The Great Forgery Show: An extravaganza of artistic mimicry

Dimensions: 20 x 24 x 0.5
Supporting evidence Forgery is genuine/ how you came into ownership : I came across this in Portobello Market in NottingHill Gate, London, England in the late 70’s when the punk scene was in full swing. I lived in Notting Hill and went to the market every weekend. I found it buried in a box of clothing being tossed out. I don’t know how or why it ended up where it did. I’m just really happy to have discovered it!
Masterpiece Auction price: $95-100 million dollars
Artist statement: Picasso is the defining master of abstract modern art in the pantheon of great art of the 20th century. I have always been struck by his work ever since I was a young girl. He is undoubtedly one of my favourite artists of all time, along with Matisse and Chagall.
Medium: Acrylic on cradle board

Dimensions: 60 x 36 x 0.5
Supporting evidence Forgery is genuine/ how you came into ownership : How I discovered this hithertoo unknown work by Jean-Michel Basquiat: A mirror came to me as part of an inheritance. It was my favourite mirror and I had it propped up against the wall in my bedroom. 7 years later, I moved to a new home and when the mirror arrived it was cracked in several places, and the frame damaged. I was really upset because this was my dressing mirror which I used every day. As I leaned it up against the wall, a shard fell out and that’s when I noticed there were colours coming through behind the mirror. After carefully removing the rest of the glass, I was confronted with a very colourful, yet primitive looking painting, which had all the hallmark signatures of a famous NYC painter called Jean-Michel Basquiat. I sent photos to an art appraiser, who advised me to get in contact with an expert on JMB. The expert, after examining it in person, confirmed it was indeed an authentic JMB. The question remains… Why was there a mirror over the painting? Where did the painting originally come from? One can only presume that whoever found the painting, did not care for it but liked the frame enough to put a mirror in it. The mirror ended up in an auction house where my mother (who loved auctions), happened to bid on it. It was in a Lot with several other miscellaneous items. When she died, I inherited the mirror. The painting is estimated to be worth $30 million US dollars. ($2,400 C at ArtPod)
Masterpiece Auction price: 30 million dollars
Artist statement: Jean-Michel Basquiat is one of my favourite artists.
Medium: Acylic and oil pastel on board

Dimensions: 8.5 x 9 x 2
Supporting evidence Forgery is genuine/ how you came into ownership : This forgotten work was discovered in the basement of an old schoolhouse in New York. It is believed that Cornell had a kinship with a teacher there at the time.
Masterpiece Auction price: 28,500
Artist statement: Joseph Cornell's art is a huge inspiration for me. It is full of wonder and unspoken stories that alter every time I look at it.
Medium: Assemblage

Dimensions: 17.25 x 10.75 x 2.5
Supporting evidence Forgery is genuine/ how you came into ownership : This piece was gifted to a collector by Yayoi Kusama after Cornell's death in 1972. It is thought to have been a collaborative work but was only attributed to Cornell. Tucked into the back was a dream: 'unusually…rewarding dream… the little girl who followed me home on subway… —was watching me work at table she came out again + then I went into the city to take her home. one saw the city through her eyes —freshly beautiful. at a point close to the river she got off + instead of an expected drab looking dwelling she lived in…a place all glass… overlooking the river… next to her rooms a very large gallery-like place the walls lined with filled bookshelves. I guessed + checked with the man in charge that it was a research service for artists. He said yes it was.’ (from Joseph Cornell's Dreams, edited by Catherine Corman)
Masterpiece Auction price: 58,000
Artist statement: Same as previous submission.
Medium: Assemblage

