(AAPNW-MI) – Opening Sunday, November 21 at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), “Fakes, Forgeries, and Mysteries” gives goers the opportunity to learn about how art experts and scientists determine if a work of art is authentic, fake, a forgery, or if the evidence is inconclusive to make a determination. “The DIA has been collecting and displaying art for more than 125 years,” said DIA director Graham W. J. Beal. “And alongside the many masterpieces found in the tens of thousands of works of art we have acquired, there are some that are not what they were thought to be at the time they were acquired. This exhibition shows how ongoing scholarship and scientific research refines and clarifies our understanding of what we are looking at.”
A show of 60 paintings, sculptures, photographs, prints, drawings and decorative arts that either are or claim to be from diverse cultures: European, African, American, Asian, Islamic, Coptic and Ancient Near Eastern, presents a diversity of objects that examines issues, such as who really created a particular work of art, when it was made, if it is authentic or fake, or remains a mystery.
Some of the mistakes and other discoveries made through the years regarding artist attribution, authenticity and value of works in the collection will be under the spotlight of are you real, displaying known forgeries, in some cases, next to authentic works so visitors can see for themselves the different characteristics and clues, with explanations on how the museum came to that conclusion.
As curators research files and analyze artist’s brushstrokes and as conservators clean artworks that reveal clues: paint and canvas threads that validate authenticity, despite their efforts, ‘mysteries’ loom, however DIA has a “next step” that explains what they will be doing to get closer to solving the mystery.
“Even if they turn out to be forgeries, these objects would be crucial scholarly tools used to identify other forgeries,” said Salvador Salort-Pons, DIA associate curator of European paintings and curator of the exhibition. “We may also discover a few authentic works by well-respected artists. For the museum, the importance of these discoveries would lie in the enhanced artistic quality of our collection.”
For more information on tickets and the other included activities during this show, see www.dia.org or call 313.833.7971.