Art Authenticator Sues The New Yorker, Claiming Profile Defamed Him

from the this-could-get-interesting dept

Last year, we wrote about a fascinating (and very long) New Yorker piece by David Grann all about famed art authenticator, Peter Paul Biro. What struck us as interesting about the story was the way in which mere claims of "science" can get people to not necessarily explore some details further. Also, it was just a well-written story, and acted as a nice contrast to a documentary (in which Biro appears) called Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock?. If you have the time, I suggest watching both the movie and reading the story.

I wouldn't have thought much more about it, but we started to notice some odd comments on that original post soon after it went up, with people making rather nasty claims against David Grann. In fact, there were three comments in close proximity to each other, each from different "names" but all having the same IP address, as identified by the little icons next to their names. Even if it was three different people posting from the same router/computer, the fact that they were all so interested in the story seemed curious. It got weirder still when one of them claimed that my headline was defamatory, and then started posting additional claims of other publications being forced to issue corrections or changes to the story. When asked if this person, "Elizabeth" had any direct interest in the story, she denied it, but the singular infatuation with the story certainly raised some questions. We also thought it was interesting that she would accuse us of defamation, when one of the people commenting from her same IP address made all sorts of very direct, and quite possibly defamatory, claims about David Grann, including that he was a "drunkard." There was also the hilarious claim that some organization I've never heard of gave The New Yorker (in general) a "70% accuracy rating." I have no idea what that means, but this "Elizabeth" insisted that it meant, definitively, that 30% of every article was made up. Interesting use of statistics.

Either way, it seemed like there was some sort of effort under way, no matter how amateurish, to claim that Grann's article was not at all accurate. And, now we may get to see some actual evidence either way, because Peter Paul Biro has officially sued Conde Nast and Grann for defamation.
Biro says Grann's 16,000-word article, "purports to be an in-depth study of the science of forensic examination of art works, and of the use of fingerprint technology to advance that science." But, Biro says, "It is nothing of the sort, but rather a false and defamatory screed against plaintiff, written and published with malice and an indifference to the standards of responsible journalism.

"The article relies to a significant extent on anonymous sources, many of whom are no longer alive, and repeats defamatory statements made by those sources.

"Through selective omission, innuendo and malicious sarcasm, the article paints a portrait of plaintiff which has no bases in reality, and which has been highly damaging to his reputation.

"The intent of the article is apparent from the very subtitle, which implies that plaintiff finds fingerprints where they do not exist, and which represents an editorial attempt to prejudice the reader in advance of the narrative which follows."
I figure this could make for an interesting trial. The bar to proving defamation for a public persona, as Biro clearly is, is pretty high. And despite the claims of "Elizabeth," The New Yorker actually has one of the best reputations around when it comes to fact checking. Perhaps there's something more that will come out during the trial, but I'd guess that it'll be difficult to get the defamation claim to stick.
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Filed Under: art, authentication, david grann, new yorker, peter paul biro
Companies: conde nast


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  1. This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
    identicon
    out_of_the_blue, 5 Jul 2011 @ 3:48am

    New York elitist story; don't care.

    nyes;dc

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. icon
    JackHerer (profile), 5 Jul 2011 @ 3:52am

    All your bases are...

    "no bases in reality"? Does he really say that?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. icon
    The Devil's Coachman (profile), 5 Jul 2011 @ 3:57am

    Re: New York elitist story; don't care.

    You're so right! Who gives a rat's ass about some artsy dweeb with pretensions of grandness. Most art is crap, and making a living "authenticating" crap must make your life really suck.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Major, 5 Jul 2011 @ 4:01am

    Imagine...

    Close your eyes... And imagine yourself in a large dark room, we are all sitting in a huge theater with very comfy chair... Can you feel how soft it is ?
    Now look in front of you, can you see the artists performing ?

    The one playing David nearly finished is long monologue when suddenly Peter Paul pop out of a bush startling everyone and start yelling :
    PP - "Im gonna sue your ass, David ! Defamation ! Defamation !" he said.
    **Everyone in the theater start laughing**

    He then turn around and look at us with a murderous glare. Then david run toward us and say in a low voice :
    "Shhhhh ! or he is gonna sue you too !"
    **Even more laugh**

    Peter Paul finally snap and shoot out loud :
    "I'M GONNA SUE YOU ALL ! DEFAMATION ! DEFAMA-" *SPLAT*

    He shriek in terror looking at his prized suit covered in what was once an odorant rotten tomatoe. Everyone in the public start looking for the perpetrator...and then...

    Hey...Stop that...Stop looking at me ! I AM THE NARRATOR ! I CAN GET AWAY WITH IT ! **Running away** HAHAHAHHAHAHA !

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    Julian Sanchez, 5 Jul 2011 @ 4:04am

    The fact checking system at the New Yorker is pretty much the gold standard in journalism; I'd be astonished if this went anywhere.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    NullOp, 5 Jul 2011 @ 4:36am

    Defamation

    First of all, "What is art?"

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. icon
    Dave W (profile), 5 Jul 2011 @ 4:47am

    Sources

    How can an anonymous source be dead. Surely, if you know that they are dead, they aren't anonymous?

    I can hear the Streisand Effect machine rumbling into action on this one.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    anon, 5 Jul 2011 @ 5:01am

    Biro

    There is no basis for saying that Biro is a public figure. An widely publicized article about a person does not make that person a public figure; he has to be one before the article. His being in the Pollock documentary doesn't necessarily make him one either. And if he is not a public figure, the standard for a defamation suit is much lower.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. identicon
    Nicedoggy, 5 Jul 2011 @ 5:44am

    Does NY has a "Isaac Wunder order" type of thing? it could be called "Judge Fancy Pants order" in honor of ex-judge Roy L. Pearson, Jr. :)

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 5 Jul 2011 @ 5:45am

    no longer alive?

    Like the artists?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. identicon
    New Mexico Mark, 5 Jul 2011 @ 6:09am

    Re: All your bases are...

    That does look a little funny in the context of the sentence, but it is just the plural of basis.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  12. identicon
    TOG, 5 Jul 2011 @ 6:20am

    Re: Biro

    I have to agree here. Ask 100 random people who do not work in the art field if they've heard of this guy and I'd wager that 99-100 of them will say no. I wouldn't be surprised if a majority of 100 people who DO work in the art field give the same "no" response.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  13. icon
    ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 5 Jul 2011 @ 7:38am

    Re: Sources

    Yeah, that lept out at me. Unless they're identified as such in the article, which would be odd.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  14. icon
    Deirdre (profile), 5 Jul 2011 @ 7:42am

    Re: Biro

    One can become an involuntary public figure or a public figure in a very narrow area. Public figure is a legal term of art and for someone to be defined as such for legal purposes does not mean he or she needs to be widely known to the entire public.

    I assume Biro's lawyer explained all of this to him though.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  15. icon
    Atkray (profile), 5 Jul 2011 @ 8:01am

    Re: Re: Biro

    I don't think that is a safe assumption.

    see also: Righthaven, Winklevoss

    link to this | view in thread ]

  16. icon
    Gabriel Tane (profile), 5 Jul 2011 @ 8:03am

    Re: Re: All your bases are...

    Which is still inaccurate since the subject being modified by "bases" is "a portrait of plaintiff which..." which indicates singular. Proper structure would have been something like
    "Through selective omission, innuendo and malicious sarcasm which all have no bases in reality, the article paints a portrait of plaintiff...".
    More likely, this was a typo.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  17. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 5 Jul 2011 @ 8:13am

    Re: Defamation

    Ooh, ooh...is it malicious sarcasm?! I hope it's malicious sarcasm!

    [seriously, malicious sarcasm is grounds for a lawsuit? that lil nugget is turning my brain into cheese this morning, ha!]

    link to this | view in thread ]

  18. icon
    Gabriel Tane (profile), 5 Jul 2011 @ 8:28am

    Re: Re: Defamation

    Hmm... if so, Randy Milholland is screwed.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  19. icon
    Viln (profile), 5 Jul 2011 @ 8:38am

    Re: Re: Biro

    How does one prove public figure status? I imagine if the judge has to decide, and lacking the ability to poll the courtroom audience, the fact that Biro appeared prominently in a documentary might demonstrate an intent or willingness to be a public figure, even if they haven't yet achieved it.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  20. identicon
    Jessica, 5 Jul 2011 @ 9:57am

    Re: Re: New York elitist story; don't care.

