Gari Melchers, in 1919. The artist died at Belmont in 1932. MELCHERS ESTATE AND MEMORIAL GALLERY View More Images from this story Visit the Photo Place

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CURATOR ENDEAVORS TO FILTER OUT MELCHERS FAKES

Belmont curator keeps her eye out for fake Gari Melchers works

BY HUGH MUIR

Date published: 7/18/2009

BY HUGH MUIR

When the curator of Gari Melchers Home and Studio at Belmont in Falmouth spoke to the Stafford County Historical Society last month, the talk was billed as "In Search of Gari Melchers."

Not quite right, Joanna Catron said afterward. Her search has long been for the real Gari Melchers.

Some 2,300 of the celebrated American painter's works have been documented. Nearly three-quarters of them are in the collections at Belmont. The rest are in museums and private collections.

Catron's search involves exposing fakes and misidentified copies that pop up at auctions, on the Internet and in grandma's attic.

"My job is to protect his reputation," Catron said of the artist, who died in 1932 at his home in Falmouth. "I've been looking at Melchers' works for 25 years.

"Every morning, I go on eBay to see what Melchers [works] are for sale," she said. "Some are authentic sketches. Some are clearly copies or printed reproductions of a Melchers. And some are forgeries, meant to deceive."

People also frequently call Catron to report that they found a Melchers forgotten in a relative's attic. "It's usually my job to disabuse them," she said.

After Melchers died, his widow, Corinne, remained on the 27-acre estate. She deeded it and the collection to the commonwealth of Virginia in 1942, and it is administered by the University of Mary Washington.

When Corrine died in 1955, her will gave permission to sell selections from her husband's work "to maintain the property."

Belmont was first opened to the public in 1975. Some 40 duplicates and pictures on similar themes were sold at auction in 1977.

'AN AFFORDABLE ARTIST'

Julius Garibaldi Melchers was born in Detroit in 1860, the son of a sculptor who left Germany during Europe's revolutionary 1840s (hence the Italian patriot's "Garibaldi" for his son's middle name).

He studied in Europe, mostly in Paris and Holland, and worked and lived the last 18 years of his life in Falmouth. Continued interest in him reflects not only appreciation of his international, often impressionistic style, but also the increasing value of his art.

"Melchers can be an affordable artist," Catron said. "You can buy a sketch on eBay for $50 or $60."

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Date published: 7/18/2009