The Invoices Are Contained in the Following Files Received from Mr. Cherni
Report on artwork in invoices
Starting point: invoices from art galleries to Globe Services Ltd., and from Sotheby’s to Mr. D., and correspondence between Mr. D. and Peter McKay of Globe Services.
The invoices are contained in the following files received from Mr. Cherni:
· Correspondence and invoice relating to a trip to Zurich in July 2002 to buy artwork by Honore Daumier – in file called D.-Globe-Peter-McKay-correspondence.pdf, file attached here.
· Correspondence from the year 2002 regarding the acquisition of several different works of art – in file called D.-Globe-correspondence-2002.pdf, attached here.
· Correspondence in July 2003 about acquiring paintings by Zille and Liebermann – in file called D.-Globe-Peter-PcKay-correspondence-July-2003.pdf, attached here.
· Invoices from various art galleries to Globe Services Ltd. – in file called D.-invoices-received-from-art-dealers.pdf, file attached here.
Questions:
· Are the invoices genuine or fake?
· If fake: how much of the information in them is true? Is the artwork in them genuine – does it really exist? If so, can we establish its provenance and sale history?
Findings:
The findings are arranged by work of art in no particular order. The details from the invoices (which are scanned image files, text not copyable) are reproduced below in a standard format, followed by the results of our investigation.
Artist: Pompeo Batoni (1708 - 1787)
Work: “Portrait of a Lady with red Feather in Hat,” (1742 – 1766)
Half length
One of two paintings created by the artist for the O’Hara family of Great Britain
Invoice from: Colnaghi gallery, London
Invoice to: Globes Services Date: 27th February 2002 Price: £112,500
Provenance: by descent in the family of the sitter
Sale: Sotherby’s [sic], London, 12th December 1984, there purchased by Colnaghi
London, from whom purchased by previous collector on 12th March 1988 and
repurchased by Colnaghi on 8th June 2001.
Literature: A. Clark, ed, E.P. Bouron [sic], “Pompeo Batoni,” 1985, p. 291, cat. No. 263.
Results of investigation:
· Invoice: the relevant person at the Colnaghi gallery is Livia Schaasfma, we phoned a few times but did not manage to speak to her; we sent an email on April 5th with a reminder on April 9th but as of April 14th have not heard back from the gallery.
But meanwhile we ascertained that the work in the invoice does not exist (see below), which of course means that the invoice is not genuine.
· Literature: The book cited does exist; the first author/editor has died, the second is Dr. Edgar Peters Bowron (not Bouron as in invoice). It is a “catalogue raisonné” (definitive catalog of the complete works) of Batoni.
· Work: A painting with this name or answering this description does not exist.
o The painting in the invoice is not in the cited book. The provenance data was copied from a different work by Batoni; the Batoni expert who compiled the catalog, Dr. Bowron, does not know of any painting by Batoni such as described above.
o Email from Dr. Bowron, April 10, 2010: “The painting referred to as cat. no. 263 in my 1985 Batoni book is in fact a painting of Cleopatra and the Dying Mark Antony in Brest. Cat. no. 261A refers to a portrait of Henry Hutchinson O'Hara with the provenance given in your e-mail but I know of no painting of a 'Lady with a Red Feather in Hat' by Batoni.”
Saved together with original query, as pdf: Reply-from-Dr-Edgar-Peters-Bowron-April-10-2012.pdf ; attached here.
o There exists a portrait called “Lady with a [black] feather hat”, by Gustav Klimt, 1910 and there are works on the Internet by current painters with titles such as “Lady with red feather hat”, “Woman in a red feather hat”, etc.
· Provenance: needless to say, this painting was not sold by Sotheby’s in 1984.
o The staff of the Old Masters department at Sotheby’s sent an image of the 12th December 1984 sale catalog at which this painting was supposed to have been sold. One Batoni painting was sold at it: the portrait of Henry Hutchinson O’Hara which Dr. Bowron cites as no. 261A in his catalog, from which was copied the provenance given in the invoice for the “lady in feather hat” painting. The image is saved as Batoni-painting-sold-12-Dec-1984-from-Sothebys.pdf and attached here as a pdf. In the same email Sotheby’s sent an image of the first page of the catalog, showing the date: saved as Batoni-first-page-of-12-Dec-1984-Sothebys-catalog.pdf and attached here as a pdf.