    Lighten up! Go grab a coloring book... that's art, too. :)

    link to this | view in thread ]

  21. icon
    emdc (profile), 5 Jul 2011 @ 10:26am

    Re: Defamation

    Art is anything you can get away with.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  22. icon
    SUNWARD (profile), 5 Jul 2011 @ 10:56am

    icons

    so how are those icons generated and what do they mean?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  23. icon
    ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 5 Jul 2011 @ 12:26pm

    Re: Biro

    There is no basis for saying that Biro is a public figure. An widely publicized article about a person does not make that person a public figure...

    He represented himself as an expert. Thus, Public Figure.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  24. icon
    BeeAitch (profile), 5 Jul 2011 @ 12:56pm

    Re: Re: Re: New York elitist story; don't care.

    Whoosh!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  25. icon
    Any Mouse (profile), 5 Jul 2011 @ 3:39pm

    Re: Re: Biro

    That isn't a good metric for who is and is not a public figure. After all, if you asked any 100 politicians chosen at random who the mayor of Detla, OH was, I'd be willing to bet 100% of them would ask where the fuck that was. He's still a public figure. We'll just let the court make that decision.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  26. icon
    Ben (profile), 6 Jul 2011 @ 12:34pm

    watching someone read the story?

    I suggest watching both the movie and reading the story

    What would I get from watching someone read the story?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  27. identicon
    Andy G., 6 Jul 2011 @ 9:49pm

    David Grann Libel and Defamation Lawsuit

    This is a very interesting libel case against David Grann. Here you have a guy who authenticates a painting by Pollock, and it sells for $50Million recently. Then you have the same guy authenticate a da Vinci and suddenly the New Yorker comes up with an article which strives so hard to debunk the expert. Then, the revelations now that Sy Newhouse (publisher of the New Yorker) owned the actual painting that was used to compare the Pollock which sold for $50Million. Something isn't right here. Why would the New Yorker spend so much time in trying to debunk him? It just seems very defensive and agenda-ridden on the part of Sy Newhouse and his magazine, the New Yorker. Why not embrace science. Embrace something new. If they oppose. Why not propose? Wasn't it the same magazine that referred to Einstein as "a rumpled loonbin"? Just my thoughts.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  28. identicon
    Victor H Hall, 17 Jul 2011 @ 5:51pm

    Biro...Forensic Science

    I have followed Biro's work over the years and I think he is a man of GENIUS...the are world is such a fickle place. It is full of corruption and greed as I have experienced. It is either the afore said or ignorance...BIRO and forensics are the future in art as it is more ojective as this is the history of Western civilization moving toward science...I have a Martin Johnson Heade painting that is stagnated by all mentioned herein!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  29. identicon
    Teri Horton, 20 Jul 2011 @ 5:57am

    The Pollock that sold for $50 mil

    Andy G.....if your referring to my authenticated Pollock as having been sold for $50mil....I WISH....it has not sold.
    However, it is in the process....notwithstanding the malicious articles by Grann & T.Franks CEO of Fine Art Registry...." No matter, if it's not Biro their are others that will continue to force the USA to accept science in art authentication. Science is being used the world over, except the good ole USA.The reason(s) the New York art market turns their back on science are....self appointed "art experts" will have to get a real job, it will expose the corruption within, museums are fearful it will be known how many fakes they
    display to the public, and the art collectors are scared to death they will find out they own fakes. Science is not going to go away as a mode in art authentication. Victor, then you will be able to market your "Heade" painting.
    The Federal Court has already taken a much needed step by amending Evidence Code 702...."that experts in all fields
    of expertise are required to have "scientific technology"
    to back up their testimony".[in part] This is precisely why
    Grann [with the help of Franks] did everything they could to taint Biro so he could not testify at the Christies/DiVinci law suit by the former owner of the DiVinci.[forgot her name] Christie's expert looked at the DiVinci 15 minutes to make his decision, ignoring any scientific technology. Biro's testimony will be backed up with science.....in the pending Christie's suit.
    So much for my thoughts. Cheers!!!! Teri

    link to this | view in thread ]

  30. icon
    terisfind (profile), 12 Oct 2011 @ 9:57am

    Biro/Grann Lawsuit... one defendant settled

    According to U.S. federal court records, Biro and defendant Rattiner have reached a settlement arrangement the details and amount of which are undisclosed. The New Yorker trial is still pending.

    Investigative Report....Teresa Franks EXPOSED

    http://fineartinvestigations.blogspot.com/

    link to this | view in thread ]

  31. icon
    terisfind (profile), 12 Oct 2011 @ 10:53am

    Fine Art Investigation Fine Art Registry

    Sunday, October 2, 2011Theresa Franks: One Woman's Quest to Control the Art World
















    by Michael Wilson

    You're an artist and you want your portfolio neatly cataloged. What do you do? You call Theresa Franks, that's what you do. You're an art collector and you need to protect your valuables from fraud, and establish their provenance and authenticity? No problem. Just call Theresa Franks.


    Franks is the founder and CEO of Phoenix based, fineartregistry.com, or “FAR”, an on-line art gallery that offers a patented tagging system which helps artists and collectors organize their inventory and, according to Franks, ensure its authenticity. The site’s trademarked moniker: "Helping Bring Order to the World of Art".


    The website, which operates under Franks’ umbrella company, Global Fine Art Registry, LLC, is a vast maze of articles, forums and virtual art galleries which take you deep into the art world, or at least the art world according to Franks.


    A large portion of the site is dedicated to its gallery, where sellers and buyers peruse through an assortment of artworks listed for sale. While the site offers mostly contemporary and decorative arts by relatively unknown artists, there’s also works for sale by famous artists such as Paul Klee, Pablo Picasso and Jackson Pollock, according to the website, complete with Franks’ patented registry tags and, in some cases, a downloadable certificate of authenticity. Sellers and buyers must first register with FAR in order to correspond with each other. FAR accepts no commission from the sales.


    The tagging system has piqued the interest the world over. “We’re an international database,” says Franks. “We just made a deal with the Russians. They didn’t have the technology, so we represent them here.”

    One major collector I spoke with said he finds the tagging system very interesting. "I would consider using it," he said. But he cautioned, "only if the company's integrity is intact."

    FAR names several partners including Artletics, a vintage sports artwork dealer; Masterpiece, a company that offers handmade canvases pre-equipped with FAR’s identification tags; Neglia Services, a jewelry replacement and evaluation service; and CLE 123, Inc., a legal education service company that offers on-line courses in Advocacy, Ethics, and Conflict-of-Interest studies.
    CEO Teresa Franks
    FAR’s articles range in topic from auction results to tips and strategies for collectors. Several content-generated articles are listed from other websites such as artprice.com, a members-only database of auction results. All make for a dizzying display to whatever suits your artistic fancy. “You can kind of get lost in all the articles,” laughs Franks, who pens most of them herself. In fact, when I called to interview her, she was “madly working” on yet another one.


    Aside from being the site’s web administrator, Franks devotes much of her time investigating “art crime” cases, which are featured on her long list of advocacy and investigative-related articles on the FAR site. “We work closely with federal law enforcement,” says Franks. “We work to deter fraud.”


    One case she’s helping the FBI investigate, says Franks, is that of famed cruise ship auction outfit, Park West Galleries, Inc., based in Michigan. Franks was referring to several class-action lawsuits against the gallery stemming from allegations the company sold fake prints by artist Salvador Dali.


    The FAR website has become a cornucopia of information for the Park West case, where numerous articles appear, penned by Franks, as well as a litany of homemade amateur YouTube videos featuring Franks ranting about the company’s alleged misgivings.

    The rants have been the subject of ire for Park West, who launched four defamation lawsuits against her; each for $46-Million. They were all dismissed. And despite ongoing litigation with Park West in U.S. District Court in Michigan, she speaks freely, without worry of consequence. “Park West is currently being investigated,” says Franks. But she admitted, “no indictments yet.”


    In one video, dated, August 14, 2010, Franks even takes a shot at U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff, for vacating a jury’s verdict that awarded her $500,000 for various copyright infringement counterclaims against Park West. Zatkoff ordered a new trial scheduled for November, 2011. In the video, Franks lambasts Judge Zatkoff for being “biased from the beginning”. She boldly vows to investigate him, suggesting a "special relationship" exists between Judge Zatkoff and Park West Gallery's lawyer, Rodger Young.


