Vice-President Nelson Rockefeller (who survived his first sex scandal but not his second) and his wife, Happy, were in all things modern. Keen collectors of art, they donated a large part of their collection to the Museum of Modern Art to avoid death duties. Their apartment was filled with knock-offs of many of the donated paintings. That’s probably the only legit excuse for forgery.
The Rockefeller name was also associated with a high-profile dupe in 2008. Christian Gerhartsreiter was a serial imposter who took on the name Clark Rockefeller and pretended to be nephew of art doyenne Blanchette Ferry Rockefeller. He is horrible man, currently serving time for kidnapping, assault and battery, and murder.
During his fat years, Gerhartsreiter proudly displayed a notable collection of Abstract-Expressionist art. He said he’d inherited it from his aunt, and he fooled most people including his successful, otherwise-astute wife. “The art collection was really the only tangible proof that he really was a Rockefeller,” she later said. Until their marriage unraveled, neither his wife nor any of the art experts who saw his collection realized that the works by Piet Mondrian, Robert Motherwell, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Cy Twombly were all fakes.
Birkin dupe
I am reminded of that by this year’s second-best absurd art story. Walmart’s Hermès Birkin dupes are copies of the real Hermès Birkin bags. Hermès says that this bag was originally designed for young mothers, but they start around $7200 for a standard model. Furthermore, you have to have established a buyer’s history (translation: have bought other stuff from them) to buy one.
Walmart’s knockoffs are much more likely to attract the young mothers of my circle, since they start at $68. They also seem to have sold out over Christmas.
You used to be able to buy knockoff handbags and watches on Canal Street in New York, but the Birkin dupe is the first example I can quote of a major retailer going into the fabulous forgery business.
I wouldn’t know a Hermès Birkin bag if it slugged me, but I assume the fine finishing is better. Still, if you’re carrying one to impress (and what other reason could you have) the difference in sewing is immaterial. My daughter Mary insists that she’s going to compliment anyone she meets carrying a real or supposed Birkin bag on their Birkin dupe. “The ones who got theirs at Walmart will be thrilled, and the ones carrying real Birkins are going to be incredibly annoyed. It’s a win-win.” That’s my girl.
A serious question
Every time someone says of a Cy Twombly painting, “I could do that,” the answer has been, “but you didn’t.” Since the middle of the 20th century the cognoscenti have been saying that the genius lies in the idea, not the execution. The absurdity of that came to a head in this year’s number one art folly: the $6.2 million banana. We could call it fake art that was bought and eaten by a fake-currency billionaire. At least the banana was real.
I’m not a person who disses abstract-expressionism; I’ve written many times that Clyfford Still is among my top painters. However, it’s indisputable that a Mark Rothko painting would be easier to dupe than, say, a Leonardo Da Vinci (which is why the attribution of Salvator Mundi remains an open question). If an idea is so easily interchangeable that anyone can do it, what is the value of the brand itself?
I don’t have an answer to that.
There are still two slots open for my drawing class starting next week.
Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:
- Canyon Color for the Painter, Sedona, AZ, March 10-14, 2025
- Advanced Plein Air Painting, Rockport, ME, July 7-11, 2025.
- Sea and Sky at Acadia National Park, August 3-8, 2025.
- Find Your Authentic Voice in Plein Air, Berkshires, MA, August 11-15, 2025.
- Immersive In-Person Fall Workshop, Rockport, ME, October 6-10, 2025.
