A response...(the story that I am responding to is on the FAR website)(but I am not sure I want to write it there)...(or tell)...
A response to some of the issues facing artists today...An ethical take...& a slap on the hand...
There are a few salient points for ARTISTS I would like to mention:
1) If you are at all worried about working with an agent or gallery,
do NOT sign any contract with them right away. Instead agree to a
trial period, where you can both prove your worth, trust, loyalty,
business practices etc.
2)If & when you discover something as horrific as a forgery of your
signature, terminate the contract immediately.Then take action on that
fact immediately...
3)If you are selling a painting for say $1,500.00, sell it to your
agent, then discover it has been re-sold for $15,000.00, you are being
cheated. if the work is only worth $1,500 then you should alert the
collector they have been duped. If the work really is worth that much,
then all of your subsequent prices must be increased
accordingly...Allowing this to happen without intervening is
tantamount to agreeing with this corrupt practice.
4)Original works of art are undisputably the work of the artist. Any
photomechanical printing is actually the work of a machine & a
printer. Signing 21 thousand photo-mechanical prints with your name in
pencil is in fact a soft form of fraud that the art market has
perpetuated...It floods the market with posters that are not actually
painted by the hand of the artist...Whether or not the signature was
forged or not, the act of allowing photo-mechanical prints of ones art
is questionable in & of itself...The presence of all limited edition
prints on the art market has destroyed the integrity of the
product...The signature is merely an insult to that injury. I suggest
all present day artists attempt to restrain themselves from allowing
photo-mechanical prints of their originals. That will dry up the
supply, & return the art world to the appreciation of the original
works.
5)Painting 10 paintings a month is a ludicrous schedule, only possible
through the advent of plastic fast-drying paints. The wastage of
materials to over-produce works that could not possibly have the same
soul as work done in a more lengthy manner is truly an anomoly in a
world that professes a neo-eco-paradigm...
Did the "Gallery" ruin this man's life? I am not sure...I think
that this man was possibly complicit in his own problem. There were
choices that he made along the way, choices that caused him to arrive
at this final destination.
As an artist, I think he should blame himself first. He got into bed
with the devil...He signed his soul away in a contract...
The devil will always be around to tempt...But as artists we must be
cautious...Re-watch that movie "Damn Yankees" for learning about
contracts...
So...Today the "Gallery" is selling Dali prints worth 100 dollars for ten
times that much? Why doth people protest so much? I do not see this
protest when the artist was made aware that his original sold for ten
times as much? Why? Perhaps, because he, as many artists know, that if
one work sells for that much, all works can be sold at that inflated
price & that the artist will become famous & perhaps later, rich...
...& "Artist who protests" is now famous...The very thing he says he despises has
given him much fame...
Fortune? Perhaps not. But that is only because for some reason he is
not able to sell his originals for the 15 thousand dollars.
He did not protest when signing 21 thousand photo-mechanical prints.
Why? because that was potential income for him. I see him protesting
after he cancelled his contract. Far far too late for this artist...
I agree, forging is wrong, signatures or otherwise. Hand embellished
work on photo-mechanical giclees is also crap- but why did he continue
to allow that to happen?
The excuse given is his family...Financial needs. Well, prostitutes
say that every day of the week. Drug dealers. Thieves. If your excuse
for doing bad things is financial need, you need to examine that issue
with yourself.
Because in the long run that is wrong. Not true. Financial joy comes
from honest work & ethical decisions.
There is nothing that will ruin you faster than being corrupt for
money's sake. It will kill you, cause divorces, destroy your family
ties.
The only thing we can now do is look back, learn & move forward with
integrity.
There are examples here of what Not to do. But not just the gallery
who is obviously corrupt. The artist & the art community must also
correct itself.
I am sure "Artist who Protests" will agree with me...
He writes himself of his misgivings all the way along, but the story
should have ended there...Why did he continue?
Mistake!
et tu brutus...
Also.
Why on earth would any artist sign anything that allowed people to
sign on the artist's behalf- whether dead or infirm?
Again, this is another form of fraud. If the artist dies or cannot
sign his own work, then so be it. That clause in the contract is
completely implausible. No self-respecting artist would allow anyone
to sign on their behalf, ever, conditions or no conditions, it is just
not right.
You can't sign someone else's name, anywhere, it is forgery, whether
it is in a contract or not.
Again, just because someone writes something into a contract does not
make it legal...This is the artist's fault. Never never never let
anyone sign your name...Why would you? For your family? Give me a
break. Your family doesn't want to perpetuate a fraud. That is just an
excuse. Again, the artist is complicit in a crime. Bad artist!
Posted by GroveCanada.fm at 3/2/2010 9:46 PM 
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: photo-mechanical artists art ethics
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Tags: photo-mechanical artists art ethics
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How art is used to embezzle money from the income tax dept.
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GroveCanada
Joined: 02 Mar 2010
Posts: 1
Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 8:13 am Post subject: How art is used to embezzle money from the income tax dept.
Scams: scam number 1) accountant buys 50 paintings from one artist for 100 dollars a painting.2)accountant gets appraisal on ONE painting by artist that sells for regular retail (not 50 at a time)- so , say $1,000.00 appraisal. 3) Now accountant has paid 5 thousand dollars for 50 paintings, but appraiser says ONE painting by same artist can sell for One thousand dollars.So, accountant donates 50 paintings which are now ON PAPER valued at 50 thousand dollars.4)Accountant gets TAX WRITE-OFF worth FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS & he only shelled out 5 grand. (this is a Canadian loophole in charitable donations that recently was closed up- a pile of accountants & scuzzy artists got caught. I actually was asked, this is how I know- personally couldn't paint 50 paintings in a row...Didn't need the 5 grand. Decided they were ---holes. Said No.
Scam number 2...1)Person embezzles money from M------ Lynch, from one of his big clients, say 10 million dollars U.S. 2)Person meets art dealer on cruise ship Royal C--------- or whatever...3)Art dealer sells person Fake D-lis & other cr-p art which ON PAPER ONLY says it is worth 10 million dollars U.S. 4)Embezzler moves to the C-yman islands, ships fake cr-p art valued on paper at 10 mill U.S. 5)Art dealer flies to C-yman islands 6) Embezzler says "This art is fake cr-p art!" 7)Art dealer issues a refund worth 10 million U.S. minus a buyer's premium, shipping & other cr-p expenses. 8)Art dealer takes fake cr-p art away, (or alternatively, fake cr-p art is shipped back to fake cr-p art dealer, wherever, say,
M-chigan...9)Embezzler has now moved 10 million dollars from say N-w York, M-chigan, wherever, to the C-yman Islands where it can earn money income tax free & no-one can find it, minus of course a big chunky commission to -sshole mule cr-p fake art dealer who is accomplice in this money moving income tax avoiding embezzling crime...10)variations on money moving are possible, for various reasons...Mostly just avoiding taxes in whatever country your money is in, without anyone knowing, using art as a mule...(That's why they transact this bullsh-t on cruise ships.- Like anyone is buying thousands of dollars worth of art on a boat!!!) 11)The beauty of this scam is that the embezzler cries "Fake art" & the money gets refunded...& all the elves in the fine art community think justice has been served. Truth is, this is just a money move- they don't give a sh-t about the art- they just use fakes cause no-one would allow a real D-li to be treated that way-moved around
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Hi. The above comment was one I posted on the FAR forum, but wanted to save it somewhere, so I put it here as well, in case it got lost. Sorry, I copied & pasted my post too quickly, so the the FAR forum stuff got pasted too.Not intentional...(Just wanted to save my own work)...
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