Modigliani's death mask, photographed in 1933 in
the atelier of Jacques Lipschitz
Christian Parisot, a self-appointed expert on the work of Modigliani, was also reported in London's FT of 11 Jan 2013, to have been under investigation for over 2 years by Italian authorities, was arrested, indicted and sentenced for artfraud-- and the investigative web has been extended to include some of Parisot's associates-- one of them the consignor of record of a Modigliani nude entitled Grand Nue Alongee or Reclining Nude of Celine (Coupet) Howard, discreetly referenced below in my CONSIGNMENT OF MODIGLIANI TO BONN EXHIBITION, posted in 2009 and deemed by Henrik Hanstein in the article to be "risky". The consignor of record was Joseph Guttmann of New York (working along with his cabal of associates-- his esteemed attorneys, Arnold Katzen, Christian Parisot, varied other attorneys all of whom may claim attorney-client privilege when queried by authorities, and others). What was never mentioned was that the painting had been the subject of a declaratory relief trial and a bank fraud investigation in the United States-- the painting remaining with unpaid bank liens and a dubious provenance to date. I do believe Mr Parisot's arrogance and the malfeasance of his associates have finally met with their comeuppance. I even pulled Parisot into a California courtroom from Paris and Italy (at great expense to his then handler Guttmann) to query him as to his authentication practices and fees to be paid for his favorable attribution. But Parisot and his cabal of cohorts proved difficult to impeach to a common jury of 12 working men and women. With Parisot as a paid gunslinger in your corner (a proverbial gun-for-hire), all concerned thought that a courtroom drama of "dueling experts" would result in a "wash", each cancelling one another out with a turgid, long-winded ennumeration of dubious credentials, educational pedigrees, along with a intimidatingly circumlocuitive ideolect crafted to short-circuit the presumedly low brain function of the common man and jury. Reasonable doubt, for sure! Preponderance of proof in evidence- don't worry about it! Too many unholy alliances and secrets all heavily nuanced with sotto voce, sous-table (wink-wink-nudge-nudge) whispers, baksheesh, and "incentives". Parisot's dubious droit morale, an alleged internship to Modigliani's impaired and dysfunctional daughter, and enough seals, and stamps to altogether befuddle even the most adroit civilian mind un-informed of the adroit brinksmanship at play.Guttmann's esteemed counsel even once told me in voir-dire in L.A. that he was seeking the "stupidest" jury pool he could find- and this was said afront two witnesses. Hence I think both Guttmann, and Parisot et al all concluded that they might be "bulletproof" from civil judgments-- given the plaintiff costs of meeting one's burden of proof, the multiplicity of jurisdictions required for a successful prosecution of one's case, and the byzantine opacity and mind-numbing quagmires and metrics of an international painting transaction. We all concluded that the force and power of a criminal adjudication and prosecution would be required to excise this cancer upon the artworld- given infinite resources and subpoena power well beyond that of a civil dispute or litigation.
Seized from the Museo di Palestrina- by the Commandante della Sezione Antiquariato e Sezione Falsificazioni e Arte Contemporanea
Such practices employed by both Parisot and Guttmann have enjoyed a life of their own-- a longstanding complicity between Giacomo Canale, Parisot, Guttmann and Arnold Katzen specifically with collaborative support provided by Jean Kisling, Claude Mollard, Marie-Claire Mansecal, Masaaki Iseki and Andre Schoeller. Canale would publish this cabal's findings under the imprimateur of Canale Arte, affording their findings a level of institutional legitimacy claiming that the "Modigliani Committee"s scholarship was supported by the Archives L'Egales Amedeo Modigliani (certainly- which was entirely the product of Parisot employing the droit morale legimacy afforded to him by the primogenitor laws of France), the Ambrogio Ceroni Archives (co-opted by the wife that survived his death, Angela), the Arthur Pfannstiehl Archives [(vehemently denied by its sole authority, heir and archivist, Bernard Schuster). Arthur Pfannstiehl's son, Frederick-- an ex-masseur in Europe was bequeathed none of his father's extensive documentation dating from the 1920s. Arthur Pfannstiehl published his first concourse (what he called his Catalogue Presume) ante-dating all rival opinions and expertise by forty years when he published his excellent and reliable Catalogue Presume in 1929.(Ambrogio Ceroni's Edizione del Milione catalogue of 156 paintings was only published in 1958, followed by the 1965 and 1970 editions, the latter Rizzoli and Flammarion editions purporting to be catalogue raisonnes of 337 paintings/canvases) ], and the Lanthemann Archives (denied to me by his wife, but all the same lacking the required epistemic weight and the gravitas of a raisonne).