    Her sharp tongue has garnered Franks some unwanted attention. During the trial, Franks and her attorneys were admonished for misconduct, and Judge Zatkoff threatened a directed verdict.


    Franks also took creative pot shots at the trial, making abstract ink drawings and giving them titles such as “Strangled Justice”, “Jury Deliberation”, and “Wretched”. They are offered for sale on the FAR site, complete with her trademarked tags.


    Another target of Franks has been art restorer and forensic expert Peter Paul Biro of Montreal, Canada. Biro discovered fingerprints on a purported Jackson Pollock painting, found at a thrift shop by retired trucker, Ms. Teri Horton. One of the fingerprints matched that of one found on a blue paint can in the Pollock studio in East Hampton, New York. The discovery was chronicled in a 2006 film documentary, “Who the #$&% is Jackson Pollock?”


    Then, in a July 12, 2010 article in the New Yorker, reporter David Grann painted Biro as a forger and a criminal. For that, Franks credits herself. “We worked together for about a year on that story,” she said. "I supplied him with a good number of documents. So, he took that and ran with it.” She continues, “It was our (Fine Art Registry's) investigation that really was the catalyst for that article."


    Grann’s article set off a bit of a media feeding frenzy, and it wasn’t long before other articles appeared, stating Biro was “a forger” and his family had done “jail time”. Biro launched a defamation lawsuit in U.S. District Court in New York against Grann, his employer Conde Nast, and Dan Rattiner. He sought $2-Million from each defendant.


    Shortly after the suit was filed, many articles which portrayed Biro badly were retracted. Dan’s Papers published a public apology. Business Insider and the Daily Beast issued corrections. According to U.S. federal court records, Biro and defendant Rattiner have reached a settlement arrangement, the details and amount of which are undisclosed. The New Yorker trial is still pending.


    But the target of choice for Franks has been cruise line art auctions, particularly in the Park West case, where the debate isn’t as much about whether the company sold fake Dali prints, but whether the experts used to authenticate or negate the pieces are themselves valid.


    In the U.S., no set of regulations exist for the art market. Experts are determined more by consensus than credentials. An individual may have an enormous knowledge base of a particular artist, both historically and mechanically, down to the brush strokes. But, in a buyer-beware environment, unless an expert can garner enough respect and confidence from the art world, he will become useless when it comes to authenticating a work of art, even if he is the only one in the world that can tell the difference between the real thing and a master forgery. This holds especially true for works by Dali, Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and Andy Warhol, artists for which there exists no authentication boards in the United States.


    As for Park West, they utilized the professional services of an accredited art appraiser and Dali expert, Bernard Ewell, of Sante Fe, New Mexico. For years, he examined works which were later sold by Park West during their cruise line auctions. However, a pre-existing power-struggle between Ewell and French Dali expert Robert Descharnes was exploited by Franks, and brought into her “ring of fire” on the FAR website. Franks, for some reason or another, has joined ranks with Descharnes, and appears in videos with him and his son Nicolas Descharnes, referring to the two as “world renowned Dali experts.” Franks says she has spent about $2-Million on litigation costs against Park West.


    “It’s the old wild west,” says Franks. “That is why we’re here; to bring order.”
    Franks is a human sieve: offering information, speculation and ponderings with the nonchalance of a gossiper, yet the tenacity of a litigator. “There's a whole sociological element to art crime and art fraud, in why criminals do what they do,” said Franks.


    As she spoke, I was drawn into the tangle of her words, and it dawned on me that there's a place where Franks thrives; a grey area in the art world where, in all its chaos and disorder, there exists a platform to gain a position of power and control, to authenticate strange truths and fashion them into less strange lies, to bolster a false sense of confidence in those that serve you, and destroy those that oppose, and capitalize on it all in a very creative, venomous way.


    In all the seemingly wanton, obsessive ranting, – Franks spoke for several minutes at a time between questions – I still found it difficult to put down the phone. But I had to; there were other calls to make. And as a registered member of fineartregistry.com, who had spent months perusing the site and corresponding with other members, I knew something wasn’t quite right. But to an extent I had never imagined.


    I put a call to Bernard Ewell, the Dali expert for Park West and asked him why Franks was after him. “I live in rattlesnake country and I know better than to stir up a viper,” said Ewell. But I pressed him for a motive, pointing out that Franks spent an enormous amount of money on the trials in Michigan. He said he was being attacked by Franks to discredit him as an expert witness in the federal case with Park West. “During the Park West trial, the favored theory was that she is being funded by Robert Descharnes, because he was trying to destroy Park West Gallery, so that his son Nicolas can basically corner and control the whole Dali market,” said Ewell.


    As a result of Franks’s accusations and “Google-Bomb” campaign, Ewell says he’s lost up to 70% of his business. “People do a Google search of my name and I never hear from them again,” said Ewell. He described Franks as “an anarchistic bomb thrower; she really doesn’t care what innocent lives are ruined and what indiscriminate damage she causes. She's like a grizzly bear: you just don’t know what she's going to do. Like a Japanese zero out of a cloud, she was suddenly there.”


    What troubles Ewell most, it seems, is that none of the investigators followed Franks’ money trail to find out where her funding is coming from. “Everyone just sort of shrugged and said, ‘so what can you say, the woman is crazy’. There's no logic to this. She’s got some things going in her head that she's convinced herself is true.” Ewell, in his despair and frustration still sports an air of toughness, and also a quick-witted, whimsical sense of humor. “She reminds me of the White Queen in Alice in Wonderland who said, ‘Sometimes before breakfast I can believe in as many as thirteen impossible things.’”


    I asked if he had one question for Franks, what it would be. After a long pause, he said, “Has she benefited enough from all the damage she's done? Because the damage has been massive.”

    On whether Franks committed libel: “Yes, absolutely,” said Ewell. “Complete lies.”


    As for Teri Horton, the owner of the purported Pollock painting that Biro found a fingerprint on, she was very reluctant to speak with me at first, fearing I was a “Theresa Franks shill”. After two requests, she agreed to speak briefly about Franks. She referred to Franks as an “opportunist”, capitalizing on high profile cases such as her painting.


    Perhaps a most stunning revelation: Horton disclosed publicly for the first time that it was actually Franks who first contacted Horton several years ago when news broke of the new-found painting. “She wanted to have me put the Pollock painting on her website," said Horton, “because she and her company, Fine Art Registry, were so well known she could assure me of a sale with top dollar."


    But, Horton, street-smart and deep into her 70’s, wouldn't take the bait. She said it was with “gut instinct” that she immediately did not trust Franks. "I refused," said Horton. "Then she went on her rampage and lied." She described Franks as a "diabolical sociopath" who has caused problems for her entire family. “If I had the money, I would sue her for property disparagement. She's a crazy, evil woman," said Horton.


    And back to those blue-chip works being offered for sale on Franks’ website: Pollock, Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee, Egon Schiele. I wrote an email to a seller, “David Cameron”, who lists numerous works as being “by Jackson Pollock”. Cameron said the works come from a “huge collection”, and are owned by a small group of investors, and that Franks had come to view the paintings prior to listing them for sale on the web.


    I contacted the Pollock-Krasner Foundation and told them works were being offered on the FAR website. Alarmed, they referred me to the foundation's attorney, Ronald D. Spencer. I asked what he thought of the paintings. I could hear him gasp from the other end of the phone as he opened up the email which contained the links to the FAR site. He paused momentarily, then said: "If you were to gather all the Pollock experts in the world, they would all give you the same answer. And it would be an equivocal answer.”


    I did in fact contact an expert on Pollock, who wished to remain anonymous. He stated, "It is my opinion that these works are not by the hand of Pollock. They are amateur fakes. Most disturbing is the reference to Clement Greenberg, Peggy Guggenheim and Larry Rivers in the seller's description. Furthermore, it shall be considered that the entity offering these works, Fine Art Registry, is indeed trafficking in forgeries."


    A seller, “JBPALANK”, (Jason B. Palank), who appears on the FAR site as well as its offshoot, registermyantiques.com, claims on his profile that he is a “Consultant & Modern Impressionist Specialist” for Christie’s Auction House - New York. Among the works offered for sale by Palank: a painting "by Paul Klee", and an original pen and ink drawing "by Pablo Picasso", for $50,000, which he says includes an appraisal by someone "highly recommended" by Christie’s. However, when I called Christie's, a representative in the modern impressionist department said there's no consultant or specialist named Jason B. Palank. I pressed her to search the company’s database. “Nothing,” she said.

