How can you appraise art without actually seeing it? This is one of many perplexing questions the contents claims specialist in this month's case faced when consulted about the theft of various pieces of art created by a very well-known Spanish surrealist painter.
A policyholder had reported that signed and numbered prints by Salvador Dali had presumably been stolen from the home. Not only were contents claims specialists able to appraise the art, but they were also able to determine and report back that the art was, in fact, not authentic.
Case Background
While vacationing on a cruise ship, the insured had purchased several "valuable" prints while participating in the onboard ship art auction. Each piece of art came with a certificate of authenticity, and an appraisal. The insured scheduled the art on the homeowners' policy for amounts greater than $10,000 each. This policy was not an agreed amount policy, so settlement would be on a Fair Market Value basis.
Enservio's art experts contacted the policyholder to discuss the purchase and were able to elicit the fact that all three prints were not only block stamped, but two were also hand-signed. The experts were also able to determine the insured purchase the art with a provenance that stated these pieces were from the collection of Mr. Guiseppe Albaretto. The appraisal stated that Mr. Albaretto was a patron, business associate, and personal friend to Salvador Dali.
These small nuances not only effect the valuation of the art but have a key role in validating the authenticity of the art. Armed with this information, our experts reviewed art history references, auction results and specific reference materials for the prints of this artist.
News articles and court cases were found which revealed forged documents, casting serious doubt on the authenticity of the Dali prints originating from the collection of Guiseppe Albaretto. In addition, the selling auction company had been sued by a number of other purchasers of similar prints for auctioning fakes.
To see what happened, click next!
The Result
By using the "catalogue raisonné," which is an academic compilation of all the works of this particular artist, our experts were able to document that the claimed prints, if authentic, would have the block stamp, but would not bear the signature of the artist.
At best, the insured owned original prints now defaced with a forged signature, or much more likely, and unfortunately, the prints were non-authentic reproductions. In either case, the Fair Market Value would be a small fraction of the insured's winning bid, or the declared amount of their scheduled policy.
See also: The Case of the Hollywood Legacy
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