Fakes!

 While we're on the subject of auctions don't fall for any of the pathetic fakes that continually crop up at "reputable" auction houses. This one just sold at Raffan Kelaher & Thomas in Australia "attributed to Ronald Searle".

This pathetic St. Trinians girl sold at another Australian auction house, Lawsons, for $600 AUD.

To the keen eye of a Searle enthusiast the weak, unstructured drawings betray their amateurish forgery. Searle's style was loose and vital but never sloppy. His finished works were worked up from numerous rough sketches and had elegant compositions.

I've tried to alert a well-known British auction house in the past who were oblivious to selling a fake Searle but rebuffed my accusation affronted that their "expert knowledge" was called into question. Which instantly made them into Searle-esque stuffy, art dealer snobs!

Sometimes these fakes will pop up on eBay too with the "attributed to Ronald Searle" or "after Ronald Searle" but don't fall for it. 

More fake Searles here and here

Hommages & fakes pt.3

The art interns at Disney TV were recently given an assignment to design a 'royal family' in the style of Ronald Searle.

Teacher and artist Bobby Pontillas created two very Searle-esque renditions of the 'royal families' from 'Game of Thrones'. These look amazingly like real ink pieces but are, in fact, created with digital 'brushes'. Read how Bobby achieved the Searle line over on his Tumblr

 Glynn Aiden

Alexis Page

Nathan Fergason

Jackie Kong

Roxann Cole

Taylor Krahenbuhl 

The artists at Dreamworks Animation did a similar exercise a few years ago. Check out those images here.  All the drawings inspired by Searle for my 2013 exhibition fundraiser are on view here 

Shannon Tindle's latest Searle homage for his centenary- Dr. Strange!

Master Searle stylist Uli Meyer is still working on his animated Molesworth and gives a tease of an update and is appealing for original artwork on the Facebook page.

This is how NOT to do it! The latest awful forgery to surface on the art market.

See more Searle style drawings at the 'hommage' sections here and here and here

Fake!

Another poorly executed Searle fake hits the art market, this time being sold through Christie's. Check out the lot here  *UPDATE* the item has been removed from the auction.

More on fake Searle artwork here and here