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| Image Courtesy: Economic Times Newspaper |
2006: Christies & their partner Vadehra Art Gallery offer fake works at auction
On 30th March 2006, Christies, in consultation with its Indian partner Vadehra Art Gallery of Delhi, withdrew as many as six lots from its SALE 1762 of Modern & Contemporary Indian Art in New York. No explanation whatsoever is available in the public domain explaining why those lots had been published in the catalogue in the first place, thus establishing that an auction house just by virtue of being one of the oldest or largest ones is not necessarily the most reliable ones when it comes to distinguishing between counterfeits and original works.
As per a report in the Hindustan Times the works, that included two watercolours by MF Husain, three works by FN Souza and a tempera by Ganesh Pyne, also had dubious provenance.
In the past also Christies have been caught in similar controversies –
1998 - two of Ajoy Ghose's award winning Chaitanya paintings were listed in Christies catalogue as Nandalal Bose's. Ghose's signature had been replaced with a scrawl that read Nando. Their sale, at Rs 3.64 lakh each, was revoked later.
Source: Hall of fakes – India Today, 21 Feb 2000
Source: Hall of fakes – India Today, 21 Feb 2000
2001 - a Manjit Bawa was withdrawn from the Christies auction after the artist informed the auction house that he had nothing to do with the painting and that his signature appearing at the right-hand bottom corner was forged.
Source:
1. Mystery of the fake Bawa – Tribune, 14 Jan 2001
2. Two Coats of Paint: Welcome to the dark world of art fakes – Indian Express, 6 July 2014
Source:
1. Mystery of the fake Bawa – Tribune, 14 Jan 2001
2. Two Coats of Paint: Welcome to the dark world of art fakes – Indian Express, 6 July 2014
2009: Saffronart and Osians under Income Tax Dept scanner
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| Rigging Auctions? |
Saffronart was also charged for carrying out numerous cash transactions.
While Neville Tuli and the already beleaguered auction house Osians have been declared defaulters as recently as 11th March 2015 by IDBI bank, it would be in the interest of the art collectors if Saffronart can throw light on what was the final outcome of these investigations.
Inspite these investigations Saffronart continues to offer works at such low prices as evident from its upcoming auction of Modern & Contemporary Art on 12-13 May 2015 wherein a work by S H Raza (lot 21, titled ATMARAS) estimated at Rs 80 Lakhs - Rs 1 crore is available for an unseemly low starting bid of Rs 1,550 – Are there actually such gullible sellers who would be willing to even consider giving away such works at such prices or is it not a a way of misleading prospective bidders? Therefore, it is not a surprise that the IT department accused Saffronart of rigging the price of artworks during its raid in 2009.
Read more: http://www.livemint.com/Home-Page/sz8y3xIQRg5D4VMmLPAl6H/Premier-art-houses-under-IT-scanner.html
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2009: Fake Raza's at Dhoomimal Art Gallery
The discovery of Raza fakes in January 2009 at Dhoomimal Art Gallery in Delhi, at a show the artist himself visited, sent the art fraternity in a shock as the event was hosted by his nephew and at a gallery with whom he has had a relationship for several years.
The following quote from Dr. Alka Raghuvanshi in an article in The Asian Age on 9th April 2015 sums up the fact that this controversy has still not died down "A case in point being S.H. Raza’s show at Dhoomimal’s where he had declared that each one of those works hanging there were fake. Why would an old gallery with a reputation to protect hold a show of fakes and invite the artist himself to inaugurate the show is an unresolved point. Incidentally his market crashed soon after when galleries were approached to buy back stuff painted by him".
An important point to reiterate here is that family members cannot and should not be thought of as qualified authenticators of their kin's art. The more worrying aspect is that the gallery owners authenticated the work solely basis the provenance and not on the merits of the work when many experts claimed that the works were not even well rendered fakes. However, it would be even more disturbing if the following information published in the Economic Times on 30 Nov 2014 is to be believed “Art industry insiders suggest that Raza, who will turn 93 in February, is in indifferent health and a lot of assistants who are artists are working in his studio to produce paintings that should not be signed by Raza as his own”.
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2011: Tagore - Fake or Not?
An entire exhibition of Tagore paintings by the Government College of Art was alleged to be fake. The principal of the college Dipali Bhattacharya was suspended a month before her retirement in the wake of the controversy and the matter landed up with the State Crime Investigation Department and the courts. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) was asked to comment on the authenticity of the paintings and they filed a report stating that these were not original Tagores. (Source: 30 Nov 2014, Economic Times)
However, the Government Art College, stood its ground. In a statement, Dipali Bhattacharya wrote: “On behalf of the organising committee of the Tagore Show, I can only express my shock, disappointment and disgust at such an irresponsible statement made by someone [referring to Pranabranjan Roy] who has neither cared to personally inspect the exhibits nor cared to put them through any established method to verify their authenticity. The Government College of Art and Craft is proud to host the Tagore Show and dismisses such comments with the contempt that they deserve.” (Source: The Telegraph, 2 March 2011)
As per an article published in Economic Times on 30 Nov 2014, the matter is still in the courts. It remains to be seen whether R. Siva Kumar and Susobhan Adhikary, teachers at Kala Bhavan Viswa-Bharati University and also the whistleblowers of this matter, are found guilty of conspiracy or is it Dipali Bhattacharya who is to be held accountable.
2014: Sex, Lies and Art Theft: How Sheetal faked a Rs 100 crore heist
This is easily as big a counterfeit controversy as others and came to light after approximately 2.5 years of botched up conspiracy theories and half-baked investigations. The works forged were by Manjit Bawa, V S Gaitonde and others and had been restored for Sheetal Mafatlal by Pundoles Art Gallery & Auction House. Like a bollywood potboiler this tale of deceit involved many bizarre twists and unbelievable turns.
Related Links:
Mafatlal firm owns 5 paintings that Sheetal replaced with fakes: 9 March 2015, Times of India
