in a very comfortable lifestyle. And it was profitable from the time of Remington's death in 1909 onward, for people to create objects that they could sell as Remington Artworks."
Curator Laura Foster is one of four on an examination committee that meets annually in Cody, Wyoming to find legitimate Frederic Remington works of art.
During this year's annual meeting - only four out of twenty submissions were authentic.
Foster said, "Not-Remington items are not that hard for the four of us to come to a unanimous decision about."
The committee will typically take a day to work through the examination process during which the team will focus on style, medium, materials, and of course Remington's signature.
"Usually people give too much weight to the presence of his signature. Period. Across all Remington reproductions, fakes and forgeries," said Foster.
This forged painting was submitted as a collection of seven works, five were originals and two were not. The original "Pool in the Dessert" was photographed and printed in a magazine decades ago. The dead giveaway here, the magazine had cropped the photo.
"Whoever made this painting, you know looked at that print. Because all they are showing in this painting is what was reproduced in the print," said Foster.
The research and findings of the annual examination meetings are contributed to a report published by the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, which helps archive information about Remington fakes and forgeries.