    An e-mail to Palank went unanswered. However, a cursory search shows a history of arrests for prescription fraud, DWI, and possession of a controlled substance. He was most recently arrested on August 1, 2010.


    Another member, “Breaux05”, was offering an Egon Schiele watercolor. When I contacted the seller, he responded by stating it was not for sale, but would be inclined to sell it if the price was right. We exchanged about five emails. By the third email, I asked if Franks had seen the piece or offered an opinion. He responded by stating Teri Franks is “not an art expert or authenticator!” The seller also copied the email to admin@fineartregistry.com, the same email address for Teri Franks.


    I wrote back saying that I was curious as to her opinion because she’s listed as a “Fine Art Expert” and therefore should be garnered to an opinion, and perhaps responsible for the authenticity of the piece being sold on her website. The seller quickly responded by referring me to his lawyer. The site listing Franks as an art expert is cruise ship watchdog group, cruisebruise.com.

    Naturally, I had questions. Why would the seller say Franks is not an expert, and at the same time, copy her on the email? Is it possible that the seller is actually Theresa Franks, and copying herself by accident? That would be too strange, I thought, and would require someone of a duplicitous nature. And although I never did hear back from the seller, I tried yet one more.


    I inquired with the seller, “Artsy”, who lists dozens of works for sale on the FAR site. I received a response from someone who signed off as "Lynn", and with the email URL suffix as skipperwbreeders.com, a website devoted to horse trading.


    A closer look into skipperwbreeders.com revealed non-other than Franks as the site’s administrator. A chill ran up my spine. "Lynn", and "Artsy", as it turned out, are the same individual. All this time, I had been unwittingly communicating with Franks: an "advocate" for transparency, clouded by aliases, in a maze carved by her own hands from the desk of a computer. At that very moment I knew I was dealing with a complex, obsessive and deeply troubled person.


    I looked back at the Paul Klee painting offered by Palank, and noticed something familiar about its design. It bore striking resemblances to those ink drawings made by Franks, and their distinct titles: “Forged”, “Criminal Mind”, and “Madness”.


    In a field of loops and swirls, I considered something more sinister behind the veil of Theresa Franks, and I remembered her own words about “why criminals do what they do.” I made one more call to Bernard Ewell and asked him again why Theresa Franks does what she does.


    He said, “I don’t know enough about psychological disorders.”

    link to this | view in thread ]

  32. identicon
    Victor H Hall, 22 Oct 2011 @ 10:36am

    Corruption Art/ Martin Johnson Heade

    Hi, I am Victor.



    I am the proud owner of a masterpiece by Martin Johnson Heade.

    I discovered this masterpiece in 2003.

    I have not been able to get the painting authenticated for reasons I have found that range from ignorance, greed, corruption, and status.

    Apparently a disable retired military veteran doesn't have what it takes to get this painting authenticated.



    When I started this adventure to get the work authenticated in 2004 had I known that it would have cost me thousands of dollars and many disappointments I would not have done it. I would have sold it for the "$25,000 to $50,000" offered by an auction house.

    The adventure has been informing and disappointing.

    I have spoken with people that are in my opinion disgusting Americans ripe with lies and greed dripping from there lips.



    I met with a professor and art historian due to my own insecurities about the works authenticity. I decided to find a professor that had as much knowledge as anyone on Martin Johnson Heade.It was at that meeting that changed the course of my life as I set out to " identify the birds".

    The birds are the SALT MARSH dwelling Dusky Seaside Sparrows of the marshes around St. Augustine Heade's last home before he died.This subject is quite sufficient.



    I never thought that my motivation would change from money to LOVE for the painting and subject. The history of this work is so vivid.

    As Heade stated in his dairy he followed and learned from John James Audubon...Audubon's profile of the seaside finch is nothing short of a masterpiece, but it is in the verbiage of the illustrated masterpiece that we find the genius captured by Martin Johnson Heade. This painting is nothing short of a miracle for American history.



    Yet, lies, ignorance, greed, jealousy, and capitalism prevents this painting authentication.

    I cannot believe the reluctance by AMERICANS to speak up.

    There is no one here alive today that is more important than this work.

    I gave up my job to find the truth and have lost thousands of dollars and cannot believe the coward ness of professors of art history that I have spoken with that have given the go ahead nod, yet hide behind their opinions.



    Is this the America I know? Is this what I risked my life for as an infantry in the United States Army? I suffer from a major service connected disorder and struggle daily, is this the freedom I came back to?

    The greed, egos and lies that attempt to suppress the truth and no one has the balls to say you are wrong.



    If the American people knew the simple and uninformed explanation for the blockage of this work they would be outraged.

    This is crazy.

    A world where we spend more time trying out maneuver each other in contrast with a more civilized approach.

    A world where educated people contacted an online magazine and told them that they should apologize for caring my story and that they should issue an apology and stated I was maligning the art world all lies.



    What ever happened to the America that would be happy for Teri Horton and her find and would do all possible to get her recognized and paid.

    An America where Find Art Registration would be a hero for all.

    Yet, we fight and bicker to see I guess who is more clever.

    An America where people responsible for authentication would come together to resolve their differences.

    An America where an AUTHENTICATOR would be happy for any new revelation in art and would professionally pursue objectivity as opposed to being known as a hard BUTT HOLE.



    We can do better than this!

    I gave up my career for the last 7 years for this painting and have been disgusted with what I have found in America's art world.

    I have found that there is more respect for individuals in third world countries amongst the uneducated.



    How could anyone with good judgement block this work? Ask yourself this question. The importance of this work to American Art history is unparallel with artistic merit and prophecy.



    I am hoping that someone contacts me that loves art, Martin Johnson Heade and the Sea Side Finch profiled by Alexander Wilson first , so that we may get to the bottom of the lies behind this work, so that we may be able to get it included in the archives of American history.



    Victor H Hall

    link to this | view in thread ]

  33. identicon
    rainer schickedanz, 25 Feb 2012 @ 12:24am

    Fine Art Registry: Blog
    Theresa Franks FAR
    „One Smooth Stone Part 3: The Anatomy of Park West Gallery Dali Forgeries”

    I think Theresa Franks was herself not aware of what she did!

    Additional Questioned Signatures
    "So-called Italian Signature,"
    Q 10-11-12-( )-14-15-16-17-21.

    Mr. Flynn compares these types of signatures of Salvador Dali in his expert's opinion with photographically illustrated signatures in the book of Mr. Moore's "Les Tres Riches 678 Signatures of Salvador Dali" and that, so Mr. Flynn, for the determination of Dali signatures forgeries.

    The fact is that the publisher of this book to me in writing (2004) declared that this book was published in connection with the "Catalogue of Graphic Art of The Dali Museum Perrot Moore Cadagues!

    This means that if Mr. Flynn takes the book from Mr. Moore as reference to the Dali signature, so is also so that the "written" and "photographic" Contents of the "Catalogue of The Graphic Art" of Perrot Moore is no longer call in question!

    Readers of this page, it means a "revolution" of Dali's graphic works!
    The reasoning on this later.

    I come now to Mr. Flynn and the signatures Q 10-11-12 - -14-15-16-17-21 () and those in the book Les Tres Riches 678 Signatures of Salvador Dali:

    Readers of this page
    Fortunately, I am in possession of "several" printmaking products Dalis and these of various publishers, and the book of signatures of Mr. Moore.

    These include, for example. Leaves of the Divine Comedy with the "Italian Dali signature," which Mr. Flynn as the Q 10-11-12 -( ) -14-15-16-17-21 titled.
    This includes a sheet of printed graphics products of Dali, which were signed by Dali for the Museum Perrot Moore.

    And a sheet of the printed graphics products Dali from 1967 (not Divine Comedy), which Mr. Flynn as a type Descharnes 7 (Known) titled and a "blind stamp" of a reputable publisher has, in turn, a strong similarity of the above "Italian signature "Dali’s shows.

