The art scandal is growing: auction houses sell photocopies as original art

Despite the fact that the auction houses like to emphasize their own expertise and believe that it constitutes a quality guarantee to buy art through them, posters or photocopies are sold under false pretenses at Bukowski's and Stockholm's auction houses, among others. 

- There is a difference between a poster and a lithograph, and the lithograph is higher in price, says the artist and lithographer Björn Lumphé.

"No trace of needlework"

In the case of the fictional artists Alexander Vasilenko and Tom Moore sold, among other things, Stockholm's auction house and Bukowski's works under the name "lithography" or "serial printing", which are special artistic printing techniques.  

But when Kulturnyheterna brings two Vasilenko works to the artist Björn Lumphé's printing house in Stockholm, it appears that the pictures are printed in ordinary inkjet printers, albeit on a finer paper.  

- This is not a lithograph or comic book, but a print or a poster.

I do not see any traces of needlework in it, says the artist Björn Lumphé.

Art Association: "Absolutely crazy"

Even after Kulturnyheterna revealed the art scam with the fictional artists whose works turned out to be created in Photoshop, Bukowski's cold prints continue to be lithographs in a press release. 

- It is completely crazy and deceptive, says Björn Krestesen, artist and chairman of the association for graphic art. 

Not the first time

This is not the first time auction houses are calling posters something that sounds better.

As early as 2013, Assignment review showed that prints or posters are called, among other things, lithographs on Lauritz, who later bought Stockholm's auction house.

Björn Lumphé says that he sees several errors when he looks at different auction pages today. 

- There are lots of mistakes.

On a few occasions I have called and pointed out errors ... but it still seems difficult. 

Stockholm's auction house writes in an email that "It can be difficult to see the difference between the different technologies, and in each individual case the item is cataloged in as accurate a way as possible."

They write that they sell thousands of items a day and that mistakes can then happen.

They also write that fake art can be reported to the auction house.

The cultural news has searched for Bukowskis without getting an answer.