Dimensions: 12 x 20.25 x 0.2
Supporting evidence Forgery is genuine/ how you came into ownership : This painting was found in piles of old wood in an attic in Neustiftgasse Vienna Austria. It was discovered in 1920 by tenants of the old house 2 years after Gustav's death. The work of art has hints of gold leaf in the stylized vegetation behind the woman painted in an older style canoe. The patterns of vegetation suggest the style of Gustav Klimt, as does the style of bright skin painted in juxtaposition to the surrounding natural scene. Klimt painted in the town for much of his career and the discovered piece was held on by my grandparent who lived there. It was found along with a second painting of other unidentified women. It is suspected that the paintings were hidden as it portrays woman with whom Gustav had affairs.
Masterpiece Auction price: bidding starts at 2000000.00
Artist statement: Greg Innes enjoys painting in the style of other artists. Gustav Klimt has a beautiful way of portraying people and nature where the human skin is painted in a way that is contrasted from the surrounding patters and colours by unique values and style of painting. The patterns are creative and interesting and the detail of the faces are a great challenge to paint.
Medium: oil on board

Dimensions: 12 x 24 x 0.2
Supporting evidence Forgery is genuine/ how you came into ownership : This painting was found in piles of old wood in an attic in Neustiftgasse Vienna Austria. This was discovered in 1920 by tenants of the old house 2 years after Gustav's death. The discovered painting was held on to by my grandparent who immigrated to Canada. It was found along with a second painting of another unidentified women. It was painted with decorative motifs in an art nouveau style complete with gold leaf patterns, spirals, and Gustav's unique shapes in patterns. The faces are very pale when contrasted to the hair and surrounding patterns. It is suspected that the paintings were hidden as it portrays woman with whom Gustav could have had affairs, and would have created more scandal for the artist.
Masterpiece Auction price: bidding starts at 2000000
Artist statement: Greg enjoys painting in the style of famous masters. Gustav Klimt had a unique style of colourful interesting patterns through his clothing and backgrounds which is contrasted with a completely different style of painting in the faces and bodies of the subjects.
Medium: oil on board

Dimensions: 24 x 16 x 1
Supporting evidence Forgery is genuine/ how you came into ownership : “Painter and theorist Barnett Newman was one of the most intellectual artists of the New York School… His approach to art making was shaped by his studies in philosophy at The City College of New York and his political activism… In 1948, with the completion of a painting titled Onement, I, Newman found his voice. It was in this work that he hit upon what would become the signature motif that defined all of his paintings to come: a vertical band connecting the upper and lower margins of the painting that he called a “zip.” His zips streak through fields of color in spare compositions that prompted critics to dub him a Color Field painter and Minimalists to look to his work for inspiration. But call him what they would, Newman maintained his own view of his abstractions. Claiming that he sought ‘to start from scratch, to paint as if painting never existed before,’ he saw his compositions as forms of thought, as expressions of the universal experience of being alive and individual…” -MoMA.org: A little known fact: Newman’s visit to Oaxaca City, Mexico in the 1940’s was foundational to the development of his personal style; it heavily influenced his use of colour, and his notorious “zips” in his paintings. His photo series of Oaxacan walls illustrates the direct connection between his inspiration and his work. Art historians have estimated the value of these sketchbook ephemera at approximately $100,000 for each set. The present owner discovered them under the bed in her B and B on her recent visit to Oaxaca City and decided to bring them home as a souvenir.
Masterpiece Auction price: Sotheby's estimate: $100,000
Artist statement: “I prefer to leave the paintings to speak for themselves” -Barnett Newman A visit to Oaxaca is like immersing oneself in an abstract expressionist world - every vertical surface is covered in a patina of paint, layers of plaster, and papered graphics. It is a celebration of colour, texture and mark-making! My photos are printed on aluminium sheets to maximize the vibrancy and reflectiveness of the Mexican sun, and the texture and colour of those photos appear in my ceramics work.
Medium: photo print on aluminium

