Einar JOLIN
1890–1976, Sweden
Oil on canvas, 100x72 cm, signed Einar Jolin 1916th The painting was up for sale at a major auction house in Stockholm, May 2010. It was cataloged as an original work of Einar Jolin titled "Elegant gentleman with a cigarette." Estimated 100,000 to 125,000 SEK. The painting was observed by a visitor who said that the painting had been sold by an auction house in Norway unsigned. The auction house in Stockholm immediately took away the painting and contacted the police who took the painting seized. The audit found that it was done by Gunnar Tandberg, a Norwegian artist who has also been active in Sweden. At the hearing it emerged that the painting had been owned by several people before it was submitted for sale in Stockholm and that one of these people are dead, hence it has not been possible to determine which of the persons who affixed the signature. (It is common in fraud circuits that witnesses "died" to obstruct the police investigation). The District Court's decision: The painting is not an original work of Einar Jolin, nor signed by him. The signature must be removed, then the painting should be returned to current owners with text on the back: ”The false signature has been removed”. NOTE. There is considerable risk that the painting once again appear on the market together with an extract of the auction house's catalog where it is depicted as an original work.