[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

I read of a man who had an unsigned DeKooning painting worth several hundred thousand dollars.

When he wanted to sell it, an art appraiser examined it and concluded it was NOT a DeKoong.

So, it went from a high price piece of art to only the value of the paint and canvas, which proves it is not the quality of the painting, it is the artist who did the painting that gives it value.

Reminds me of Picasso who declared one of his own paintings to be a fake. “I can paint a fake Picasso as well as anyone!”-Picasso

[BBell]

I remember reading something about Salvador Dalí, who apparently was a joker, signed blank canvases and paper when he was older and getting closer to death. He would sell them for as little as $15. He knew that after he died that folks would use the canvases and such to make forgeries. It was his final joke.

Don't know how true it is. Found this though:

How Salvador Dalí Accidentally Sabotaged His Own Market for Prints

[rlmorel]

My favorite story about Picasso (who apparently had great contempt for people who liked his art...):

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Picasso was sunning himself on a beach, and a little kid came up to him with a magic marker and a sheet of paper and asked if he would draw something for him.

This was apparently a fairly common tactic by parents to try to get themselves a 'Picasso' and sure enough, when he looked up, he saw the guilty parents some distance away suddenly look away as they were spotted.

He then proceeded to draw a horse on the kid's bare back, and signed it. By all accounts, he enjoyed it immensely, and when telling the story, would surmise that the parents never gave the kid a bath for a long time after that!