Artists on the cusp of worldwide recognition can find themselves victims of stolen identity
By Robert Hudson Westover
During a recent Google search for an artist friend of mine
(I own some of his works) I discovered something impressive and something disturbing.
The impressive something was the artist, James Purpura, is on Getty Images.
No Small Feat...
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| Getty Images picture of James Purpura (courtesy photo) |
Having an image with Getty is basically saying you exist as a viable professional in your field, or you are a person of notoriety. James, at this point in his career, clearly falls into the former category but, possibly, not for very long.
I feel this because the disturbing something seemed
innocuous enough—an ad from someone on eBay reselling one of James’ paintings.
The first thing I found unusual was the price. At about $900 it seemed rather
low as a Purpura painting often sells for many times that price. But what was
most unusual was the art itself.
Those Colors...
If you know Purpura’s works you know how his use of color is mind bending unlike this portrait of a woman which, in my estimation, was so drab, so plain, and so
grounded-in-reality, that it completely violated James’ philosophy of art: have
the observer question reality.
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| An actual portrait by artist James Purpura. Note the use of color. (courtesy photo) |
So, I contacted James and sure enough it wasn’t his work.
He was understandably upset. On a month’s long sabbatical in
Palm Springs (so art guy like!), he would have to wait until returning to Paris
to deal with these alleged forgers. Truth is the person(s) selling the Fake
James may be victims themselves of the international market in forged works.
Maybe Not a Forgery?
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| The "Purpura" portrait in question. (courtesy photo) |
And, of course, there is a small chance that another painter named James Purpura has a strikingly similar signature—anything is possible in the world of art.
Obviously, there will be more to follow (for sure) but for
now I told James that this is a good thing: His name in the art world is
prominent enough that even thieves want to cash in on him.
I think I might buy a couple more (real) Purpuras.
If you would like to see James Purpura’s reality challenging
art, go to: https://www.singulart.com/en/artist/james-purpura-15851