    Readers of this page, now when I compare these signatures and still take the expertise of Stefano Liberati - President of the European Union, Art Expert and Technical Advisor of the Tribunal Civil Court of Rome, I must say that the statement of Mr. Flynn is more as untrustworthy.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  34. identicon
    rainer schickedanz, 2 Mar 2012 @ 10:13pm

    Well, the obvious question:
    What will happen after the "publication" by Michael Wilson:
    „Theresa Franks: True Colors. One Woman´s Quest Control the Art World”??
    Must not all involved lawyers, who had carried the wrong play of the Franks, dissociate themselves from this lady publicly!
    In one of my reports „Literature“ I had written the following:
    Even among this group of people, there is a conscientious and professional ethics and objectivity.
    This profession ethics of a lawyer’s seems to be a foreign word for lawyer Steven A. Schwartz.
    Fact is these people cannot be responsible attorneys in sense of the law, Zitat Ende.
    Should not all those who the call of the Franks for bringing an action against the Park West Gallery have complied are distancing themselves "publicly" from the Franks to come not under suspicion of collaboration.
    E.g. in the case "Sharon Day" I go as far and say that the Descharnes clan had his hands in this play by the purchase and was subsequently staged to discredit Les Heures Claires. And this to give Nicolas Descharnes a position in a so-called Holy Dali world in the United States.
    Should not all those against the Park West Gallery had filed a lawsuit senses come to one's senses and filed a class action suit against Fine Art Registry Theresa Franks?
    Our thanks to Michael Wilson!
    Our thanks to Bernard Ewell and his insistence on the truth!
    A thank you to all those others!
    But it is only a partial success and the struggle for truth must go on!

    Rainer Schickedanz

    link to this | view in thread ]

  35. identicon
    rainer schickedanz, 18 Mar 2012 @ 9:45am

    Theresa Franks

    Quotation Theresa Franks:
    Park West Gallery: Squealing Like a Stuck Hog
    Frankly, this isn’t about “art” at all…it is about good vs. evil.
    Quotation End.

    If a web page suppresses the readers of this web page with full intention knowledge, so this web page acts badly opposite its readers, and cannot be as well evaluated!
    I say to you that the ability distinguish at all "good and evil", is bound to an individual self-awareness, on the other hand it presupposes a moral fortune ahead.
    Theresa Franks has not, however, this moral property, because she has at the beginning of their campaign against Park West Gallery the readers of the website Fine Art Registry intentional prior knowledge what she had, embezzled!

    Readers of this page, in one of my reports in the past I had written “"What would have been if the Franks Theresa campaign against Park West Gallery would have rightly begun: No falsifications of Les Heures Claires/Albaretto in Germany whether with originals or with printinggraphic products Dalis! “

    Fact is, all those, which are involved in this campaign in the surrounding field by Theresa Franks also, from the outset implausible (improbably) would have become, it of falsifications would have spoken.

    And exactly this question must confront itself a judge or jury of a court, in order to realize at all, with which snow ball system of the wrong data on the page Fine kind Registry one works.
    Therefore, this lady does not have moral, this lady does act permanently against the Christian ethics „you should not lie “.

    Now something at Mr. Hunter:
    Mr. Hunter, if you already speak over so-called criminal machinations with the park west Gallery, so then you must also begin all false informations, which are widespread on the page Fine kind Registry reappraise and to place correctly.
    As long as you don't do this Mr. Hunter, you are not credible.

    Next you should, Mr. Hunter, the readers let participate for example, what you hold of the judgment of 24 September 2001 BV Demart PRO ARTE (Descharnes clan) against N. V. INTERART-INTERGIFT.

    Or how do you think about the fact of the decision of the prosecutor in Mannheim, 23.11.2005 and over the return of printing graphic works Dalis to the family Albaretto.
    As you to certainly know that a German art investigator was thus referred into his barriers.

    Or Mr. Hunter explain the readers of this page this:
    Why the German art detective (who is in the video on the side next to Theresa Franks Fine Art Registry to see) in a book published in 2007 titled "Wa (h) re lies" ISBN 978-3-938023-34-1 writing the readers said that R. Michler (coauthor of the books M / L should have sold more than 200 counterfeit Dali originals.
    And the regional court Munich I condemned R. Michler on 18.05.2006 in 108 cases of the falsification.
    Mr. Hunter, you as a Dali specialist, can the readers determined declare whether Mr. Schoeller or the District Court of Munich 1 "is right."
    As a layman I can only say that if the District Court of Munich I "is right", it is nevertheless true that Mr. Schoeller's lying, right?
    Like now Mr. Hunter? This should be known to you!
    Or Mr. Hunter, interpret this page for the readers once the following text Fundació Gala-Salvador Dali of 10 November 2006, which is to be seen in conjunction with the Descharnes clan.

    Quotation:
    Dear Sir,
    …….the Foundation only accepts the technical and scientific opinion of our own experts.
    ……
    Yours sincerely,

    Montse Aguer
    Authorizing and Cataloguing Commission

    Quotation end.

    Mr. Hunter, I await your response.


    Rainer Schickedanz

    link to this | view in thread ]

  36. identicon
    rainer schickedanz, 20 Mar 2012 @ 2:00pm

    Like now Mr. Hunter, it are simple questions but where the answer remains?

    Now something to "Mrs. Important "- Theresa Franks:
    I think, you should the text „of the Foundation from 10 November 2006” for the readers of this side interpret.

    First this:
    This text is taken from a letter which the foundation had written to me to above date!

    Mrs. Franks, now for it the text passage of the Foundation:
    Comissio D’Acreditacio I Catalogagio

    Mr. Rainer Schickedanz 10th November, 2006

    Dear Sir,
    …………….
    the Foundation only accepts the technical and scientific opinion of our own experts.
    We hope this information is useful

    Yours sincerely

    Montse Aguer
    Authorizing and Cataloguing Commission


    Mrs. Frank, I interpret as a layman the "written statement" of the Foundation as follows:
    If the foundation with this written statement have "right", so you Mrs. Franks can write about Mr. Descharnes and his son, what you want.

    It, Mr. Descharnes, can hang itself so many medals around the neck, as he can only get.
    Sotheby's or Christie's can Mr. Descharnes and its son as so-called experts present their own expert's assessments over Salvador Dali like them want, it does not help.
    Fact remains that the rights-successor of Dali's does both persons not recognizes as the experts!

    "Mrs. Important "- Theresa Franks, I am right in this interpretation, or say the Foundation Gala-Salvador Dali is wrong?

    Rainer Schickedanz

    link to this | view in thread ]

  37. identicon
    rainer schickedanz, 22 Mar 2012 @ 9:46am

    Which is me with Mrs. Importantly - Theresa Franks conspicuous, was is the fact that this lady on the page Fine kind Registry again and again confronts the readers over Salvador Dali with reports or videos, this into „the journalistic column“
    Wishful thinking, fairy tales and for the most part "horrible garbage" fits!

    I give the readers an example again:

    Anyone on the Web the tragedy of "Mrs. Important" has seen has seen also determined the video with the German art detectives on the page Fine Art Registry.
    One of these videos terminates the German art- investigator „roughly with these words“:

    He would act again as at that time and sheets of Les Heures Claires / Albaretto in Germany confiscate, since it would concern falsifications.

    Readers of this page, this is definitely a wishful thinking, what Mrs. Important - Theresa Franks in their mental image also still believes!
    What with this mental image of this lady is fatal, however, is that this lady the viewers of the video thus present a fairy tale world, but this has the title of "journalistic horrible garbage!"

    That the real world looks very different from and it is grounded in the following fact:

    On 29.05.2009
    confirmed me in writing the Mannheim senior public prosecutor, that Ernst Schoeller for a seizure, to graphic works by Les Heures Claires / Albaretto "not competent" but a German judge.

    On 22/06/2009
    the German art detective (see the videos on Fine Art Registry - Theresa Franks) has "confirmed in writing" that he is not responsible for the assessment of printmaking works by Les Heures Claires / Albaretto.

    Readers of this page
    Mrs. Important - Theresa Franks apparently confuses reality with the wishful thinking of a fairy tale world. The video has to be defined as horrible garbage!