Artist: Heinrich Zille (1858-1929)
Work: “Mother and Son” ; drawn ca. 1908 – 1909
Mentioned in letter from Globe (McKay)
Purchase authorized by D. (name spelled D) 4th July, 2003.
Invoice from: Frost & Reed, London
Invoice to: Globes Services Invoice date: 8th July 2003 Price: £7,850
Literature: Alice Strobl, “Heinrich Zille, die Zeichnungen 1900 – 1910. ” Salzburg, 1984.
Provenance: private collection
Image of the picture (from correspondence, see below):
Associated correspondence:
· A letter from Globe Services dated July 2nd, 2003, signed P. McKay, stating “we wish to buy 2 drawings by German papers” and listing this work and that by Lieberman, asking for a loan of £17,000 to buy them both and including a b/w scan of a picture of each work.
· A letter from “S. Daehner” to “Peter” dated July 4th, authorizing the purchase “after referring the matter to Mr. Carmi”, and asking Globe to keep the paintings “pledged as security for us.”
· A letter from Globe Services, signed by P. McKay, dated July 8th, to Emior Investments and S.E.D. Investments (not mentioning D. by name), confirming purchase of the two drawings and stating that they are “pledged to you as security and kept in storage.”
Results of our investigation:
· Invoice: An email enquiry to Frost & Reed, April 12th, 2012: reply by email same day: "Further to your email of 15.06 hrs today in respect of an invoice purporting to be from ourselves to Globes Services Ltd, dated 8 July 2003, I can categorically confirm that neither the invoice, the paintings listed, nor the client indicated have any connection with Frost & Reed Ltd. Nor are the names Y Carmi, S Carmi, P McKay and S D. known to us in any capacity.”
This email with the enquiry we sent is saved as a pdf file: Reply-from-Frost-and-Reed-April-12-2012.pdf, attached here.
· Work: we found no work called “Mother and Son” by Zille. There is a work by him called “Amsel” depicting a mother and her small son, but it is quite different from the above:
It is from 1923 not 1908-9.
· On April 13th we sent an email to the Zille Museum in Berlin, enquiring about the drawing in the invoice, and hope for a reply within a few days. The email was saved as Email-to-Zille-Museum-Berlin-April-13-2012.pdf and is attached here.
· Literature: we found no work by Alice Strobl with the title given in the invoice. She has written similar works about other artists:
o Especially often quoted and very similar in title to the above: Alice Strobl, Gustav Klimt. Die Zeichnungen 1878-1903, Vol I, Salzburg 1980 - from a Christie’s sale catalog; Vol. 2 (1904-1912) was published 1982 and Vol. 3 (1912-1918) was published 1984.
o Worldcat lists over 140 catalog entries for works by Strobl: most are on Klimt, a dozen or more are on Kokoschka, and several are on Dürer; but there is none listed on Heinrich Zille or with his name anywhere in the cataloging record.
Artist: Max Lieberman (1847 – 1935)
Work: “A Village Street”
Same invoice from Frost & Reid as the Zille drawing above (bought together with it)
Price: £9,375
Provenance: Eberhard Troegar – gift from the artist, April 4, 1930
Then by descent to present owner
No literature listed, but a note: “the authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Margaret Nouwen and Hans Geissler.”
Associated correspondence: included in that listed for the Zille drawing above.
Image of the picture (from the correspondence):
Results of our investigation:
· Invoice: this work was included in the invoice purporting to be from Frost & Reed and their reply is valid for this work too: “I can categorically confirm that neither the invoice, the paintings listed, nor the client indicated have any connection with Frost & Reed Ltd.”
· Artist: his name is mis-spelt, the correct spelling is Max Liebermann (two n’s at the end).
· Work: We found two pictures by Liebermann with “A village street” in their names; neither of them remotely resembles the picture above.
o “A village street with children in Laren, Holland” - Watercolour on paper, 18 x 30 cm (7.1 x 11.8 in) Signed lower right M.Liebermann ’82; 1882. A picture and details are at http://www.lesliesmith.nl/works/view/81. It is also found cited as “A village street in Holland.”
o “Boy and Girl on a Village Street,” ca. 1897. Pastel on paper. 76.2 x 60 cm. Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection on deposit at Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza; picture and details are online at the museum here.
