"Monogrammed DRS" is a fake David Ryckaert

Carlo Bonte, from Belgium, sells on 14 June 2017 a "17th century monogrammed D.R.S" tavern scene, estimated at 1,000 to 1,500 Euro.

I believe it is not "D.R.S." but "D.R.f." (with lowercase f) for David Ryckaert fecit ("made"). David Ryckaert III (1612 - 1661) is known for these kind of scenes in the vein of Brouwer and Teniers.

Having identified the supposed artist is good, but sadly I'm fairly certain that this one can't be an original Ryckaert or even a 17th century work.

The "stoof" shown on the right is something that as far as I know never appeared on 17th century paintings (and certainly not in a tavern), and only became available around 1800. The fake is probably at least 100 years later, as people from 1800 or thereabouts would still know that this kind of heating was "new", while 100 years later it was already old-fashioned enough to be confused with much older heating systems.

When an El Lissitzky is an upside-down Malevich

Jordaens, from Belgium, sells on 24 August 2016 a "Mixed technique composotion, monogrammed E. L." without an estimate.

"Mixed technique" or "Mixed media" is a curse, it gives the impression of being an original (painted) but is in reality a print. Auction houses would be nicer if they made these things a bit clearer.

"E.L." is clearly El Lissitzky, one of the most important of the Russian suprematicists.second only to Malevich. This work is unusually colourful and detailed for him. The reason may be that it isn't a work by El Lissitzky, but a work by Malevich turned upside down (with a few colours changed) and given a fake monogram.

Usually the fakers are either a bit more laborious, really creating a new work using some poorly understood and copied elements of the originals, or they are even more lazy, simply taking a print of a real work and adding a fake signature (and normally a "EA" épreuve d'artiste marking, which should be rarer than a number but is harder to check for unicity). This one is a first for me.

Value is what you would give for a Malevich poster in a frame (the frame looks a lot older than the image which is brand new).

UPDATE: Jordaens have now changed the description to include the information that it is based on a Malevich reproduction. Great!

UPDATE 2: images of the monogram on the work for sale, and some original El Lissitzky monograms, to make it obvious that it was intended to look like a work by him (no matter how poorly done  to anyone studying his work for even a short while). This was an attempted El Lissitzky fake, no more, no less.

Dubious copy of a work I already presented

Westport, from the US, sells on 28 February a "Flemish old master, ca. 17th century" portrait of a family praying before their meal, estimated at $400 to $800.

It is a poorly painted (and preserved) copy of a work I highlighted in this blog post and which was sold in Germany in October 2015 for 750 Euro. Now, I have seen often enough that paintings have many copies and different versions floating around, and that sometimes they appear almost simultaneously: but this case is to me just too suspicious. An obscure, unusual work that months after its appearance on the market suddenly has another version, poorly painted, which looks as if it was made yesterday. Lots of damage but no craquelure?

It isn't expensive, but it is a poor painting in any case, and a highly dubious one to boot. Best to avoid it altogether.

Fake Cranach again for sale at Jackson's

Beware: a "Follower of Cranach" which is actually a German fake is again for sale at Jackson's auctioneers tomorrow 17 November 2015. It was sold in June at the same auction house for $3,500 (and sold in November 2014 as well, quite a hot potato work)

I discussed this picture, with evidence of why I call it a fake, in an earlier blog post. I also alerted the auction house through Twitter at the time (and again now), so they should know by now...

UPDATE: sold for $5,500 this time, probably by someone not reading this blog...

Van Gogh

A new Van Gogh! Get your Van Gogh oil painting and get rich quick, it is only estimated at $14,000 to $16,000  and comes with a certificate!

Normally, I would be wary of such an unknown Van Gogh, but if the Musée d'Orsay has given it a certificate, then it can't be wrong surely?

It is comparable to the above known Van Gogh painting, painted in Arles in 1889. Who would have guessed that he made nearly the same painting already in 1881, when he lived in Belgium and the Netherlands. This painting basically changes the whole of art history, showing that Van Gogh painted these landscapes not from real life but from his own imagination, and that he wasn't simply years ahead of other painters, but even years ahead of himself!