My mother, the art forger

rutt

My mother is a pretty good artist in her own right, but she is also an incincorrigible and unrepentant art forger. And it seems to be getting worse as she has really come into her golden years. Andy inspired me and I opened my eyes and looked around my house. This jumped out at me:



Janet Ruttenberg, Copy of Rene Magritte's Painted Mask.

She did this last year:



Janet Ruttenberg, Copy of Picasso's Portrait of Gertude Stein.

The fake Picasso is so good, I think it could be substituted in the Met and not noticed for a good long time. The fussing that went into the frame and canvas...

I've made her sign her own name and date on the back of these things. I don't think she can get into trouble for just making them.

Sam

rutt wrote:

My mother is a pretty good artist in her own right, but she is also an incincorrigible and unrepentant art forger. And it seems to be getting worse as she has really come into her golden years. Andy inspired me and I opened my eyes and looked around my house. This jumped out at me:



Janet Ruttenberg, Copy of Rene Magritte's Painted Mask.

She did this last year:



Janet Ruttenberg, Copy of Picasso's Portrait of Gertude Stein.

The fake Picasso is so good, I think it could be substituted in the Met and not noticed for a good long time. The fussing that went into the frame and canvas...

I've made her sign her own name and date on the back of these things. I don't think she can get into trouble for just making them.

These are fantastic! But It's not forging. To forge requires criminal intent to decieve. Now if she is signing the paintings with Picasso, that would be different.

I would like to see some of her original work.

Sam

Nir

Amazing!

rutt

Sam wrote:

These are fantastic! But It's not forging. To forge requires criminal intent to decieve. Now if she is signing the paintings with Picasso, that would be different.

I would like to see some of her original work.

Sam

But they are signed with her own name on the back.

Anyway, her own work. Here are a couple of relatively recent oil paintings:



This is a very large scale oil, I think the canvas itself is more than 7 feet wide.



This is a portrait of my father, painted 3 years ago. It's also large, maybe 4 feet high.



Her mother, my grandmother, at 100, circa 2001.



My grandmother in her 40s.



My mother is 72, but she has been an artist all her life. Here is a self portrait as a teenager:



I don't think my grandmother liked this portrait of herself very much, she put it in her bathroom. Then again, she spent a lot of time in there.



My grandfather who died in 1972.

That's the best stuff I could find in my archive. I have some stuff around the house, but it's hard to shoot, drawings and prints under glass. My mother is a printmaker and makes color copper plate etchings. These take a huge amount of work, measured in years. I'll try to shoot some of these, but I'm going to need to invent a way to light them.

lynnma

rutt wrote:

But they are signed with her own name on the back.

Anyway, her own work. Here are a couple of relatively recent oil paintings:



This is a very large scale oil, I think the canvas itself is more than 7 feet wide.



This is a portrait of my father, painted 3 years ago. It's also large, maybe 4 feet high.



Her mother, my grandmother, at 100, circa 2001.



My grandmother in her 40s.



My mother is 72, but she has been an artist all her life. Here is a self portrait as a teenager:



I don't think my grandmother liked this portrait of herself very much, she put it in her bathroom. Then again, she spent a lot of time in there.



My grandfather who died in 1972.

That's the best stuff I could find in my archive. I have some stuff around the house, but it's hard to shoot, drawings and prints under glass. My mother is a printmaker and makes color copper plate etchings. These take a huge amount of work, measured in years. I'll try to shoot some of these, but I'm going to need to invent a way to light them.

Wow!!! what a talented lady!! Thanks for sharing Rutt.. is she still painting???

damonff

Really cool stuff. Take photos of all of it.

gubbs

Rutt, they're amazing!

Sam

Thanks
Rutt,

Thanks for taking the time to share these with us. Your mother is verry talented.

Sam

ginger_55

Those are wonderful, Rutt, just wonderful! What a legacy.

If you looked like your father, you also look just like your grandfather, don't you think?

And, with your heritage, you are going to live forever. (I like the portrait of your grandmother, the one in her bathroom)

ginger

PerezDesignGroup

Absolutely brilliant work! Have you tried using a polarizing filter to cut through all the glare in the glass?

rutt

PerezDesignGroup wrote:

Absolutely brilliant work! Have you tried using a polarizing filter to cut through all the glare in the glass?

That's a good idea. I'll give it a try.

pathfinder

An unexpected self-portrait, John. A lovely story about your mother and her art - very interesting - she must be quite a lady!! Thnk you for sharing.

ian408

Thanks for the story!

Now I see where your skill comes from.

Ian