Paintings – Daryle Lambert’s Antique and Collectibles Blog - True or False.

Blanchard


Today I received an email that no seller wishes to receive. It said that the buyer of my Blanchard painting was questioning if it was the real thing. I waited to see why he would question it because I am sure that it is an original painting by Blanchard. Here is his reasoning. The signature doesn’t look right to him and therefore he would like to return it for a refund. I assured him that he could send it back and if it was in the same condition as when he received it, the refund would be sent out immediately. However, this is troubling to me because buyers put so much stock in the signature.

People should realize that the signature on a painting is the easiest part of a painting to fake. Maybe the atist hurt his hand or just got in a hurt signing one of his pieces so the signature might look a little different than most that he signs. This doesn't mean he didn't paint it. Also, the signature should not carry nearly the weight as the painting itself when evaluating the authenticity of a piece. The brush strokes, colors, style and subject matter are for more important than the signature. If people buy paintings based solely on the signature, I promise that they will be stung at some time. In this case, I have two examples of Blanchard’s signature on paintings that match the one on my painting perfectly. First there is a $22,000 one on eBay and then there is a match in the European signature book. However, it isn’t for me to educate him if he already knows that it is a fake in his eyes and it is simply easier to just return his money.

I do have an interesting story for you, however, and here it is. There was a painting attributed to Blanchard at Brunk’s Auction on November the 14th lot 188, and it sold for $3200. That doesn’t sound very interesting does it, but here is the rest of the story. It seems that the painting was signed “Cortes”. How could that have happened? Well you see in the past, a Cortes has brought more money than a Blanchard and they painted in somewhat similar styles so to make more money someone just put Cortes’ signature on it.

This is a perfect example of what I am taking about and some sharp eyed dealer recognized that the painting was by Blanchard and not Cortes but still picked up a bargain. You see the signature didn’t mean much to the buyer because he knew the differences between the two painters. Yes the signature is important but it is only half the story.

You can find out more about the " Daryle Lambert Antique and Collectibles at www.31corp.com.