Dimensions: 18 x 12 x 1
Supporting evidence Forgery is genuine/ how you came into ownership : “Painter and theorist Barnett Newman was one of the most intellectual artists of the New York School… His approach to art making was shaped by his studies in philosophy at The City College of New York and his political activism… In 1948, with the completion of a painting titled Onement, I, Newman found his voice. It was in this work that he hit upon what would become the signature motif that defined all of his paintings to come: a vertical band connecting the upper and lower margins of the painting that he called a “zip.” His zips streak through fields of color in spare compositions that prompted critics to dub him a Color Field painter and Minimalists to look to his work for inspiration. But call him what they would, Newman maintained his own view of his abstractions. Claiming that he sought ‘to start from scratch, to paint as if painting never existed before,’ he saw his compositions as forms of thought, as expressions of the universal experience of being alive and individual…” -MoMA.org: A little known fact: Newman’s visit to Oaxaca City, Mexico in the 1940’s was foundational to the development of his personal style; it heavily influenced his use of colour, and his notorious “zips” in his paintings. His photo series of Oaxacan walls illustrates the direct connection between his inspiration and his work. Art historians have estimated the value of these sketchbook ephemera at approximately $100,000 for each set. The present owner discovered them under the bed in her B and B on her recent visit to Oaxaca City and decided to bring them home as a souvenir.
Masterpiece Auction price: Sotheby's estimate: $100,000
Artist statement: “Painting, like passion, is a living voice, which, when I hear it, I must let it speak unfettered.” -Barnett Newman A visit to Oaxaca is like immersing oneself in an abstract expressionist world - every vertical surface is covered in a patina of paint, layers of plaster, and papered graphics. It is a celebration of colour, texture and mark-making! My photos are printed on aluminium sheets to maximize the vibrancy and reflectiveness of the Mexican sun, and the texture and colour of those photos appear in my ceramics work.
Medium: photo print on aluminium

Dimensions: 18 x 12 x 1
Supporting evidence Forgery is genuine/ how you came into ownership : “Painter and theorist Barnett Newman was one of the most intellectual artists of the New York School… His approach to art making was shaped by his studies in philosophy at The City College of New York and his political activism… In 1948, with the completion of a painting titled Onement, I, Newman found his voice. It was in this work that he hit upon what would become the signature motif that defined all of his paintings to come: a vertical band connecting the upper and lower margins of the painting that he called a “zip.” His zips streak through fields of color in spare compositions that prompted critics to dub him a Color Field painter and Minimalists to look to his work for inspiration. But call him what they would, Newman maintained his own view of his abstractions. Claiming that he sought ‘to start from scratch, to paint as if painting never existed before,’ he saw his compositions as forms of thought, as expressions of the universal experience of being alive and individual…” -MoMA.org: A little known fact: Newman’s visit to Oaxaca City, Mexico in the 1940’s was foundational to the development of his personal style; it heavily influenced his use of colour, and his notorious “zips” in his paintings. His photo series of Oaxacan walls illustrates the direct connection between his inspiration and his work. Art historians have estimated the value of these sketchbook ephemera at approximately $100,000 for each set. The present owner discovered them under the bed in her B and B on her recent visit to Oaxaca City and decided to bring them home as a souvenir.
Masterpiece Auction price: Sotheby's estimate: $100,000
Artist statement: “A painter is a choreographer of space” -Barnett Newman A visit to Oaxaca is like immersing oneself in an abstract expressionist world - every vertical surface is covered in a patina of paint, layers of plaster, and papered graphics. It is a celebration of colour, texture and mark-making! My photos are printed on aluminium sheets to maximize the vibrancy and reflectiveness of the Mexican sun, and the texture and colour of those photos appear in my ceramics work.
Medium: photo print on aluminium

Dimensions: 32 x 24 x 1
Supporting evidence Forgery is genuine/ how you came into ownership : Discovered in 2000 in family collection of ZK's work in Victoria.
Masterpiece Auction price: $5500
Artist statement: This piece, “Picking blue tulips” has been attributed to Zeljko Kujundzic (1920 – 2003) a mid- century modern Yugoslav-Canadian artist. He was known for his direct, confident, bold style of work in various media in painting, printmaking, ceramics and sculpture. His main subject matter was concerned with the human figure and condition. He had an impish sense of humour, which occasionally appeared in his work. The founder of the Kootenay School of Art in Nelson in 1960, he lived a long and productive teaching and exhibiting life in Canada, the USA, and internationally. Among his many accomplishments were the Canadian centennial commission, “Thunderbird” sculptures at UBC, the invention of a solar kiln that fired to 2800 degrees Fahrenheit, and a 16 foot tall 135 ton sandstone Holocaust memorial, “The Gate of Life” in Pennsylvania. This piece, “Picking blue tulips” was discovered in Victoria in 2021 among a collection of his works owned by the Kujundzic family. Estimated value $5,500. The impetus for this work was visiting a family member in 2004 in Great Britain where I saw for the first time my father’s 1958 painting of a stylized pot with blue flowers on her wall. Its style and simplicity delighted me, and I did a quick copy of it one afternoon. Many years later, looking at it in my studio, I found myself wanting to connect with my father as an artist. I chose to do a somewhat impish self-portrait of me picking the tulips out of his vase, using his original painting and our combined figurative styles.
Medium: egg tempera

