Salvador Dali, Character Masquerading in Pinning Up a Butterfly," 1965; © Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, Figueres, Spain. This isn't the sort of painting that most people usually associate with Dali, but it's been popular enough that the reproduction seen below has appeared online in various locations. The modern version is suspiciously yellow, erasing the naturalistic flesh tones seen in the original, and also obscuring a lot of the brushwork. It might be a digitally altered image, with heightened contrast and yellow-green tones added. Note that the Fundació adds "Portrait of Fortuny" to its title, and appears to have plenty of documentation to back up the information that appears there. However, since I wasn't able to confirm this aspect of the painting, I've omitted this mention in the title above. Altered version of a painting by Salvador Dalí. Copywriting & Consulting
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Edgar Degas, Two Dancers on a Stage, 1874; © The Samuel Courtauld Trust, The Courtauld Gallery, London. There seems to be a trend these days toward taking beautifully executed paintings and turning them yellow. I don't know why. The process covers up the detail, subtlety and expert artistry of the original painting, and gives a false impression of the artist's work overall. Possibly it's the result of photographs taken in bad light, then manipulated online. There are also images tinted in various other colors, damaging flesh tones, clouds, sky, water, and so on. One benefit: alterations like that make it easier to spot a poor copy! Altered version of a painting by Edgar Degas. THE ART DETECTIVEBloopers, Fakes & Mistakes
Gustav Klimt, Emilie Flöge, 1902; Wien Museum, Vienna. This is one of Klimt's most famous paintings, and is the star of the Klimt collection at the Wien Museum in Vienna. It's very tall, with distinctive coloring and detail. The oddly cropped, modern reproduction below, seen online in various locations, is overly blue throughout, and has obscured much of the subtle complexities of the original. It's also missing the entire bottom half of the painting — but accompanying captions don't say so. Altered and cropped version of a painting by Gustav Klimt. THE ART DETECTIVEBloopers, Fakes & Mistakes
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Moulin de la Galette, 1889; Art Institute of Chicago. "With this painting of the dance hall known as the Moulin de la Galette, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec established his reputation as the painter-chronicler of the entertainments of Monmartre." That's how the Art Institute of Chicago opens its note about this famous artwork, revealing the painting's importance in culture and history. It's sad to see the poorly altered version below appearing in various locations online. The extreme contrast, along with the unnatural yellowed and intensified color, remove much of the detail, and draw the eye away from, rather than toward, the subtleties of the action taking place. For example: Lautrec employed the wood barrier as a metaphorical divide between the frenzied action of the dance hall, seen as a blur in the background, and the stillness of the bored and waiting women (accompanied by a proprietary male) in the foreground. The dimness and shadows are part of the story told by the picture: Lautrec used serpentine to thin his paint and applied it in loose washes, a technique known as peinture à l'essence. The result is a seemingly unfinished look that suggests both the immediacy of the artist's observations and the dinginess of his subject. By brightening the scene, adding more clarity and sharpness to the images, and erasing a sense of depth and distance, the reproduction has lost nearly everything intended by the artist. Altered version of a painting by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Corrections or suggestions?
Edward Hopper, New York Restaurant, 1922; Muskegon Museum of Art. The reproduction below, possibly an amateur photo that was further edited, has taken a work that's full of rich color and turned it into a flat, monocrome image, obscuring much of the original pigment and detail. The real-world painting contains bold tones in Hopper's signature style, and is also very sophisticated in its use of light and shadow, depth, and contrast. The new version doesn't have any of these qualities. Altered version of a painting by Edward Hopper. Corrections or Suggestions?
Daniel Garber, Tanis, 1939; The Philadelphia Museum of Art. I love this painting, so was disappointed to come across a darkened, improperly colored version today (see below). Could be a modern painting, but it's probably a manipulated, high-contrast photo. The beautiful original clearly is intended to explore the subtleties and softness of light, giving the girl — Tanis, the artist's daughter — an angelic appearance. In fact, the museum states: "A father's love radiates from this iridescent painting of sunlight and youth." The reproduction has removed all of this tenderness. Note that some posts which display the modern version also provide an incorrect title. Altered version of a painting by Daniel Garber. THE ART DETECTIVEBloopers, Fakes & Mistakes
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