    Rainer Schickedanz

    link to this | view in thread ]

  38. identicon
    rainer schickedanz, 24 Mar 2012 @ 9:49pm

    The report by Theresa Franks FAR. :
    “Park West Gallery’s lone Dali expert Bernard Ewell dead wrong—AGAIN”.
    Is based on speculation!
    The fact is and remains, the above-mentioned lady has “lied” since the beginning of campaign against the family Albaretto!
    The fact is that the relationship between Dali and the family Albaretto was so closely that Salvador Dali had the “sponsorship” by Cristiana Albaretto (now Cristiana Albaretto Cristini) taken over!
    And that this ceremony, which calls by the way the church „honorary post” is something special, it is everyone clearly who itself with it busy!
    And here it doesn’t matter whether a photo says anything or not!
    It does not matter whether a paparazzi-clan has thousands of photos or a Christian family has hundreds of photos!
    Nearly it seems in such a way so, that Theresa Franks was godfather of these devils, since she is with their confused campaign again and again the Christian ethics „ thou shalt not lie” roughly disregarded!
    Mr. Daniel Grant,
    to understand that Theresa Franks FAR has played since a long time a false game with her readers, should also know this:
    In early May 2010 I had under the user name “. … … ….”
    in the forum of Fine Art Registry, under the heading “Park West Auctions” two written reports, which can be substantiated by documents.
    Now a part of this excerpt:
    Freiburg-Kornhaus-Germany, Les Heures Claires / Albaretto.
    The fact ist that the disclosure of the alleged falsification of prints in the case of Freiburg-Kornhaus-Deutschland Les Heures Claires / Albaretto is wrong!
    For this I have received several official letters.
    The fact is that the German prosecutors had to return the seized from Ernst Schöller prints in the case of Freiburg-Kornhaus-Germany Les Heures Claires / Albaretto with available from 23.11.2005 to the owners!
    And so with the addition that the Albaretto’s must be compensated by the German Treasury for its fact!
    David Phillips, now I have doubts about the creditability of Fine Art Registry!
    Because now it is known that the German prosecutor has returned the seized from Ernst Schöller prints to the owners, and thus not excluded that Park West has acquired some of these returned prints, so I ask the question why Fine Art Registry these prints from Park West called the fakes!
    Augsburg, 140 from the collection of originals Albaretto, September 15, 2000 – November 26, 2000: This must be said that I in possession of letters from the German prosecutor Augsburg am I confirm that all information about alleged falsification of originals are wrong!
    This includes the press reports that Robert Descharnes had this issue as it may indicate the Fine Art Registry report, LA RAZON, Sunday 12 November 2004
    their readers suggest!
    The German public prosecutor had decided that the preliminary investigations by Ernst Schöller not in this case could provide evidence of forgery, as his entire scientific research is extremely buggy!
    I feel in my reports just to Salvador Dali, and not about to discuss any misconduct, adopted in labor! In Germany there are special courts for it to resolve these issues if an employee is not treated properly or not!
    These courts observe whether allegations of any kind are allowed or not!
    What attracted my notice at Fine Art Registry – Theresa Franks, the fact that they worked to a large extent the so-called wrongdoing by an employer on its website, which, however, has to do with the actual question of art by Salvador Dali nothing!
    In fact, the German public prosecutor in Mannheim has returned the seized from Ernst Schöller prints of Les Heures Claires – Albaretto, the owners Albaretto!
    The fact is that the German prosecutor noted that Albaretto for their circumstance of the investigation (based on Ernst Schöller) in Germany, the German treasury is to compensate!
    Fact is, therefore, that all contrary reports in the above case are false!!!
    To me it almost seems that in the U.S. is sleeping giant, is lulled by untruth, starting from a Web page is only since the short on the market!
    End of quote part!
    Mr. Daniel Grant, readers:
    The fact is that Theresa Franks me and mine reports within a few hours completely “erased” from this forum!
    Mr. Daniel Grant, readers:
    Isn’t it so that Theresa Franks FAR acts thus against better knowledge!
    Mr. Daniel Grant, readers:
    Isn’t it so that Theresa Franks FAR on purpose “misleading”?
    That’s why should people internalize this:
    You must give the devil not a hearing.
    He will always seek to drive us to despair, after he has led us to evil!
    Rainer Schickedanz

    link to this | view in thread ]

  39. identicon
    rainer schickedanz, 27 Mar 2012 @ 12:05pm

    Like now Mrs. – important - Theresa Franks - Fine Art Registry,
    like now Mr. Hunter,
    I and the readers of this side expect your interpretation of the letter of the “Fundacio Gala-Salvador Dali” of the 10. November 2006!!!!!!!!
    Mr. Hunter, by the way, it would be interesting for me what for a curriculum you can show to print- graphics products to Dali?
    Nearly it seems so that you only profits from the name Albert Field!!!

    Rainer Schickedanz

    link to this | view in thread ]

  40. identicon
    rainer schickedanz, 30 Mar 2012 @ 1:41pm

    Now a quotation of Fine kind Registry Theresa Franks:
    Dalí Art Fraud
    The following photographs have been provided to us by the Salvador Dalí Archives Ltd., of New York City. Their provenance is Mara and Giuseppe Albaretto, Turin, Italy.
    These photographs have been scanned and distributed to Dali specialists around the world. The consensus? The vast majority of these works are fraudulent - not by the hand of Salvador Dalí.
    We present these works here in their entirety, for all to see, the largest art fraud ever recorded; the largest art fraud disseminated to the world via the Internet. The perpetrators? Stay tuned.
    Highly Suspicious "Dali" Works
    Afterwards come some photographically illustrated originals Dalis.
    Fine Art Registry Theresa Franks suggested with above text and photographs the readers of this page that it would be act a great suspicion of the forgery of the family Albaretto!
    Which however this side and franc Hunter the readers intentionally suppresses is this:
    Fact is that on following page a book is listed , whose photographic substance shows ca. 90% out of the works Dalis the Fine kind Registry suggested as falsifications!!!!!!!
    http://www.salvador-dali.org/cataleg_raonat/fitxa_obra.html?obra=509
    Fundaci ó Gala-Salvador Dalí
    Bibliografia
    Salvador Dalí. Doeken en aquarellen uit de Albaretto Collection = Salvador Dalí. Toiles et aquaralles de la Collection Albaretto = Salvador Dalí. Canvas and water-colours from the Albaretto Collection, Stichting Sint-Jan, Brugge, 1997, p. 54
    © 2007 - Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí - Tots els drets reservats .
    End of quote.
    Rainer Schickedanz

    link to this | view in thread ]

  41. identicon
    rainer schickedanz, 1 Apr 2012 @ 6:05am

    Readers of this page,
    The copyright of the "Fundació Gala-Salvador Dali” for the page
    http://www.salvador-dali.org/cataleg_raonat/fitxa_obra.html?obra=509
    Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí :Bibliografia
    Salvador Dalí. Doeken en aquarellen uit de Albaretto Collection = Salvador Dalí. Toiles et aquaralles de la Collection Albaretto = Salvador Dalí. Canvas and water-colours from the Albaretto Collection, Stichting Sint-Jan, Brugge, 1997, p. 54
    © 2007 - Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí - Tots els drets reservats - Avís legal i Privacitat – Crèdits

    is from the year 2007.
    Thus has the “Fundació Gala-Salvador Dali” since the year 2007 acknowledged the photographic and written contents of the above named book (catalog) from the year 1997.
    Fact is, that Mrs. Importantly - Theresa Franks since 28 August 2008 on the side “Fine Art Registry” the “photographic contents” of the above book (catalog) in their report

    Salvador Dali Fakes
    Fine Art Registry Investigation
    Dali Art Fraud, Highly Suspicious "Dali" Works
    Photographs provided by the Salvador Dalí Archives Ltd., of New York City. Their provenance is Mara and Giuseppe Albaretto, Turin, Italy.
    Photos, August 28, 2008
    These photographs have been scanned and distributed to Dali specialists around the world. The consensus? The vast majority of these works are fraudulent - not by the hand of Salvador Dalí.
    We present these works here in their entirety, for all to see, the largest art fraud ever recorded; the largest art fraud disseminated to the world via the Internet. The perpetrators? Stay tuned.
    Highly Suspicious "Dali" Works (Page 1 of 2, view Page 2)

    roughly abuses and and with above-mentioned report "Salvador Dali Fakes - Fine Art Registry" for their readers of the alleged falsifications of Dali originals in this book reports.
    Reader of this side, this is again the proof that it itself with the campaign of the Fine Art Registry against the Park West Gallery and the family Albaretto, beginning since 22 April 2008, around one „collective lie“ of the persons Mrs. Importantly Theresa Franks - Descharnes Clan and Mrs. Importantly - Franc Hunter (Dali archives New York town center) acts!
    The fact is that I've already on 25 January 2009 had pointed in one of my reports in the web, that Mr. Hunter had lost his credibility through various activities.
    Now something to clarification:
    Page 1, Note on the side of Mrs. Importantly - Theresa Franks contains "32 photographic images showing works Dali".
    Page 2, Note on the side of Mrs. Importantly - Theresa Franks contains
    "67 photographic images showing works Dali".
    This means - together 99 works.
    Reader of this side, fact is, that 95 of these works is photographically is shown in a book (catalog) over Salvador Dali, that is listed of the "Fundacio Gala- Salvador Dali“ in the category „Biography over Dali“!
    This is a journalistic scandal of the special class, which had these involved persons afforded opposite their readers of the page Fine Art Registry!
    It is impossible to seize this scandal into normal words!

