The Real Story Is On The Back
When we interact with paintings, we spend most of our time looking at the front, also known as the recto. This is where the artist most often painted the picture that we’re supposed to be looking at. So why should we care about the backs, or versos, of paintings? Well, the verso can offer a glimpse into the life of an artwork. Not only is access to a verso an invaluable part of the due diligence process, but it also serves as a passport, recording the evolution of art history and ownership that a painting has undergone.
Cornelis Norbertus Gijsbrechts (Flemish, active 1659-about 1672), “Trompe l'oeil. The reverse of a framed painting,” oil on canvas, between circa 1668 and circa 1672, collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, public domain image.
The labels, markings, and inscriptions present on a painting’s verso are a vital part of building and verifying ownership histories. They can convey information such as past owners, exhibitions, transactions, and transportation. Unfortunately, there is no comprehensive, publicly available database against which you can verify these markings when conducting research. The knowledge required to “read” a verso is built from experience and piecing sources together, such as the collection of archival labels and stamps found on artwork form the Leonard A. Lauder Cubist Collection or the specialist guide published by Christie’s.
Glimpsing the back of a painting is a rare experience for many of us. Granting access to a verso is akin to baring your soul to a total stranger - revealing all of your secrets for the world to see. With this in mind, the current art market generally only allows us to interact with the back, or verso, of a painting in a few situations:
• Sales catalogues expressing an artwork is signed and/or titled on the reverse.
• The artist either painted or wrote extensively on the verso.
• An exhibition “reveals” versos (i.e., they give you an unexpected glimpse into the secret world of art predominately reserved for staff).
• As part of art transactions, displaying proof of access (think showing proof of life for a kidnapping victim).
To really make my point, let’s take a quick look at famed forger Wolfgang Beltracchi. Over the course of four decades, Beltracchi and his wife, Helene created a strong sales network relying on Helene’s ancestry, via her industrialist grandfather Werner Jägers, and a famous art collection they claimed he had amassed in secret by buying works at low prices from a Jewish Dealer shortly after the rise of the Nazi Party in the 1930s. They even staged historical photographs of Helene in period costumes with forged artworks in the background to contribute to the provenance. They even recreated historic photographs with Helene posing as one of her ancestors in front of the “Jägers Collection.” During this time, not only did Beltracchi successfully forge and sell paintings and drawings for forty years (he claims about 300 works from 1970 to 2010!), but Beltracchi also fooled some leading experts and institutions in his scheme. But, in the end, a contributing factor to Beltracchi’s demise was, yes, you guessed it, the verso!
You see, as part of the fabricated provenance, the Beltracchi’s claimed that this “Jewish Dealer” was none other than gallerist Alfred Flechtheim of Galerie Flechtheim. Now, Galerie Flechtheim was largely seized by the Nazis in the 1930s, and many of their records did not survive World War II. However, what we do know is that Galerie Flechtheim was known to have affixed verso labels to many of the works they exhibited and sold. All of these factors leave quite a few gaping holes in which someone like Beltracchi could create a compelling story. And, that’s exactly what he did!
Throughout their long con, Wolfgang began affixing his own “Sammlung Flechtheim” labels to the back of paintings he claimed were “by” artists such as Henrick Campendonk and Max Ernst. These labels were decorated with a cartoonish rendering of Alfred Flechtheim himself (images of the labels can viewed here) and were intended to bolster the provenance story Helene and Wolfgang had crafted around the Jägers Collection. However, Beltracchi’s version of the label looks nothing like any of the originals (images of the original labels can be viewed here). Due diligence efforts combined with a familiarity with verso labels from Galerie Flechtheim should have raised a red flag.
In the end, Beltracchi was only found guilty of forgery for 14 paintings, which he sold for approximately $45 million. Since then, more of his forgeries have come to light. Will we ever know the true extent of Beltracchi’s scam? Where are the rest of his forgeries? Is there one hanging in your favorite museum or on your walls?
While we may never have a complete answer to any of these questions, the Beltracchi case study serves as a prime example of why we should never forget to flip a painting over.
About the Author: Aubrey Catrone is an international art historian, appraiser, and provenance researcher. Aubrey earned an MA in the History of Art from University College London, specializing in the documented histories of art objects. With an art gallery and academic research background, Catrone founded Proper Provenance, LLC to provide her clients with the tools, not only to historically contextualize art, but also to shed light on attribution and legal title within the international art market. She is an Accredited Member of the Appraisers Association of America with a specialization in Impressionist & Modern Art.
Catrone has researched artworks including paintings, artifacts, works on paper, prints, and sculptures spanning the fourth century B.C.E. to the twenty-first century C.E. She has appeared as a guest expert on the History Channel and published her scholarship in a variety of publications including RICS Journals and the Journal of Art Crime.
© Aubrey Catrone 2024