Now's the chance to buy legal forgeries

By Parvathi Nayar Narayan

JAKARTA (JP): Looking to buy artwork? Well, an upcoming exhibition in Jakarta has over a hundred works of the great masters of Western art for sale.

It will feature impressionists like Monet, exciting post impressionists like Cezanne and Van Gogh, and surrealists like Dali and Miro. If the renaissance is more your taste, there will be Da Vinci. For something more modern, there will be Picasso.

This is a rare collection of art, even if the works are not original -- you must of suspected a catch! They are all well respected copies by Le Musee Imaginaire of Austria.

The European masters such as Da Vinci, Van Gogh and Monet spent years learning painting and color mixing techniques. Today, students are warned not to fall into the trap of being competent copiers with no personal creativity. Of course, unethical artists with exceptional skills can tap into the more lucrative, illegal, forgery market.

The idea behind Le Musee Imaginaire is rather different in that it is neither illegal or educational. It is about giving art lovers, who could never own original masterpieces, the chance to buy near perfect reproductions.

Le Musee Imaginaire is the name of the association of artists working for the Fondazine dei Falsi d'Autore, which was founded in 1984 by Daniel Ermes Donde. He created an art school that produces legal forgeries: they are created and sold as copies which never masquerade as the originals.

The works' prices are reasonable, although increasing popularity is inflating their value. The price range of the works to be shown in Jakarta, for instance, is from Rp 8,750,000 to Rp 11.5 million. While the works cost nothing compared to the originals, they are not cheap.

Each artist at Le Musee Imaginaire chooses a master painter to copy. The artist then goes to elaborate lengths to know the painter in detail. The master's typical pallet, materials and techniques all come under intensive study. The finishing touches to the reproductions are made by applying a secret carbon, mineral, genetic process which gives the works an aged look. As a result, the paintings' surfaces are extremely similar to the originals'.

But how can these copies be differentiated from forgeries and how can buyers interests be protected? The answer is that the copies are formally registered as reproductions, and have received seals of approval from the Academy of Art in Milan and from museums in France and the Netherlands.

Le Musee Imaginaire has received the patronage of famous people such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren and Frank Sinatra.

A copy, however good, is not everyone's cup of tea. Many would prefer an original by a talented but unknown artist. If, however, you like good copies and the works of the great Western masters, there is probably no better selection anywhere.

The Le Musee Imaginaire Exhibition will open on July 12 in the Lagoon Tower of the Jakarta Hilton. Guests of Honor include Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro, Minister of Post, Telecommunications and Tourism Joop Ave and Oskar Andesner, the Austrian Commercial Counselor. A charity auction will be held at the opening.

The exhibition will be open to the public from July 13 to 19 from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m..