    Rainer Schickedanz

    link to this | view in thread ]

  42. identicon
    rainer schickedanz, 9 Apr 2012 @ 4:02am

    Theresa Franks discredits publicly the Spain's Gala-Salvador Dali Foundation:
    Dali Fakes Galerie:
    Theresa Franks designates 95 works from these Bibliografia of the Fundació Gala Salvador Dalí as falsification!!!

    Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí:
    © 2007 - Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí - Tots els drets reservats - Avís legal i Privacitat - Crèdits
    Bibliography:
    Salvador Dalí. Doeken en aquarellen uit de Albaretto Collection = Salvador Dalí. Toiles et aquaralles de la Collection Albaretto = Salvador Dalí. Canvas and water-colours from the Albaretto Collection, Stichting Sint-Jan, Brugge, 1997, p. 54

    End of quote "Fundació Gala-Salvador Dali".

    As follows the side of the Fundació from 2007:
    http://www.salvador-dali.org/cataleg_raonat/fitxa_obra.html?obra=509

    Readers of this page now something from the web, quote:
    Who ascertains the value of art?
    A work of art with an unquestioned provenance is the most valuable; so the people who invest in art have established the means to verify the provenance of important works of art in order the retain the value in their investment.
    The Dali art that has been sold by Park West is said to have been originally acquired from an Italian couple named Albaretto of Turin, Italy. The couple claims Dali created hundreds of original works personally for them under a casual relationship where Dali did not bother to establish the provenance of these works.
    Quote end.

    In fact has the Fundation Gala-Salvador Dalí, by the publication in 2007 of the written and photographic content of the book
    "water-colors from the collection Albaretto Stichting Sint-Jan, Brugge, 1997, p. 54"
    identifies as authentic and thus confirm the provenance of the works of Dali from the Albaretto Collection!
    This means, however, it is apparent that Theresa Franks deliberately the provenance the works Dalis of the family Albaretto in the United States discredited by their Campania.
    In addition a text from the Web for the readers of this side clarifies how the Fundació Gala Salvador Dalí stands at all to the statements of the Descharnes:
    The lawyer for the Gala-Dali, Miquel Roca i Junyent, introduced last February a complaint against Robert Descharnes for misappropriation, fraud and continuing offense against intellectual property. The measure was adopted by the Gala-Dalí after that in February last year the Supreme Court to rule that this entity is one that must exercise the powers of management and exploitation of intellectual property rights arising from the work of Dali. The Ministry of Culture has repeatedly urged Demart to refrain from any action related to intellectual property of the painter.
    End of quote.
    The text comes from the Spanish!
    Well once again a passage from an "official letter from the Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí:
    Mr. Rainer Schickedanz 10th November, 2006

    Dear Sir,
    …………….
    the Foundation only accepts the technical and scientific opinion of our own experts.
    We hope this information is useful
    Yours sincerely
    Montse Aguer
    Authorizing and Cataloguing Commission

    Quote end.
    Readers of this side, it exist further letters (e mail) between the Foundation and me, which the attitude of the Foundation from 10 November 2006, specified above, confirms, and here back going into the year 2005!!!!!
    Lawyers of the Theresa Franks, I am not completely surely how long you your reputation as conscious lawyers of the rights jeopardize wants!
    However, you should know - you too will be judged in the future how long you support the wrong game!
    Finally, something important to the latest report of Ms. - Theresa Franks:
    Wanna See the FAR® Trial Exhibit that Stomped a Hole in the Park West Gallery Dali Provenance Sham?
    Fact is that in this written garbage much Descharnes clan is!
    Mrs. Importantly - Theresa Franks - it writes that it is absolutely necessary in the court room to have been present, in order to see into the faces of the persons of park west Gallery.
    I must say for myself that I have seen Descharnes in the hearing in the case of Germany Schwetzingen and it's enough already.
    Theresa Franks discredits a person who has worked with the Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí together. To the page: http://www.jjbiagini.com/
    Robert Descharnes was in the 60 paparazzi photographer for Paris Match, a tabloid!
    I think this is another journalistic scandal, which affords this lady in the public, and an affronts to the readers of Fine Art Registry.

    Rainer Schickedanz

    link to this | view in thread ]

  43. identicon
    rainer schickedanz, 28 May 2012 @ 1:59pm

    Mr. Hunter,

    Mr. Hunter, please explain to the readers of this page what means for you „mutatis mutandis" the following „Spanish press report“, which is this very day to read in the Web:

    The Ministry of Culture (Spain) has in 2000 repeated strong appealed to Mr. Descharnes (Demart 1984-2004) "all actions", which in the connection with the "intellectual property" by Salvador Dali, to stop!

    Mr. Hunter, as you as a so-called Dali expert with certainty knows the full text of this press release, it will be easy for you to explain the readers of this page what in 2000 the "current administrator rights Dali" wanted to say with it!

    Mr. Hunter, this was not the time when you had begun to contact the Descharnes in Paris, in order to deceive Albert Field?
    I think Mr. Hunter you know the letter of the 29. May 2001 with your „signature“, in which is to read clearly the word „Paris“, or?

    Mr. Hunter, you should continue begin to explain the readers of this page, you why photographs of Dali - Originals on the page Fine Art Registry - Theresa Franks publish "in the report, Dali Art Fraud" and explain to the local readers that it is would acts about fakes.

    Mr. Hunter, and even though you knew that these depicted photograph originals are in an Dali catalog are shown, which were listed by the Foundation Gala-Salvador Dali on one of your websites already in 2007 with!

    Mr. Hunter, you know exact that you discredit with your incorrect action not only the family Albaretto but also the Foundation in Spain itself!

    Mr. Hunter, how it would be if you so slowly will begin correctly the used printing technique at printing techniques Dali’s in your „sanctimonious expert's assessments “to place correctly!

    Mr. Hunter, could be it that you lie in your so-called expert's assessments and their printing graphic techniques in writing nearly always wrongly?



    Rainer Schickedanz

    link to this | view in thread ]

  44. identicon
    rainer schickedanz, 15 Jun 2012 @ 9:55pm

    Theresa Franks and .......... are always talking again about Park West of dirty and underhanded tactics!
    What credibility has the group of Theresa Franks?
    Fact is that Ralf Michler (former expert for the LKA Baden-Wuerttemberg – Ernst Schöller to about 2004) has given to 02.10.2000 an interview to the exhibition from the family Albaretto for the news magazine “Der Spiegel” on pages 318-320.
    On page 319 he speaks following public expert’s opinion.
    At least 20 of the 140 pictures are fakes!
    This statement has been in Germany that triggered the media, such as ART, Welt am Sonntag, Zeit Online etc. which reported from counterfeiting in Augsburg, and therefore also the international Press.
    Well the backgrounds:
    It is a defamation through scandalous via the media and the art to alienate the truth!
    Fact is that Ernst Schoeller has written in an official letter as a police officer to the German public prosecutor on 08.02.2007.
    In case of the Descharnes it concerns experts for drawings and paintings of the artist Dali.
    Ralf Michler himself refused in the past the valuation of originals of Salvador Dali and referred to Descharnes.
    This means, almost 7 years after the statement by Ralf Michler on counterfeiting in Augsburg, which was triggered by national and international press reports on counterfeits in Augsburg, Ernst Schöller actually writes that Ralf Michler has never told about, of Originals by Salvador Dali.
    And since Descharnes with certainty the letter of 08.02.2007 knew. And him himself whose content was known, since it’s the one case of counterfeits of Michler (Ralf Michler sold them from ca. 2001) acted, is this testimony evaluated as “collegial lie”!!
    But why the lie?
    Ralf Michler (former close colleague of Ernst Schöller) had given consciously in 2000 an interview during the exhibition in Augsburg in Spiegel Germany, which has got the only sense to bring the family Albaretto into discredit and that with the knowledge of Descharnes and Ernst Schöller!The conclusion from this is:
    And since we are to assume it that Theresa Franks (and ............) knew this, since on the website of Theresa Franks since 28 August 2008 about 90% of the originals from the show in as Augsburg counterfeit now declare by her.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  45. identicon
    rainer schickedanz, 15 Jun 2012 @ 10:17pm