On 23 Jan . 2001, the "Modigliani Committee" was launched by Guttmann and Parisot using Katzens office to provide a legitimate sounding NYC 1100 Madison Avenue address, suite 6C-- however many documents posted to that address were returned to sender marked "Adressee Unknown", despite the shiny brass plaque emblazoned "Modigliani-Kisling Institute" that Katzen had plastered to the Madison Avenue facade of the building. Giacomo Canale had claimed to "underwrite the project" and was "committed to the publication of the forthcoming new Catalogue Raisonne to be produced by the Committee".This though was prior to Katzen and Shirley Sack's arrest in Boston for money-laudering in June of that same year, for trying to sell a fake Modigliani "Jeune Femme aux Yeux Bleus" (credentialed/expertised by Parisot) and a Degas (also seized by the US govt US Customs and sold at auction in NY) for $4.1M to an alleged Columbian drug lord wishing to launder "street money" with the acquisition -- however their "client" was a US Customs Treasury agent working with the FBI. The same 'Modigliani' cropped up when a NY re-insurer and risk adjuster (Maxson Young) enlisted these offices to foil a Guttmann claim for the 'loss' of the work shipped by international courier service and processed as an insured exposure seeking compensation ( a claim for loss or theft) and a pay-out. This claim was foiled, the painting returned, and the claim dis-allowed.This incident diminished the prestige of the "Modigliani-Kisling Institute's" new Madison Avenue digs. And of course, the Archives L'Egales d'Amedeo Modigliani, has morphed into the Modigliani Committee, the Committe metamorphized into the Modigliani-Kisling Institute and ultimately the Modigliani Institute of Rome.
You see, Parisot has worked under the droit morale privilege of the French government and authorities for years since he succeeded to inveigle and cajole an impaired and impoverished Jeanne Modigliani (birth daughter to Amedeo Modigliani and Jeanne Hebuterne, orphaned by both parents in the course of one day in 1920) into assigning him her droit morale -- affording the surviving child of the artist the rights to opine on the authenticity of the artist's (in this case, her father's) legacy and work. Jeanne never had any archive or documentation of her father at any time, and certainly nothing at the time I met with her before her death.Yet this privilege is jurisdictionally limited- to that of the French courts , and this privilege will languish mercilessly when scrutinized under international law and expertise in a variety of legal jurisdictions. E-mail me for further discussion on this matter. Since Jeanne Modigliani's death in 1984 at age 66 in Paris, her daughter , Laure Nechtschein Modigliani (one of Jeanne's 2 daughters, born in 1951), had apparently honored Parisot's assignment of her mother's droit morale, with her support, and presumably to her profit and advantage. Since last year and to date, presumably in light of deteriorating relations between Modigliani's granddaughter Laure and Parisot, Laure Nechtschein Modigliani is reclaiming her droit morale, as one of the last remaining survivors in Modigliani's bloodline-- rights decided by way of birthright, of consanguinity, and not merit or credential. This matter only compounds Parisot's conviction and fines meted out by a Paris court in 2008 (sentenced to 24 mos./ part suspended) after an artfraud conviction for fogeries of Jeanne Hebuterne (Modigliani's common-law wife and fellow artist) brought forward by one of Laure Modigliani's cousins , Luc Prunet, Jeanne Hebuterne's great nephew. Perhaps Parisot's enterprising nature and shameless entrepreneurial zeal in the exploitation of Jeanne Modigliani's droit morale, have alienated Parisot's meal-ticket and undermined his authority and integrity-- unveiling the unholy covenant of sin lurking beneath such an incestuous relationship.