Artist: Marc Chagall (1897 – 1985)
Work: “The Dove” (24 x 19 cm)
Invoice from: Connaught Brown, London
Invoice to: Globes Date: 6 July 2003 Price: £108,750
No provenance data and no literature in invoice.
Invoice states that the authenticity of the work has been confirmed by the Comité Chagall.
Associated correspondence:
· Letter from Globe, signed P. McKay, dated 6th July 2003, to Emior Investments, says he is enclosing the invoice from Connaught and the certificate of Comité Chagall, but the document from Connaught is not in fact an official invoice, just a description; nor does the word “invoice” appear on it. We do not yet have a copy of the certificate of authenticity supposedly also enclosed.
This letter also mentions that the agreement between (apparently) Emior and Globe dates from January 2002.
Result of investigation regarding this work/invoice
· Invoice: Email sent to Connaught Brown, April 12, 2012; reply same day by email: “can confirm that this is not an invoice that originated from Connaught Brown.”
Reply with our original query saved as pdf file, Reply-from-Connaught-Brown-April-12-2012.pdf: attached here.
· Work: there are several works by Chagall whose name includes the word “dove, but none called only “the dove” nor with the size listed above. Those found (probably not an exhaustive list since a dove is one of Chagall’s best-known symbols):
o A color lithograph, from The Odyssey Volume II: “The Omen: The Goshawk and the Dove,” Edition size: 250, 1975. Size: 12-3/4" x 16-3/4" = approx. 32 x 42.5 cm – much larger than that cited in the invoice. See here for a picture and size information. Another source gives the edition size as 270 and the size as 12.5 x 16 inches.
o “The Dove of the Ark,” etching, 12 3/8 x 9 3/8 in = approx. 31 x 23 ¾ cm – also larger than that in the invoice.
o “Noah's Ark - The release of the dove,” Signed etching, 53.5 x 39 cm; see here for a picture and size information.
o “The Lion and the Dove - study for Jerusalem windows', lithograph in colours, 32cm x 24cm, printed by Mourlot 1962.
Artists: Hippolye Moreau (1832 – 1927) and Prosper Lecourtier (1851 – 1924)
Work: Bronze statue, “Hunter with Hounds”, 83 cm high. Golden patina.
Invoice from: Mayfair Gallery
Invoice to: Globe Services Date: August 16, 2002 Price: £18,950
Literature: P. Kiellberg (or Kieilberg), “Les Bronzes du XIX Siecle”, p.509, photo 2.
Provenance: Private collection
Result of our investigations
· Invoice: the initial response from the Mayfair gallery was: “it does not look like our format of invoice. Since then, our staff have changed but I will try to find out.” We have not so far received a further reply from them.
· Work: the bronze statuette does exist: a picture is at: http://www.artbronze.com/hunterwithhoundsbyhippolyte-francoismoreauandprosperlecourtier.aspx
· Literature: the book does exist. The author’s correct name is Pierre Kjellberg, the book “Les Bronzes du XIX siècle : dictionnaire des sculpteurs” – Paris, Éditions de l'amateur, 1987 and later editions; 720 p.; also published in English. See WorldCat list of editions.
Artist: Mordecai Ardon (1896 – 1992)
Work: “Composition in Blue”; 62 x 43 cm, gouache, pastels and oil on paper, signed
lower left.
Invoice from: Marlborough Fine Arts
Invoice to: Globe Services Date: 10 September 2002 Price: $115,000
Provenance: From a private collection
No literature listed.
Result of investigations:
· Invoice: The Marlborough gallery confirmed by email that the invoice is a fake: ““we write to advise that the invoice that you attached was not generated by us.” Reply email including original query saved as Reply-from-Marlborough-April-2-2012.pdf and attached here.
· Artwork: The Ardon gallery seems to have a complete listing of Ardon’s paintings. From a search of them at www.ardon.com, none are called “Composition in Blue”. We sent an email enquiry to the address given at the website, April 13 2012. On April 16th we received a reply from Orah Ardon at the gallery: a work by that name exists but is an oil painting not as described above:
"אין לי כל אינפורמציה על תמונה כזאת ועל קנייתה ומכירתה. כל העניין נראה מוזר. אגב, ברשותי תמונת שמן בשם “קומפוזיציה בכחול” שמעולם לא הצעתי למכירה. “