    I think each of the publications of the email between myself and Fine Art Registry – David Phillips – has read it, is themselfs conscious that “Theresa Franks” already at the beginning of Campania against Park West Gallery – Albaretto – Les Heures Claires – “not” truthfully informed its readers.
    The fact is that companies and individuals must be against protected, that through this “not truthful” information at websites such as Fine Art Registry will be harmed them!
    How as this protection is guaranteed and what penalties are imposed must courts decide.
    However, in order to understand this is exactly the case of Theresa Franks, however, requires years, since the context of inaccurate and incorrect statements are hardly understandable for laymen!
    That’s why the jury of Michigan in the short time was not able to see through these connections.
    So scribbler of 01 November 2011, a question for you:
    Why Theresa Franks has at the beginning of Campania against the family Albaretto (April 22, 2008) does not inform their readers accurately, and has thus acted against his better knowledge?
    I await your answer!
    The fact is, this Campania would had yield differently if Theresa Franks would had started their Campania correctly with the truthful information “No fakes of Albarettos in Germany”.
    But let me turn now again to Germany:
    Fact is, Ernst Schoeller tries to be a small media star in the German investigators art scene in Germany!
    In the case of “Dali” he tries due to inexact informations – and here in particular of the printed graphic products Albaretto collection – through the medium of German media to profile!
    This is evident in several former publications in German media and on this side of the Fine Art Registry.
    A German lawyer aptly describes it all:
    The reports are owes due well-known “publicity-addiction” of the Commissioner.

    Fact is, Ralf Michler had from the beginning of 2001 about 200 of Dali’s forgeries (forgeries of originals) let produced and they “personally” signed with Dali.
    Ralf Michler was in the year 2006 convicted in Germany and is thus one of the great Dali forgers.
    What the U.S. is not as well known, however, is as follows:
    Ralf Michler was a close associate of Ernst Schoeller up to 2004th.
    Ralf Michler was with Ernst Schoeller, the pivotal person in the seizure of printed graphics products from the collection in Germany Albaretto.
    And here, specifically, he had declared before the German prosecutor, that the type signature on the printed graphic products of the Albaretto collection are forgeries.
    This means the person (Ralf Michler), who testified in Germany, it would be incorrect signatures on the printed graphic products of the Albaretto-collection, was one of the largest of Dali forgers ever.
    Accordingly, are all his information about alleged forgeries from printmaking-products of the family Albaretto not tenable.
    However, in order to know what the interconnections between Schoeller – Michler and their statements to interpret Dali’s graphic art products is, the must spend years to study to understand for example, that in Germany Schoeller has power of intimidation.
    And he (Scholler) needed Ralf Michler in the past to impound Dalis, because he (Scholler) could not und wanted not for the “publics” position itself as a Dali expert, but only as a policeman.
    For him (Schoeller) the position as a police officer is much more important!

    On the one hand, he thus has a high immunity in Germany. On the other hand, is the door for prosecutors and judges therefore far opened.
    And by exactly through this Sybiose could the duo Schoeller- policeman / Michler-expert in the matter of printed graphic products of Dali’s in Germany doing things how they wanted.
    And because Ralf Michler is not longer credible, it was also with a attempt to positioned Nicolas Descharnes as an expert about Dali’s signatures on the printed graphics-products, and this especially for the European space!
    Only this thing was going backfired, because Nicolas Descharnes could not suppose that I came into possession of a transcript by a German district court, in whose content the statement by Nicolas Descharnes says that he stood at a federal court in the United States as an expert about the signatures Dalis.
    In the U.S. media is however to read up on that the statement by Nicolas Descharnes is wrong and he was never an expert in the United States.
    But readers of this site, this is just the tip of the iceberg!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  46. identicon
    rainer schickedanz, 22 Aug 2012 @ 9:35am

    Readers of this page, you could witness, that Mrs. Important - Theresa Franks has not responded to my questions in my published posts on this site!

    That this lady very well knows these questions and contributions, it can be assumed.

    Thus, the fact remains that history has taught that there the "hallmark of this lady" lies in the written defamatory and malicious stories which were not truthfully.
    And in this case this lady shows her true face behind a hypocritical facade which is in reality destructive to position the page of Fine Art Registry and itself to profile as indispensable in the scene!

    Readers of this page, it means nothing other than this:

    At the beginning of your existence you need invent stories with the so-called scandals, and this, even though no scandals exist, to profile itself as a website and/or person.
    You may have no qualms and you will ignorant readers manipulate with your story which are not able to decide what's true of your story and what is false (a lie)!

    Thus you can at least assume that these ignorant readers will read again your next story, given that scandal reports are more popular than as no scandal reports.
    Here you should note, however, that you will "journalistically speaking" publish mostly unpopular stories over the years on your site, so that you will not get the reputation of "scandal journalists”, who will be questioned with security!

    And should you but once be scrutinized, because of your "false history", so you should present yourself as a lawyer of the artists.
    And you'll see that the ignorant readers, which have gained indeed some knowledge, go continue on your hypocritical facade, because scandal reports are more popular than over no scandal reports.

    Readers of this page, the fact is that this procedural method of this lady had from the outset no future, since the history has always had shown that the truth or falsehood of history will come out!

    The real losers of the foreseeable ending story Theresa Franks are all people that have appeared in addition to this lady on the page Fine Art Registry, and perhaps still occur, even if they had no involvement in the false stories of Theresa Franks.

    The rest will be, that the today's yet ignorant readers get knowledge, and become "knowledge readers", who will find out that the real scandal of the stories of Theresa Franks, is Theresa Franks itself and therefore they will oneself distance to her.

    Readers of this page, actually I wanted to stay with my reports and information on the artist Salvador Dali and the context with Theresa Franks/Fine Art Registry.
    However, I think the readers of this site should know that I know media reports, in which other still living artist have had to learn about the destructive of discrediting nature of Theresa Franks and their helpers.

    This living artist I can only encourage to defend oneself, and this, it should not otherwise be possible, even in public!


    Readers of this page, me is well aware that it can be difficult the own opinion as an US citizen about the destructive hallmark of Theresa Franks, and above all their helper publicly down to write, because these and above mentioned Lady have "shysters" at the hand, which represented these individuals at the Court or pronounce claim for compensation!

    However, I speak from experience, that the possibility of a publication is not impossible.

    I'll give an example:
    Since a short time I am in contact with a person who sent me some information that contains shocking about the person Theresa Franks, the website Fine Art Registry, and their assistants.
    Here is a quote from it:


    False statements speak to the true nature and character of a person.

    Theresa Franks' true nature and character is revealed by her choice to ignore warnings about criminal John Golfis and partner with him and his company Gamut Control.

    This choice sharply contradicts her assertion that she is acting as an "advocate" to protect artists from fraud.

    In fact, FAR artists were defrauded by Golfis resulting from Franks' partnership with him.

    Rainer Schickedanz

    link to this | view in thread ]

  47. identicon
    Judith Silverman, 16 Jan 2013 @ 9:55pm

    Re: The Pollock that sold for $50 mil

    I saw the Terri Horton movie and I believe that I am the artist that painted the painting. If somebody is really looking for the truth about the painting, then contact me. judith.l.silverman at gmail dot com

    link to this | view in thread ]

  48. identicon
    rainer schickedanz, 29 Jan 2013 @ 9:46am

    http://www.welt.de/print-wams/article119678/40-000-signierte-weisse-Blaetter.html

    http://www.welt .de/print-welt/article532074/Auch-Michelangelo-war-ein-Kunstfaelscher.html



    Die Welt „40.000 signierte weiße Blätter“

    and

    Die Welt „Auch Michelangelo war ein Kunstfälscher“



    Both reports have been written by Axel Springer publishing house.



    I now could reach that the reports have been changed first of all so, that the editorial staff changed the reports with the information’s about your print graphics, that in "hindsight" brought out a annotation with the quote:



    Editor's note:



    The prosecution Mannheim has returned the by the criminal police Stuttgart confiscated print graphics from the Albaretto collection at the owners, because as has been found in retrospect that they were not fakes.

    End of quote.



    Rainer Schickedanz

    link to this | view in thread ]


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