We think a fake Paradjanov collage was sold for $178,000 (one hundered seventy-eight thousand, USD) in London at the MacDougall Arts Ltd Auctions around June 15th, 2007. Here's what we know.

On February 29, 2008, Noyan Tapan News Agency reported from Moscow that artist Valery Boyakhchian, who worked for Sergei Paradjanov in 1980s in Tbilisi, informed Yerkramas Newspaper that he is in fact the author of the fake collage, which he calls "A Mysterious Supper". Per Noyan Tapan, which cites Yerkramas Newspaper, Boyakhchian (Boyakjian, Boyakhchian) made the collage in New York (around 2001) and gave it to an art dealer in exchange for an airline ticket to Moscow. Presently, it is unclear who the dealer was and if he knew the work wasn't by Paradjanov. In any case, very thorough research should have been made to confirm the provenance.

According to the MacDougall Arts Ltd Auction's press release of June 15th, 2007, the collage ("Last Supper") was sold for $178,101 (USD). The provenance is listed as "Glezer collection. Corporate collection, USA." According to the auction's website the collage had been previously exhibited at "C.A.S.E. Museum of Contemporary Russian Art, Jersey City, USA, 2003 and Bell Harbor, Miami, USA, 2006."

Currently there are also 3 collages listed on the auction's website: "Collage with Mona Lisa," (presumably sold November 29 or 30, 2007 for $15,898; "Old Friends" (presumably sold November 29 or 30, 2007 for $17,223 and "Family Portrait" (presumably not sold). The provenance of the 1st collage is shown as "A. Gleizer collection. Roman Tabakman colleciton, USA" and the provenance of the other 2 collages -- "Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner. Private collection, USA", but it is not clear who that owner is. Based on these images and our research, we believe these are fakes as well.


Back in 2003, Parajanov.com reported about a large exhibition of what we strongly believe were forged Paradjanov collages on display from December 1, 2002 till March 16, 2003 at the Rutgers University's Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum and which came from the collection of Norton and Nancy Dodge, collectors of Soviet Nonconformist art. The Zimmerli Museum's catalogue stated that some collages in their exhibition were jointly made "by Sergei Paradjanov and Valerii Boyakjian" and several were "attirbuted" to Paradjanov. We asked the Zimmerli Museum to confirm when and where Norton and Nancy Dodge acquired all the works, but they didn't provide that information. The $178,000 piece sold in London by MacDougall Arts Ltd auction listed "related literature" for the "Last Supper" collage as "Collage and Assemblage in the Norton and Nancy Dodge Collection, USA, 2001".


We believe that there are several persons involved in making forged collages in United States and overseas, including Russia and Armenia, and we strongly recommend to do a very extensive reasearch before aquiring any work said to be by Sergei Paradjanov as there are few works that can become available and the number of fakes continues to increase.

P.S. Here's The Last Supper that Sergei Paradjanov created in 1988.

[02 March 2008]