For your amusement, I just noticed that Parisot has actually found a Modigliani , sold by Bonhams in London, (not him) is a fake. SEE:
http://chez-edmea.blogspot.com.es/2012/03/modigliani-su-il-giornale-dellarte.html
Paul Quatrochi
Quatrochi@aol.com
www.Quatrochi.com
Tel: (212) 722-3700
Fax: (212) 987-7669
Mobile: (917) 560-8534
Paul D Quatrochi
Art Law Blog Author
*************
THE INDEPENDENT
23 January 2013
1 / 1
Christian Gregori Parisot and Modigliani’s portrait of Jeanne Hebuterne
PA
Modigliani owners are no doubt keeping their fingers crossed for a lucrative sale, for this would suggest the market is bouncing back from a recent, less salubrious, episode which had threatened to knock it for six.
Before Christmas, shocked modern art experts in Italy spoke of an “earthquake” tearing through their genteel world following the arrest of Modigliani expert Christian Gregori Parisot. If you wanted to check the authenticity of an work said to be by the Italian artist, Parisot was, or had been, your man.
Who better than the art trader who had lived and breathed Modigliani for decades, who met and worked with the painter and sculptor’s daughter Jeanne in the early 1980s? Or at least that was what he’d have you believe. In reality the case of Mr Parisot has revealed a remarkable degree of gullibility in the art world – and has called into question the ease with which people are able to assume the role of trusted authority.
Parisot, with his impressive-sounding title of President of the Archives Legales Amedeo Modigliani, organised Modigliani exhibitions around the world. And his say-so was enough to decide whether a sketch, painting or sculpture was the real thing. He had even worked as a consultant for the Italian state’s Cultural Heritage Protection agency, charged with the protecting the country’s important artistic heritage from con men and charlatans. Officials were forced to admit as much last month when he was arrested for forging and fraudulently endorsing dozens of fake Modiglianis.
Along with Parisot and his suspected accomplice, the art dealer Matteo Vignapiano, the police seized 59 fakes including 41 sketches, 13 graphic designs, four sculptures in bronze and an oil painting.
As is so often the case with such extraordinary scams, the clues were there but people only started to notice them after the event. Claudio Strinati, a senior official at the Ministry of Cultureand president of the “scientific committee” of Parisot’s “Modigliani Institute”, has admitted that it had seemed odd that the committee never actually met.
“Parisot asked me to do this job, years ago,” he said, “But the committee never met, at least to my knowledge, and has never done, [let alone] decided or verified anything. I thought it was strange, but not to the point of imagining illegal activities.”
Modigliani’s pared-down, masque-like faces may have been relatively easy to fake. But given this, it is not unreasonable to expect experts such as Mr Strinati ,who were charged with verifiying his works, to have been more a little more active.
The irony of the situation won’t be lost on students of Modigliani’s tragic life. For while fraudsters have been getting rich on fake Modiglianis. During the artist’s pestilential existence – he died aged 35 when tuberculosis spread to his brain – the destitute alcoholic and drug addict was forced to give away his paintings in exchange for food and only ever managed one solo exhibition in Paris. And that was closed down on the first day following complaints of indecency.
Italian detectives brought the curtain down on Parisot after raiding a show titled “Modigliani from Classicism to Cubism” at the Archeological Museum in Palestrina, near Rome, in July 2010. It was here that true authorities identified 22 fake Modiglianis.
The most remarkable fact, however, relates to the conviction Parisot acquired in Paris two years before this major exhibition in a state gallery.
In May 2008, The Art Newspaper reported how “the art historian and Modigliani specialist Christian Parisot was sentenced to two years in prison with 16 months suspended, and fined €8,000 by a Paris court on 18 April, for faking drawings by Jeanne Hébuterne, Modigliani’s mistress and model”.
The works were seized by the police after Luc Prunet, Jeanne’s great nephew, complained they were forgeries. This was confirmed in a report by the French expert Gilles Perrault. But even this wasn’t enough for the art world to sit up and take notice.
No-one is currently answering the phone at the Archives Legales Amedeo Modigliani, in Rome. But other experts are clear about they see as the problem to be. “Any group, entity or individual can set themselves up as “authorities” with pretentious names,” lamented Martin Kemp, a professor of art history at Oxford University and a leading authority on Leonardo da Vinci.
It remains to be seen if the 100 or more bogus Modiglianis that Parisot is thought to have put on the market have dented demand for the artist. There is no doubt that the 1919 portrait of the Italian painter’s lover Jeanne Hebuterne on sale at Christie's is genuine. And Christie’s hopes that if anything, the clamour for genuine works by the Italian artist will have increased. Hence its upbeat predictions for the imminent auction of the key portrait.
