DubaI: An avid art collector in Dubai has been left embarrassed and shocked after discovering that the ‘famous’ Hesham Malik painting he bought for Dh500,000 is actually a fake.
The audacious forgery came to light when the man sent a picture of the ‘prized’ artwork to the internationally acclaimed artist seeking an authenticity certificate and a hand-written note which comes along with each of Malik’s paintings.
Horrifying disovery
“Apparently he wanted to resell it, so he contacted my team. To our utter horror we found that it was a fake replica of one of my most memorable works, Filia (Daughter), which I painted in oil acrylic and ink about 13 years ago,” the Dubai-raised master artist told XPRESS from Prague where he relocated a few years ago. “The original painting fetched Dh53 million. It measured 150x100 and was bought by a man in New York over a decade back. The fake measures 60x90 and is done entirely in acrylic. There are several other glaring differences. For instance, the hand of one of the figures is missing in the fake painting. My signature falling flakes is also not there. I can imagine why, as they are very difficult to recreate. Plus, the painting doesn’t have the handwritten description which I give with all my paintings,” said Malik, who is originally from Mumbai, India.
Living in denial
Malik said at first the art collector couldn’t believe that he had been duped. “It was when my legal representatives sat with the man and showed him the picture of the original painting did reality dawn on him,” said Malik without revealing the identity of the Dubai-based art collector.
“My works come with an authenticity certificate, sales agreement and a handwritten description about the painting. There are no reprints of my paintings which means there is only one piece of each work,” said Malik whose paintings have sold for millions of dollars all over the world. Placido was bought for about Dh30.8 million while ‘Elizabeth of Russia’ and Red fetched Dh142 million Dh91 million. Another painting titled CAT went for Dh202 million recently.
Malik said he suspects other poor imitations of his works could be doing the rounds in Dubai.
“It is a criminal offence to make fakes. I do not want my name on something I have not created,” added the painter whose current networth is estimated to be around Dh4 billion.
The art of con:
Fillia (Daughter)
Original
Year created: 2004
Size: 150 X 100 cm
Medium : Oil, acrylic and ink
Sold in Albany, NY
Selling price: Dh53 million
Fake
Year created: 2012
Size : 60 X 90 cm
Medium : Acrylic
Sold in Dubai
Selling price: Dh4.8 million
In the fake Fillia, some of the main figures in the original piece are missing. The size is smaller to the original and the falling flakes are missing.
Six ways to determine if a painting is original or fake
— Does the work look like it fits the style of other works by the artist?
— Is the signature consistent with other works from the same time period?
— Were the materials used available at the time the work was supposed to have been painted?
— Look at the back. Canvas material, stretcher wood, and nails should all show appropriate signs of age.
— Can the owner tell you where it was purchased?
— Does the price seem “too good to be true?”