Dimensions: 60 x 30 x 1.5
Supporting evidence Forgery is genuine/ how you came into ownership : A little known fact, Wassily Kandinsky grew very resentful and angry towards the end of his life in the early 1940’s. He felt as though he was not properly appreciated for his contribution to the art world, and that the fame and popularity of other artists ( read: hacks) like Picasso and Pollack was unwarranted. He undertook a project where he would create his masterpiece in the style of those contemporary artists to show everyone how easy it was to create. It’s a diptych ( or could hand separately) and called Pablo Pollack. Unfortunately, Kandinsky died before these almost completed pieces could be shown. Luckily, my grandmothers cousins family lived just outside Paris in Neuilly-sur-Seine and were Kandinsky’s neighbour and good friend. He left the paintings to the family , and as the sole remaining heir on that side of my family, they painting were went to me last month when my great uncle passed away.
Masterpiece Auction price: $43 million each
Artist statement: Rolstone, a modernist abstract artist, has been painting since 2009 and taken part in art shows and gallery expositions in Vancouver and Victoria. Although the majority of his paintings are bespoke and created on commission, he enjoys expanding his style creating one-off originals.
Medium: Acrylic on canvas

Dimensions: 60 x 30 x 1.5
Supporting evidence Forgery is genuine/ how you came into ownership : A little known fact, Wassily Kandinsky grew very resentful and angry towards the end of his life in the early 1940’s. He felt as though he was not properly appreciated for his contribution to the art world, and that the fame and popularity of other artists ( read: hacks) like Picasso and Pollack was unwarranted. He undertook a project where he would create his masterpiece in the style of those contemporary artists to show everyone how easy it was to create. It’s a diptych ( or could hand separately) and called Pablo Pollack. Unfortunately, Kandinsky died before these almost completed pieces could be shown. Luckily, my grandmothers cousins family lived just outside Paris in Neuilly-sur-Seine and were Kandinsky’s neighbour and good friend. He left the paintings to the family , and as the sole remaining heir on that side of my family, they painting were went to me last month when my great uncle passed away.
Masterpiece Auction price: 43 million each
Artist statement: Rolstone, a modernist abstract artist, has been painting since 2009 and taken part in art shows and gallery expositions in Vancouver and Victoria. Although the majority of his paintings are bespoke and created on commission, he enjoys expanding his style creating one-off originals.
Medium: Acrylic on canvas

Dimensions: 40 x 30 x 15
Supporting evidence Forgery is genuine/ how you came into ownership : Chaim-Iche Solomonovich Sutin, born to a peasant family in the Minsk Governorate of the Russian Empire, moved to France, where he met my Great, Great Uncle, Pierre Balmain of the House of Balmain. Pierre shared with Chaim that his niece, born a red head, would be denied the color red. Monsieur (Sutin) Soutine was greatly affected at such a thought so he made a promise that he would not deny her the color red. Prior to his death he asked Pierre to acquire an artist of future thinking to prepare a painting that would be of the style, techniques and materials within the niece’s future. Such talent he found decades later, which brought forth a painting using current techniques, materials and tools that were unavailable during Soutine’s life. The artist, fully aware of the niece’s current lifestyle and the legacy, produced a painting using current oil colours, silicone scrapers, brushes and cold wax in a style similar to Soutine’s. The role of the pastry chef has been diminished by innovative technology and the popularity of the outdoor kitchen. The niece’s husband is a Cuisinier en Plein Air, wears red to her pleasure. The wearing of RED remains unworn and very seldom painted as her uncomfortable relationship to red remains long after the red hair turned to white.
Masterpiece Auction price: 22 Million in 2013
Artist statement: Abstract Expression was the focus in art/painting studies at Victoria College of Art. When introduced to Soutine, I was drawn to The Pastry Chef paintings, in particular the painting with the red background. I teach the making and painting of Floorcloths, and this painting has been on my list to copy and turn into a large floorcloth for kitchen in summer residence
Medium: Oil and Clod Wax on canvas

