Artist worked with someone to produce a product...what is that then?

Awhile back I found a painting, not a print, signed by a modern artist. It seemed to vary from other works of hers I found online as it had a second medium (metal) added to the image.

I found the artist's email online and sent photos and asked if it was her work as it has her signature.

Her response:
this painting is not an original by me...about 10 years ago i worked with a publisher who created a few things from one of my images...so the image is mine but not the actual creation of that piece

So what does that make it? It is actual paint and no "publisher" noted anywhere. An authorized copy? That's not noted anywhere either.

Oye....I suspect it's going into the I don't know what to do with this pile.

 

that would make the signature a fake.....wouldn't it ?

 

Sounds like a print incorporated into some kind of metal framework? Even though this looks like a painting, her use of the word publisher makes me think it has to be a reproduction of some type.

History has provided us will all types of these collaborations. The enhanced serigraph paintings by Boris Riedel come to mind. The Turner prints and, particularly, the mirrors are also a good example.

I know a woman who employed artists to hand paint reproductions of her original paintings with her monogram for awhile. On the back she provided hand signed certificates of authenticity. In a correspondence with her, she disclaimed these as being her original works. Since she was selling her original works for a lot of money and modern limited edition signed prints of her work for several hundred, she had financial interest in disclaiming these as original.

 

It's an authorized copy. It's not a fake, since it was made in cooperation with the artist. I'd call it a decorator copy and leave it at that.

 

Hmmmm.....

Brad I suspect this might be similar to the artist you mention. This doesn't have any documentation of any kind, just a signature which looks good.

Don't know what to do with it exactly, it is a sort of copy using real materials but not a fake exactly, (though the signature kinda is I guess). At least the artist acknowledged it so there is that.

Oh bother......

 

Her response:
this painting is not an original by me

I never said this is a fake anything !
But there is no reason to believe the artist you spoke to actually signed this !

 

If I were you, I'd list it with the artist's name and quote her statement.

There's nothing wrong with the truth. Someone may love it. *smiles*