Some collectors and dealers who acquired some drawings, water-colours and paintings sold with the assistance of experts in the Paris auction salesrooms of Drouot have eventually discovered that these were in fact mere reproductions. A dealer bought two years ago a Chagall drawing with a certificate from the Chagall Committee for US $ 28,000 and after taking it out from its frame got a shock when he discovered a fac-simile marking on its edge.
Some weeks after asking the auctioneer for the return of his money he was told that the Chagall Committee was accusing him of having replaced the original drawing with a reproduction.
His lawyer told a Paris court that a comparison between the drawing and the photo on which the authentication certificate had been issued showed the same stains on both. Therefore, no one could challenge the dealer's claim.
A few years ago a British collector bought a drawing by Japanese artist Foujita which also proved to be a reproduction. On contacting the auctioneer who had sold this piece, he was told that it was in no way a reproduction. The case was evoked in an art magazine which later received a letter from a Swiss collector saying that he was in possession of the original drawing.
There have been several other controversies regarding suspicious works sold at Drouot which led to the cancellation of some sales, notably in the case of a gouache and water-colour work by Vlaminck sold for US $ 24,000 which also was a fac-simile. It had been authenticated by Paris expert Gilbert Petrides who did not think useful to take that piece out of its frame.
The funniest case concerned a painting by Serge Mendjisky which the artist himself bought for US $ 14, 200 in an auction conducted by Francis Briest at Drouot. Mendjisky, who had authenticated the work from a photograph, discovered that it was a reproduction on silk and obtained a refund plus damage from the auctioneer.
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