Dimensions: 8 x 8 x 1.5
Supporting evidence Forgery is genuine/ how you came into ownership : After scuba diving in the Mediterranean Sea off Costa Brava, in Catalan, Spain, we went for a drink in a coastal pub. These three small paintings were on display. We assumed they were the works of the pub owner's children, but the back is signed Miró, and the owner assured us that these were real sketches Miro had made on vacation back in the early 1900s. My husband won them in an epic drinking contest. Here you can see how Miró’s works sometimes defy description. He considered his paintings “poems”; the surreal symbols he uses link to his subconscious.
Masterpiece Auction price: $8200
Artist statement: I was intrigued to figure out whether making a "simple" drawing was as easy as it looked. It was not.
Medium: Watercolour, gouache and ink on watercolour paper, mounted on board.

Dimensions: 8 x 8 x 1.5
Supporting evidence Forgery is genuine/ how you came into ownership : After scuba diving in the Mediteranean off Csta Brava, in Catalan, Spain, we went for a drink in a coastal pub. These three small paintings were on display. We assumed they were the works of the pub owner's children, but the back is signed Miró, and the owner assured us that these were real sketches Miro had made on vacation back in the early 1900s. My husband won them in an epic drinking contest. Miró thought of his paintings as poems, with various design elements equating to different words.
Masterpiece Auction price: $8000
Artist statement: Q: Is making simple art simple? A: No.
Medium: Watercolour and gouache on watercolour paper, mounted on board.

Dimensions: 8 x 8 x 1.5
Supporting evidence Forgery is genuine/ how you came into ownership : After scuba diving in the Mediteranean off Csta Brava, in Catalan, Spain, we went for a drink in a coastal pub. These three small paintings were on display. We assumed they were the works of the pub owner's children, but the back is signed Miró, and the owner assured us that these were real sketches Miro had made on vacation back in the early 1900s. My husband won them in an epic drinking contest. Miró’s “vocabulary” included stars, birds, ladders and freely created beings that appear naive or childlike in their free forms. These are not as easy to recreate as you would think!
Masterpiece Auction price: $7500
Artist statement: Is creating simple art easy. No.
Medium: Watercolour and gouache on watercolour paper, mounted on board.

Dimensions: 3 x 3 x 3
Supporting evidence Forgery is genuine/ how you came into ownership : “The image we produce is the self evident one of revelation..that can be understood by anyone who will look at it without the nostalgic glasses of history” -Barnett Newman Newman also worked in ceramics - mostly sculpture. He considered this work secondary to his painting, and once quipped, “Sculpture is what you bump into when you back up to see a painting.” This 7” x 7” white stoneware vase is decorated using a coloured slip transfer technique with Newman’s characteristic carved sgraffito “zips”. Though his painting “Onement VI” set a record at $43.8 million at a recent Sotheby’s auction, his ceramic work is valued more in the $100,000 range. This vase has been estimated at 90,000. Expressionist Platter “Man's first expression, like his first dream, was an aesthetic one. Speech was a poetic outcry rather than a demand for communication.” -Barnett Newman This 14” x 3” white white stoneware platter is decorated using a dry brushed coloured slip technique with Newman’s characteristic carved sgraffito “zips”. Newman is known for his use of vibrant colours, but also explored black and white tonal work with more obvious black brush marks against a white ground. This platter exemplifies this period. Though his painting “Onement VI” set a record at $43.8 million at a recent Sotheby’s auction, his ceramic work is valued more in the $100,000 range. This platter has been estimated at $110,000.
Masterpiece Auction price: Vase $90,000, Platter $110,000
Artist statement: I love the colour and texture and line work of Barnett Newmann. Vase price:$85.00; Platter price
Medium: Clay