Question about artists painting multiple copies of same image/scene or forgeries/tributes...

So I recently purchased a painting by Italian artist E. Bianchini at an estate sale. The estate was a once elegant, large Victorian home in a now run down neighborhood in Boston. It’s was FILLED with good antiques. it had not been lived in for over fifteen years at time of sale. I believe a reverend owned it as there were a few monogrammed leather bags and brief cases with a reverends name on them. I found a painting in a stack of otherwise unremarkable damaged framed prints. It was in great condition and looked good. Signed, original, oil painting by the looks of it. I pulled my phone out and did some quick research. The artist has plenty of recorded sales at auction. Most were $200-$500. Painting was tagged at $150. I knew I could get it for less. I looked at a few more auction records and figured it was a safe bet at the $100 I had negotiated. With sale prices mostly $200-$500 and a not very well known name I didn’t even consider the fact that it may not be authentic. The frame, the signature, the title hand printed on back all looked consistent with his works. The signature was on the opposite side of the painting of most of his other works but I figured that was just the artists choice for this work. I made the purchase and brought it home quite content. A week or so later I decided to google the actual place the artist had painted. Going down the worm hole of google images I ended up finding an image of my painting. It had sold at auction in 2012 I think it was. Having been told the house had not been lived in for over fifteen years this was naturally concerning. I then found another “version” of the painting being sold on eBay for $4,500. Same title, same scene, same artists signature on both paintings. There are small differences in the actual painting itself. So I was really upset and figured I was out $100 on a fake. It did occur to me though that there was a small possibility that an artist will paint multiple copies of the same location/scene. This seems unlikely but does it happen? Is this actually an original painting? Is it an outright forgery? Is it a “tribute” type situation? I know many of the masters started out by “copying” works of older well known painters. I’m hoping someone here can shed some light on what I have here. First two photos are my painting. I’ll post photos of others found online in comment.

 

Yours was very likely a souvenir painting that the artist produced and continued to produce for demand.

Debora

 

Looks like your artist was quite versatile. He even painted Rembrandt's self-portrait. I suspect E. Bianchini was a signature used by a Florentine painting factory. Post-World War II, I'd think.

https://www.invaluable.com/artist/bianchini-e-idrq4w4mmm/sold-at-auction-prices/

Debora

 

Ahhhh! So this is a thing! So technically it could be an original painting signed by this artist. He just happened to paint the same subject matter numerous times!? I wonder how many times...

 

I've said before, I'll say it again: never trust an "artist" who can only be found on auction sites.

 

Wow very interesting. I wonder if that’s the case. There is biographical info on this artist. It could be wrongly attributed though.

 

(apologies to @J Dagger -- deleted this post because a wee tad too much snark entered my words and they felt unkind, which was not my intention)

 

From a quick internet search, appears to have been a small family business producing decorative paintings. Yours is better than most.

Debora

 

You know this occurred to me as I was researching this “artist”. The only info I could find both paintings wise and biographical was on auction sites and I figured that was not good. Fear of missing out took over. The sale was closing for the day and I wouldn’t be able to return the next day. I decided to pull the trigger without felling 100% confident but confident enough. I’ll keep this in mind going forward.

 

Well I didn’t see the original post so I can’t hold it against you lol. I appreciate the action and thought though. There does seem to be a lot of snark online in regards to antiques and not antiques and quality vs. not quality. So I do really appreciate it. I have a bunch of good stuff that I know what it is. Then I have a bunch of stuff I’m unsure of. I tend to mostly post the stuff I’m unsure that may or may not be antique and may or may not be quality. Stuff that’s not as easy to identify or assign an era to for the novice. Sometimes people then jump down your throat online. Was definitely hoping that wasn’t the case here and glad to see an example to the opposite so soon.

 

Would you mind pointing me towards that info? I can’t seem to track it down. I guess I’m not looking in the right place or searching in the right way.

 

You will not find a kinder group of people than here.

Some of us do get rather full of ourselves on occasion.

Better worded than my original: if the only biographical information you can find about an artist is on an auction site (even some of the really good ones), be wary of it. One person makes something up and then, through internet black magic, the info is on a billion sites and starts to seem credible.

 

Happy to hear the first part! The second part has happened to me more than once lol. The last part unfortunately is very true in many areas. being very new to buying art I’m glad I learned this early on and at only a $100 mistake. I mean $100 is a lot of money but it could be much worse.

 

No throat jumping here. And, in answer to your question, this work of E. Bianchini's has an inscription on back with studio address.

http://www.josephjthomasantiques.co...o=view&inventoryID=190&categoryID=17&RowLow=1



On another reproduction, that address is identified as being the studio of Prof. V.F. Bianchini and Son so I assumed -- incorrectly or not -- that E. was son. To my eye, first inscription in ball point and second in fountain pen so supports my theory.



Debora

 

No shame about your purchase nor the price you paid. It's an attractive decorative painting in an attractive frame. Likely to be a reproduction of something, possibly an engraving. With a bit of research (and a bit of luck,) you might be able to identify. The Live Auctioneers one a bit nicer as artist took a bit more care. Lots of paintings posted here and -- more often then not -- they're factory, decorative, or amateur. Scoring a find at a thrift shop or estate sale is extremely unlikely IMHO, especially for those without any art knowledge.

Debora

 

This isn't same view but suspect your work was inspired by something similar.

Debora

 

Awesome! Thanks for the detailed research! Either coincidentally or not there is a V. Bianchini whose work sells for pretty high prices at auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s. I wonder if this is the same family?

 

I’m very sure this is the truth! I’ve been trying my hand with only limited luck. The gamble is fun so I’ll probably keep it up when the stakes aren’t too high. I did end up with a nice Bill Ely original. Not super valuable but a known artist. I have a few others I picked up recently at an auction. I’ll have to run them by the folks here. One is not even signed (unless obscured by the frame) but seemed to be of pretty high quality. Unfortunately it has a small tear in the canvas. One of the auction employees who seemed to know his stuff was bidding on it strongly (relatively speaking) so that backed up my intuition that it was reasonably good. Thanks again!