The exhibition “Τhe secret charm of forgery” continues its journey with open research issues in many of the exhibits, such as new evidence or documented answers about the origin, the authenticity or otherwise of the signature of the creator or forger. Technical analysis is certainly today the most valid way to date the canvas, pigments and other elements which, combined, lead to more secure estimates as to attribution to the alleged author or signer. The exhibition at the Teloglion presents ten drawings attributed as forgeries (signatures, seals, certificates, etc.) to Konstantinos Parthenis and donated to the Teloglion by the collector Dimitrios Athanasopoulos as forgeries to enrich the cases of forgery of Greek artists in the exhibition.

A recent new case of forgery of Parthenis style has been added to the material of the exhibition, coming from the same collector, who gave a new forged work of Constantine Parthenis to the Teloglion, as it too has an interesting history. It is an unsigned oil on canvas, 47×47 cm, entitled “Three female figures in a seaside landscape“, attributed to the artist before 1967 (the year of Parthenis’ death). The work is not signed, but its provenance seemed to be a sufficient guarantee of authenticity for the artist, as the current owner (D. Athanasopoulos) bought it from Mrs. Katerina Leftikou, heiress of Nikolaos Parthenis, as a work from the Parthenis estate. The work, however, is not mentioned in any of the artist’s oeuvre list that was compiled after his death. It was decided to undergo a laboratory examination undertaken by a certified Art Conservation and Documentation Laboratory (macroscopic examination, microscopic observation, pigment and varnish testing, infrared photography, UV testing, etc.). The results led to the conclusion that the work is a recent creation, on modern canvas and pigments with a binder without natural aging and cannot have been painted before the artist’s death (1967). The technical report of the work is presented in the exhibition with the permission of the collector and the case has been brought to justice.

The piece will be hosted at the Teloglion Foundation from Friday 28 June to Sunday 6 October.