There are some interesting buried comments in a Mar 22, 2019 Artsy article by Karen Chernick on the collection of Michael Mattis and Judy Hochberg (now on display at the Barnes Foundation), which briefly describing a few modern methods of detecting 19th and early 20th C photographic fakes and reprints. The two collectors developed the… Continue reading Modern techniques for detecting photographic fakes and reprints (Artsy)
Category: Fakes and forgeries
Contemporary fakes and native American artists (hyperallergic)
In the cultural world we don’t always consider the living artisans and artists whose livelihood is undermined by fakes. World’s Largest Native American Art Forgery Ring Distributed $12M of Fakes US government attorney supports 18-month sentences and fines for the accused, but in many ways the damage is done, casting both real and fake Native… Continue reading Contemporary fakes and native American artists (hyperallergic)
The Voynich Manuscript and Fakery
[Update 10/14/2013 See comment below.] The latest New Yorker has an article about the Voynich manuscript by Reed Johnson. The article helpfully reviews the provenance (some of it possibly putative) as well as the modern history and reception of the very strange manuscript. In one throw-away line, Johnson notes that some people have questioned whether… Continue reading The Voynich Manuscript and Fakery
The Marks of a Hoax: Dickens and Dostoevsky
Copy of a Photograph of Charles Dickens (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Russian literature specialist Eric Naiman describes a fake anecdote in “When Dickens met Dostoevsky,” (TLS 10 April 2013), and the bizarre, convoluted, trail that led him to find multiple pseudonyms of someone who seems to be a disgruntled independent scholar. I think some points turned… Continue reading The Marks of a Hoax: Dickens and Dostoevsky
Conspiracy Theories… among Engineers
Where do conspiracy theories come from? I was fascinated by this link at the technology news site ArsTechnica. The article tries to debunk an urban rumor, “Does Apple really assign engineers to “fake” projects as a loyalty test?” It struck me as a classic conspiracy theory. What gives rise to such thinking? Engineers come to… Continue reading Conspiracy Theories… among Engineers