Morning Call – August 17, 2005

Chinese Fake Art Saxton Grim Lathrop Granddaughters

Dear Friends,

Good morning. Would you like Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous portrait, “Mona Lisa” hanging in your living room for $169? When I read the New York Times story (July 15) about how to own “original” Chinese copies of real Western Art for pennies on the dollar, I knew I had to call several local experts. Let me set the stage.

“China is rapidly expanding art colleges, turning out tens of thousands of skilled artists each year willing to work cheaply,” the article began. “The Internet is allowing these assembly-line paintings to be sold all over the world; the same technology allows families across America to arrange for their portraits to be painted in coastal China.”

American art wholesalers pay Chinese art students $25 to $30 to copy each painting [oil on canvass] and sell them for $160 or more. How would you like to purchase a Renoir or Monet for less than $200 instead of millions? Proof is on the Internet, oilpaintings.com

According to the report, China is turning out 20,031 art graduates yearly. Chinese universities now charge twice as much in annual tuition for arts majors as for engineering majors. The artists earn $250 per month or less.

Is this counterfeit art? No, the paintings are advertised as copies. Would these Chinese copies increase art awareness in the general public and how would they affect the market value of the originals, I wondered?

I called J. Lawrence Grim, Jr. a Perkasie lawyer and the grandson of Walter Emerson Baum, the famous Bucks County artist who died 50 years ago. Grim has an extensive collection of Baum paintings. “Public awareness,” Grim paused, “Is that an oxymoron? There’s a flood of copies in American art. But the market value continues to rise. People used to go to art stores for paintings…now they use the Internet.” Grim told me that you can buy Baum copies for just $12 by accessing:

www.encore-editions.com/impressionists/paimpressionist.htm

Grim used to purchase Baum paintings for $10 per square inch, a buying system patterned after his late father’s technique of acquiring oriental rugs that way. But today, Baum paintings are going for $20 to $30 per square inch.

Missy Saxton is a Lehigh County art historian, well connected to the Allentown Art Museum and the Baum School of Art. “I’ll bet there are 40 million reproductions out there,” she told me. “You find them in books and museum stores everywhere. It won’t make any difference to the value of the original art unless you’re involved with trickery,” Saxton observed.”

What’s the difference between a copy and forgery, I asked? “It’s all about intent,” she answered. “If a copy is advertised as an original, that’s forgery. A collector needs to get expert advice. Remember, Caveat Emptor,” Saxton added, “Let the buyer beware.”

Jill Karhumaa and Nora Grimison are sisters and the granddaughters of William Lathrop, the founder of the New Hope School [of impressionist art in the early 20^th century]. At a recent show, one of Lathrop’s paintings was insured for $130,000.

“Like other artists, our grandfather gave paintings away as presents…sold them to pay for family’s needs,” Grimison began.

“The family’s finances depended upon him selling paintings and illustrations,” Karhumaa added. Lathrop had no other means of income.

The granddaughters believe that Lathrop copies [a Chinese water color is $12] will increase awareness and the market value of the originals. “He [Lathrop] would be astounded,” they exclaimed. “Money was not his thing…he was not of the market place.”

It’s a shame that these artists’ value came to light long after their deaths.

Sincerely,

Charles Meredith