Fine Art Registry™ Press Release
Mary Garrett — 602-432-2010
Review of Fingerprints in Teri Horton Alleged Jackson Pollock Case Casts Doubt on the Forensic Evidence Provided by Peter Paul Biró
(Phoenix, AZ. — March 27, 2007) Accredited fingerprint examiner and police chief Thomas Hanley has completed an independent review, commissioned by Fine Art Registry™, of the fingerprint analysis carried out by Peter Paul Biró which was used to substantiate claims that a painting bought for $5 in a California thrift store by Teri Horton, was the work of Jackson Pollock. Chief Hanley concluded that the fingerprints shown in the published report were of no value for identification purposes.
The alleged Pollock painting has received much publicity and was featured in a movie, Who the #$&% is Jackson Pollock? written and directed by Harry Moses and produced by Moses and Steven Hewitt. The claim that it is a Jackson Pollock painting has been rejected by the art world. Horton has insisted that forensic, scientific facts prove its authenticity. Key to this claim was fingerprint analysis by Montreal art restorer, Peter Paul Biró.
Hanley, a veteran fingerprint examiner and detective with close to 30 years of active experience in the field and currently Chief of Police in Middlebury, Vermont, was denied access to original photographs and evidence by Biró and Horton, and had to limit his investigation to the material published by Biró in his report, “Teri’s Find” (http://www.Birófineartrestoration.com/Pollock/Pollock.htm).
Fine Art Registry became involved in the Horton claim regarding her painting when a splatter-dash painter, Francis Hogan Brown, recognized the Horton painting as possibly one of his own. Brown, inspired by Pollock’s work, has devoted his painting career to this style of painting had been painting in the Southern California area where Horton bought her painting. Fine Art Registry published an article about Frank Brown, a registered member of FAR®, and his painting and tried to get Teri Horton to grant Brown access to the painting so that he could determine one way or the other if it was by his hand. This access was denied by Horton. Various anomalies in the case led FAR to commission an independent review of the forensic evidence. Initial review, based on the material which is published on Biró’s website, casts doubt on the validity of the fingerprint analysis by Biró which has been the focus of the movie Who the #$&% is Jackson Pollock?, the Letterman Show, Geraldo at Large and much press. The fingerprints in the report were found to be of no value for identification purposes. Biró rejected Hanley’s report on the grounds that these were not the fingerprints used in his analysis, but at the same time refused to make available the fingerprint images he claims he used.
Chief Hanley contacted Paul Biró to gain access to original material used “Mr. Biró referred me to Teri Horton, the owner of the painting ‘Teri’s Find’. He did not address the issue of reviewing his work or meeting with him or Mr. Turcotte,” says Chief Hanley. He then contacted Teri Horton. “Ms. Horton responded that she would not provide access except to a buyer of the painting.”
Although Chief Hanley is blocked in his review of the original material, another former client of Biró’s who also has a painting that may be a Jackson Pollock, on which Biró states he has found the exact same fingerprint as he found on the Horton painting, has contacted FAR and Thomas Hanley, and is willing to have Chief Hanley examine his painting. Helen Harrison at the Krasner-Pollock House has expressed her willingness to make available to Chief Hanley the same fingerprints which Biró collected at the Krasner-Pollock House and so the fingerprint expert will be able, albeit indirectly, to verify Biró’s fingerprint analysis.
Results of his investigation, when complete, will be published on the Fine Art Registry website, www.FineArtRegistry.com and made available to the media.
Fine Art Registry CEO, Theresa Franks, says, “We are simply interested in establishing the truth of this painting and we are supporting our member who is involved. We will persist until it is sorted out.”
ABOUT FINE ART REGISTRY:
Fine Art Registry™ is today's only high tech solution to the age old problems that have existed in the art world since before the Ancient Greeks: How to establish provenance, prove authenticity and ownership, prevent forgery and fakery, deter theft and, basically, make it possible to create, buy and sell works of art with the security of knowing that they are what they claim to be. Full information on FAR® and how the system of tagging and registering art is available at www.FineArtRegistry.com.
Additional information:
Chief Hanley’s report and CV can be found on the Fine Art Registry website here: http://www.fineartregistry.com/about_FAR/hot_art_news.php and can be downloaded in PDF form.
9 comments:
This may shed light on who and what the Fine Arts Registry are: http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/346/ripoff0346954.htm. Also this will certainly shed light on the report they talk about: www.forensicstudiesinart.com. What a con this Theresa Franks is. Certainly deserves her partner John C. Golfis. Just Google his name. A convicted forger and rapist according to many posts. Great going Franks!
Good work uncovering another art world fight.
About the fingerprint.......
Since Thomas Hanley, an accredited fingerprint examiner, finds the fingerprint unusable. I do not think the fingerprint is forged. Further, if it was forged it would not have ended up in a thrift store. Anyone who is capable of forging the fingerprint would have made sure it was usable. Also, they would attempt to market the painting, not give it to a thrift store.
There is only one possibility. One of the examiners working for Teri Horton could have planted it. The vultures are obviously circling, each one doing everything he can to validate his share of any future sale. The possibility of forgery is still very unlikely.
At the end of the day the painting either is or is not a Pollack. The painting could have easily ended up at a thrift store. Pollock used his paintings for barter before his talent was acknowledged. I am sure many of these paintings were thrown away or given away. The recipient of such a gift could very well be ignorant of Pollack's work and give it to a thrift store.
There are just as many if not more appraisals claiming that the painting is definitely not the work of Jackson Pollack. Of course with no financial incentives these individuals could easily be dismissive.
No one will ever be sure about the history of this painting. Everyone who could verify that it is a Pollack is dead. Given the insanity that touched every aspect of his life, anything is possible.
And so the soup opera continuous. How they are saying that the fingerprint is not real? Teri would not left them to see the painting because she know that they would say that it was not really. Or maybe the art world paid Hanley to make everyone to believe that it's not. Think the same as what surrealist said that this painting would not be in a thrift store. The painting would ended up on the buyer's desk. If the fingerprint was forged they would it look brighter then all of the rest of the paint that was on the back? The way the world is today it could be planted by Teri Horton's examiners. But I believe that the color of the paint would be a different tone. A newer and fresher look to it.
Ok a recently deceased man, Walter Bell, of Escalante, Utah claimed to know Jackson Pollock. He claimed Pollock would cut up a painting into a size a person wanted and then keep or discard the pieces. He also claimed to have fragments of Pollock's in a Reno Storage Garage.Wouldn't surprise me to find works of any artist/alcohol/psychiatric dependent person under any circumstance. Could Bell be truthful, sure or spinning a story while sitting on my couch sure? I have no more info than that but it is wierdly like the movie.
very interesting.
All signs (sans "fingerprint" experts) point to this being an original Pollack. However, there IS something they are overlooking. I want to contact Terri to submit an iron clad way to tell BESIDES DNA testing the hair imbedded in the painting and hair found in the studio/Pollacks home. Exhuming Pollack, if he was not cremated, to extract hair and fingerprints would be another way. But what I have in mind is much simpler, indeed.
@mary you are right! when I was watching Who the *** is Jackson Pollock I had remembered from art class that Pollock was known to add sweat and blood to his work, in addition to cigarette ashes, and other things.
it's better for the art community to say is nor real. the thing is that the woman is going to die without having validation for what she has, witch is finally what she wants.
it's a real shame that the art world goes by this kind of shennanigans (or however it writes) to feed itself.
Another interesting case, talking about validation, this time in a different way, is the thing with MBW or Mister Brainwash, only famous because Banksy made him famous.
In both cases it's real sad that everything works like this: if you have a name, you have the place.
Post a Comment