Description:

PORTRAIT OF MAJOR WELCH BY NOTED FORGER ELMYR DE HORY
ELMYR DE HORY (1906 - 1976) Hungarian-born painter and art forger, who is said to have sold over a thousand forgeries to reputable art galleries all over the world. His forgeries garnered celebrity from a Clifford Irving book, "Fake" (1969); a documentary essay film by Orson Welles, "F for Fake" (1974); and a biography by Mark Forgy, "The Forger''s Apprentice: Life with the World''s Most Notorious Artist" (2012). Oil-on-canvas portrait, 19 1/2" x 25" (sight), a chest-up depiction of a British Major of the Royal Fusiliers, named as Frank Welch on a brass plaque affixed to the bottom edge of the frame. The upper right corner of the canvas bears the artist''s signature "Hory 1947" in black paint, along with the French dedication "a l''ami Welch". De Hory, while only passingly successful as an artist in his own right, would garner international infamy for his skilled forgeries of the works of such artists as Pablo Picasso, Auguste Renoir, Amadeo Modigliani, and Henri Matisse, although his relationships with a series of shady art dealers and agents kept him from becoming wealthy. He would eventually be arrested by Spanish authorities and commit suicide to avoid extradition to France. His forgeries are highly sought-after collectibles in their own right, and his honest works are scarce. Shows a few minor surface abrasions, else very good. Also present is a period portrait photo of Major Welch, 8" x 10", bearing the stamp of noted American portrait photographer Fabian Bachrach at lower right. Two pieces.

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April 18, 2018 10:00 AM EDT
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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