Jay Vincze, Christie’s impressionist and modern art specialist, noted that Modigliani produced relatively few paintings during his short life. Perhaps gallery owners and art traders ought to have considered this before they listened to Mr Parisot – and allowed greed to get the better of them.
**
The picture shown above is Amadeo Modigliani’s Portrait of Jeanne Hebuterne, an internationally celebrated masterpiece and an unquestionably genuine work by the artist which will be offered at auction on 6 February 2013 at Christie’s, London. We are happy to reiterate the position for complete clarity.
Before Christmas, shocked modern art experts in Italy spoke of an “earthquake” tearing through their genteel world following the arrest of Modigliani expert Christian Gregori Parisot. If you wanted to check the authenticity of an work said to be by the Italian artist, Parisot was, or had been, your man.
Who better than the art trader who had lived and breathed Modigliani for decades, who met and worked with the painter and sculptor’s daughter Jeanne in the early 1980s? Or at least that was what he’d have you believe. In reality the case of Mr Parisot has revealed a remarkable degree of gullibility in the art world – and has called into question the ease with which people are able to assume the role of trusted authority.
Parisot, with his impressive-sounding title of President of the Archives Legales Amedeo Modigliani, organised Modigliani exhibitions around the world. And his say-so was enough to decide whether a sketch, painting or sculpture was the real thing. He had even worked as a consultant for the Italian state’s Cultural Heritage Protection agency, charged with the protecting the country’s important artistic heritage from con men and charlatans. Officials were forced to admit as much last month when he was arrested for forging and fraudulently endorsing dozens of fake Modiglianis.
Along with Parisot and his suspected accomplice, the art dealer Matteo Vignapiano, the police seized 59 fakes including 41 sketches, 13 graphic designs, four sculptures in bronze and an oil painting.
As is so often the case with such extraordinary scams, the clues were there but people only started to notice them after the event. Claudio Strinati, a senior official at the Ministry of Cultureand president of the “scientific committee” of Parisot’s “Modigliani Institute”, has admitted that it had seemed odd that the committee never actually met.
“Parisot asked me to do this job, years ago,” he said, “But the committee never met, at least to my knowledge, and has never done, [let alone] decided or verified anything. I thought it was strange, but not to the point of imagining illegal activities.”
Modigliani’s pared-down, masque-like faces may have been relatively easy to fake. But given this, it is not unreasonable to expect experts such as Mr Strinati ,who were charged with verifiying his works, to have been more a little more active.
The irony of the situation won’t be lost on students of Modigliani’s tragic life. For while fraudsters have been getting rich on fake Modiglianis. During the artist’s pestilential existence – he died aged 35 when tuberculosis spread to his brain – the destitute alcoholic and drug addict was forced to give away his paintings in exchange for food and only ever managed one solo exhibition in Paris. And that was closed down on the first day following complaints of indecency.
Italian detectives brought the curtain down on Parisot after raiding a show titled “Modigliani from Classicism to Cubism” at the Archeological Museum in Palestrina, near Rome, in July 2010. It was here that true authorities identified 22 fake Modiglianis.
The most remarkable fact, however, relates to the conviction Parisot acquired in Paris two years before this major exhibition in a state gallery.
In May 2008, The Art Newspaper reported how “the art historian and Modigliani specialist Christian Parisot was sentenced to two years in prison with 16 months suspended, and fined €8,000 by a Paris court on 18 April, for faking drawings by Jeanne Hébuterne, Modigliani’s mistress and model”.
The works were seized by the police after Luc Prunet, Jeanne’s great nephew, complained they were forgeries. This was confirmed in a report by the French expert Gilles Perrault. But even this wasn’t enough for the art world to sit up and take notice.
No-one is currently answering the phone at the Archives Legales Amedeo Modigliani, in Rome. But other experts are clear about they see as the problem to be. “Any group, entity or individual can set themselves up as “authorities” with pretentious names,” lamented Martin Kemp, a professor of art history at Oxford University and a leading authority on Leonardo da Vinci.
It remains to be seen if the 100 or more bogus Modiglianis that Parisot is thought to have put on the market have dented demand for the artist. There is no doubt that the 1919 portrait of the Italian painter’s lover Jeanne Hebuterne on sale at Christie's is genuine. And Christie’s hopes that if anything, the clamour for genuine works by the Italian artist will have increased. Hence its upbeat predictions for the imminent auction of the key portrait.
