“Drawing Trouble: Fakes, Forgeries, and the Complications of Connoisseurship”
Daniel H. Silberberg Lecture Series
with John Marciari
Thursday, February 2, 2023 at 6:00 pm
In-Person and Virtual Lecture*
Advance registration is required
Abstract
For as long as there has been an art market, fakes and forgeries have been sold, infecting the minds of consumers and critics with questions and doubts. Inspired by a recent rash of fake old master drawings that have appeared on the market, curator John Marciari looks in this lecture at some of the techniques used by forgers from the Renaissance to the present, and at some of methods (and coincidences) that have been used to uncover those deceptions. While expressing the need for connoisseurial expertise in navigating the field, he also reflects on the ways in which forgeries disrupt not only the market but also the scholarship on master drawings.
John Marciari is the Charles W. Engelhard Curator, Head of the Department of Drawings and Prints, and Curatorial Chair at the Morgan Library & Museum. His recent publications include the exhibition catalogues Guercino: Virtuoso Draftsman and Drawing in Tintoretto’s Venice as well as essays, entries, and reviews in a range of exhibition catalogues and scholarly journals. His monograph, Sublime Ideas: Drawings by Giovanni Battista Piranesi, will be published in March 2023 to accompany an exhibition of Piranesi’s drawings at the Morgan.
*The program will be presented onsite at the James B. Duke House and live-streamed to those who join us by Zoom. Zoom details will be available upon registration for virtual attendees. All in-person attendees must be in compliance with NYU’s COVID-19 vaccination requirements (fully vaccinated and boosted, once eligible and by NYU’s deadline) and be prepared to present proof of compliance. Please review the University’s COVID guidelines in advance of your visit.