A forgery is an item that was made to fool others into believing it is something it is not. This includes counterfeits, but also made up items like a ‘newly discovered’ Rembrandt painting.On the other hand, a fake is an item that is seriously misidentified or who's identity is seriously misrepresented. This includes forgeries and … Continue reading The difference between a fake and a forgery
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Using a black light to identify many fakes
An inexpensive and easy to use longwave black light is a great tool for quickly identifying reprints and fakes of Pre World War II paper material. This includes trading cards, photographs, programs, posters, postcards, tickets and anything made of paper. A black light is effective in identifying of many, though not all, modern paper stocks. … Continue reading Using a black light to identify many fakes
Tagging art microscopically
Art, artifacts, collectibles and other valuables are often security marked in case of theft, loss, dipsute or other later need to identify the item and/or owners. The markers range from overt holograms and serial numbered stickers to invisible tags, and allow the marked items, and often the rightful owners, to be identified. An interesting covert … Continue reading Tagging art microscopically
Aleatory art
“Any path is right, if— as according to Bach-- it leads to the divine”— music historian Paul Epstein on J.S. Bach’s fugues, to which Bach never gave a playing order. Aleatory art is art where the finished result is substantially out of the artist’s hands. It can involve chance or the musicians’ or audience’s choice. … Continue reading Aleatory art
Lab experiment becomes art
Massachusetts Institute of Technology electrical engineering professor Harold Edgerton became world famous for his invention of the strobe light and stroboscopic photography, the latter a form of ultra high speed photography using strobe lights. Edgerton was studying turbine engines in his 1930s Cambridge Massachusetts lab and wanted stop-action images of the engine in motion. However, camera … Continue reading Lab experiment becomes art
Curious physical forms of ancient money
Money has taken unusual material forms over the years. Cows, sheep and goats were first used as currency thousands of years before Christ. Cowries, the shells of a mulluscs, were a popular form of currency for many years. Bronze and copper cowrie imitations were manufactured by China at the end of the Stone Age and … Continue reading Curious physical forms of ancient money
15th century counterfeit protection
German painter and artist Albrecht Durer (1471-1528) is ranked as one of history's master printmakers, perhaps the most technically skilled in Western art. During his time, his etchings, engravings and woodcuts were emulated and glorified, and owned by kings. To help prevent his works from being counterfeited or plagiarized, Durer made his prints so detailed … Continue reading 15th century counterfeit protection
Tempera paintings
Tempera, often called egg tempera, is an ancient type of paint and painting that pre-dated oil paint in popularity. Many ancient Egyptian and Western Medieval paintings were tempera, and the paintings of Michelangelo and Botticelli are tempera. Tempera was the most popular form of painting until the 1500s, when it was replaced by oil paint. … Continue reading Tempera paintings
Milk glass photograph
Many are surprised when they learn that many 1800s photographs were not paper, but glass and metal. The pictured 1800s opalotype has the image on milky white glass and has a foil frame. Opalotypes were sometimes hand tinted or colored.
Dali’s bomb prints
Salvador Dali made prints printed from metal printing plates prepared in creative ways. To help create the design for one printing plate, he blew up a home made bomb in front of it.
Looking at Artifacts and Ideas 