Parajanov.com
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Beverly Hills, California 90209 US
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FAKE COLLAGES claimed to be by legendary filmmaker Sergei Paradjanov will
again be on sale in London on June 11, 2009 at MacDougall’s Auction. In
2007, MacDougall’s Auction sold 3 (of 4) fake Paradjanov collages (see our
report from March 2, 2008 below). This time MacDougall’s Auction has 6 fake
Paradjanov collages, which MacDougall’s calls "Lady Serving Tea", "Aladdin",
"Lady with Vase with Flowers", "Lady with a Mirror", "Princess with
Butterflies", and "Princess of Taj Mahal". Well, that’s a whole lot of
"ladies", BUT NO Paradjanov, ladies and gentlemen. MacDougall’s Auction
didn’t disclose any information except that the "ladies" came from a
"Private collection, France".
More on the French connection is below and these are the fake Paradjanov
collages in London, which MacDougall’s Auction is going to sell on June 11,
2009. If you are in London go to the auction (at 30A Charles II St., London,
telephone +44-20-7389-8160) and write to us about it.
Now the French connection. We’ve received a letter from France, whose author
requested to remain annonymous, and we were informed about several fake
collages that were brought from Tbilisi, Georgia, according to the dealer
who was selling the fakes. At least one fake Paradjanov collage called
"Composition 1" was sold at the Aguttes Auction in France for EUR 10, 201 on
March 25, 2009. Aguttes often hold auctions in partnership with Cabinet
d’expertise Dan Coissard. Our letters to Claude Aguttes and Dan Coissard
remain unanswered. Here is the fake collages that was sold:
Two more fake Paradjanov collages have apparently not been sold – "Persian
fantasy I and II".
Below is our report from March 2, 2008.
[02 March 2008]/updated
Fake Paradjanov collage was sold for GBP 89,950 (USD 178,000 / EUR 133,126)
in London at the MacDougall Arts Ltd Auctions around June 15th, 2007.
On February 29, 2008, Noyan Tapan News Agency reported from Moscow that
artist Valery Boyakhchian, who worked for Sergei Paradjanov in 1980s in
Tbilisi, informed Yerkramas Newspaper that he is in fact the author of the
fake collage, which he calls "A Mysterious Supper". Per Noyan Tapan, which
cites Yerkramas Newspaper, Boyakhchian (Boyakjian, Boyakhchian) made the
collage in New York (around 2001) and gave it to an art dealer in exchange
for an airline ticket to Moscow. Presently, it is unclear who the dealer was
and if he knew the work wasn’t by Paradjanov. In any case, very thorough
research should have been made to confirm the provenance.
According to the MacDougall Arts Ltd Auction’s press release of June 15th,
2007, the collage ("Last Supper") was sold for $178,101 (USD). The
provenance is listed as "Glezer collection. Corporate collection, USA."
According to the auction’s website the collage had been previously exhibited
at "C.A.S.E. Museum of Contemporary Russian Art, Jersey City, USA, 2003 and
Bell Harbor, Miami, USA, 2006."
Currently there are also 3 collages listed on the auction’s website:
"Collage with Mona Lisa," (presumably sold November 29 or 30, 2007 for GBP
7,710 (USD 15,898); "Old Friends" (presumably sold November 29 or 30, 2007
for GBP 8,353 (USD 17,223) and "Family Portrait" (presumably not sold). The
provenance of the 1st collage is shown as "A. Gleizer collection. Roman
Tabakman colleciton, USA" and the provenance of the other 2 collages —
"Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner. Private collection,
USA", but it is not clear who that owner is. Paradjanov experts and closest
friends, the family of Sergei Parajanov, and Paradjanov museum, have all
confirmed these collages are fake. MacDougall’s Auction in London ignored
the letter from the museum and refused to answer any questoins or produce
any evidence that the collages were "acquired directly from the artist by
the present owner" etc.
Back in 2003, Parajanov.com reported about a large exhibition of fake
Paradjanov collages on display from December 1, 2002 till March 16, 2003 at
the Rutgers University’s Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum and which came
from the collection of Norton and Nancy Dodge, collectors of Soviet
Nonconformist art. The Zimmerli Museum’s catalogue stated that some collages
in their exhibition were jointly made "by Sergei Paradjanov and Valerii
Boyakjian" and several were "attirbuted" to Paradjanov. We asked the
Zimmerli Museum to confirm when and where Norton and Nancy Dodge acquired
all the works, but they didn’t provide that information. The $178,000 piece
sold in London by MacDougall Arts Ltd auction listed "related literature"
for the "Last Supper" collage as "Collage and Assemblage in the Norton and
Nancy Dodge Collection, USA, 2001".
We believe that there are several persons involved in making forged collages
in United States and overseas, including Russia, Georgia, and Armenia, and
we strongly recommend to do a very extensive reasearch before aquiring any
work said to be by Sergei Paradjanov as there are few works that can become
available and the number of fakes continues to increase.
Parajanov.com
POB 17257
Beverly Hills, California 90209 US
[email protected]