Ivan Albertovich ‘Jean Pougny’ PUNI
1894–1956, Russia/France
Signature proven counterfeit
Oil on canvas, "Still Life with Fruit and a Bottle of Wine." Abstract still life depicting wine and fruit, 60x41 cm. Signed in Cyrillic letters. Executed in 1917/18 as certification. Together with three other fake art objects submitted Mr. "E.M." this painting to a Scandinavian auction house for Internet commerce. Mr. "E.M." stated that he was the owner of the objects, which together were valued at 9.4 million Swedish crowns. Mr. E. M. convinced the auction house for its authenticity, which paid an advance of the entire 800,000 Swedish crowns! It turned out, at a later police questioning, that Mr. EM was not the owner of the objects, he had been asked by a close friend to sell these items on his behalf, but that the objects in fact owned by a third person! He has no recollection of how or when the objects came into his possession or that they were very valuable. He has no memory of what he did with the great advances and would not say whether the alleged owner received any portion of the advance. He did not have any authorization to sell the items. Court's decision: In view of this and the art objects already once been put up for sale, there is an obvious risk that they can be re-entering the market as genuine works why they should be forfeited.
Signature considered genuine