Jay Vincze, Christie’s impressionist and modern art specialist, noted that Modigliani produced relatively few paintings during his short life. Perhaps gallery owners and art traders ought to have considered this before they listened to Mr Parisot – and allowed greed to get the better of them.
**
The picture shown above is Amadeo Modigliani’s Portrait of Jeanne Hebuterne, an internationally celebrated masterpiece and an unquestionably genuine work by the artist which will be offered at auction on 6 February 2013 at Christie’s, London. We are happy to reiterate the position for complete clarity.
THE ART NEWSPAPER
Modigliani Institute president arrested
Forgery unit of Italian police seize works attributed to the artists, along with suspect authenticity certificates
By Gareth Harris. Web only
Published online: 24 January 2013
Published online: 24 January 2013
Christian Parisot, the president of the Modigliani Institute in Rome, has been arrested by the Italian art forgery unit after a two-year investigation. According to the Italian regional paper Il Tirreno, the police seized 13 prints, four bronze sculptures, and a painting attributed to Amedeo Modigliani, along with certificates of authenticity. The Italian police say the alleged fakes are worth €6.6m. Both Parisot and the art dealer Matteo Vignapiano have been placed under house arrest.
The police investigation dates back to 2010 when the police removed 22 allegedly false works from an exhibition organised by Parisot, “Modigliani: From Classicism to Cubism”, at the Archaeological Museum of Palestrina. When asked if he denied the charges, Parisot declined to comment while Vignapiano could not be reached for comment.
Last year, Modigliani’s granddaughter Laure Nechtschein Modigliani, the daughter of Jeanne Modigliani, asserted her droit morale over the artist’s canon. “Laure Modigliani, the only living descendant of the artist, currently holds this right over the works. She has previously allowed Christian Parisot to exercise the moral rights, although she has not renewed this agreement since it last expired. M. Parisot therefore has no such power,” said her Italian lawyer Fabrizio Lemme (The Art Newspaper, May 2012).
Parisot responded that he had managed initially with Jeanne Modigliani (Laure’s mother) and, after her death, “the author’s moral rights of the artist Amedeo Modigliani” in conjunction with Laure Nechtschein Modigliani. He added: “It is well known that the author’s moral rights cannot be transmitted but that does not mean I cannot be the recipient of the Modigliani Archives, due to my deep knowledge and expertise.”
The estate of the early 20th-century artist is one of the most problematic in the art world. There are at least five catalogues raisonnés of the artist’s work including a volume by Ambrogio Ceroni, last updated in 1972. The art scholar and Modigliani specialist Marc Restellini has been working for over ten years on a catalogue raisonné of the paintings. This catalogue, which is being prepared under the aegis of the Wildenstein Institute, was initially expected to be completed in 2006; Restellini tells The Art Newspaper that he is still working on the publication. Parisot has also spent years compiling a catalogue raisonné.
Last year, Modigliani’s granddaughter Laure Nechtschein Modigliani, the daughter of Jeanne Modigliani, asserted her droit morale over the artist’s canon. “Laure Modigliani, the only living descendant of the artist, currently holds this right over the works. She has previously allowed Christian Parisot to exercise the moral rights, although she has not renewed this agreement since it last expired. M. Parisot therefore has no such power,” said her Italian lawyer Fabrizio Lemme (The Art Newspaper, May 2012).
Parisot responded that he had managed initially with Jeanne Modigliani (Laure’s mother) and, after her death, “the author’s moral rights of the artist Amedeo Modigliani” in conjunction with Laure Nechtschein Modigliani. He added: “It is well known that the author’s moral rights cannot be transmitted but that does not mean I cannot be the recipient of the Modigliani Archives, due to my deep knowledge and expertise.”
The estate of the early 20th-century artist is one of the most problematic in the art world. There are at least five catalogues raisonnés of the artist’s work including a volume by Ambrogio Ceroni, last updated in 1972. The art scholar and Modigliani specialist Marc Restellini has been working for over ten years on a catalogue raisonné of the paintings. This catalogue, which is being prepared under the aegis of the Wildenstein Institute, was initially expected to be completed in 2006; Restellini tells The Art Newspaper that he is still working on the publication. Parisot has also spent years compiling a catalogue raisonné.
