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The documentary entitled Divine Comedy? Divine Tragedy? Or Divine Farce? The Great Park West Dali Half Million Dollar Swindle, a 30 minute version and a 10 minute short summary of which can be viewed on the FineArtRegistry.com website is a running record of an investigation organized and filmed by Fine Art Registry and financed by Sharon Day and Julian Howard (Fine Art Registry members and customers of Park West Gallery who bought the Divine Comedy set).
The experts who came together in the warehouse environment of Mana Fine Arts storage facility in Jersey City, New Jersey were Nicolas Descharnes, Paris based expert in Dalí originals who is, after his father Robert, the most respected expert on Dali originals in the world today; Frank Hunter, Director of the Salvador Dali Archives, Ltd. of New York, world recognized expert on Salvador Dalí’s graphic works who assisted Albert Field in the compilation of the definitive Official Catalog of the Graphic Works of Salvador Dalí; and Joseph Barabe, an expert in microscopy and scientific examination specializing in art with McCrone Group of Westmont, IL. Sharon Day, owner of the prints, Shaul Shemesh, Operations Manager of Mana Fine Arts in Jersey City, NJ., Teri Franks, CEO of Fine Art Registry, and a video team were also present.
The crate containing the prints, previously unopened except for a brief verification of contents by Shaul Shemesh on its arrival at Mana Fine Arts from Park West Gallery in Southfield, Michigan, was opened and the contents examined by the experts.
The microscope revealed that the prints were woodcuts on Rives paper, as described, and conformed with all requirements of the popular and common sets of Dalí prints published by Les Heures Claires, Paris.
However, Nicolas Descharnes and Frank Hunter were adamant and unanimous in their opinion that the penciled signatures attributed to Dalí were definite forgeries, not by the hand of the Spanish master.
They found additional anomalies in the set: it contains a mixture of prints with block signatures and prints without (the sets of Dalí’s illustrations of Dante’s Divine Comedy were issued in book form without any signature in the block) showing that the set had been compiled from different sources and was not, as the documentation claimed, “as issued”; two tirage sheets, listing the details of the edition, were missing from the set.
In their opinions, these combined factors but above all the forged signatures, rendered the print set of no value at all. Frank Hunter’s opinion was that, without the fake signatures it might be worth $10,000. If the signatures were genuine, estimates of its value ranged between $30,000 and $80,000. A far cry from the $483,828 which Sharon Day and Julian Howard paid to Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. on behalf of Park West for them, under Park West’s representations that the prints and signatures were valid and that the set, at the price they were asking, was an excellent investment opportunity.
Since Sharon Day and Julian Howard’s offer to return the prints for full refund was refused by Park West, they have filed suit in Michigan against Park West Gallery, its owner Albert Scaglione, gallery director Morris Shapiro, and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., (who declined to offer any help in righting the matter with Park West, even though they were directly involved in the sale and were the named beneficiaries of close to half a million dollars wired by Julian Howard to pay for the art).
“Even if we do not get our full refund, we hope that this documentary will help to prevent others from falling for the same tricks and will help bring some order to the world of Salvador Dalí’s amazing graphic works,” said Sharon Day.
In addition to the documentary, Fine Art Registry is publishing a full length article covering the investigation. There are still a number of questions to be answered and Fine Art Registry is following up with the Director of Les Heures Claires, Daniel David, to try to get to the bottom of the facts surrounding this set of prints.
“This documentary is a step forward in our ongoing efforts to expose fraud and misrepresentation in the art world, wherever we find it,” said Fine Art Registry CEO, Teri Franks. “We hope that it will help save others from being duped and will play a part in restoring honesty and fair play in the unregulated art market.”
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dphillips[.]fineartregistry.com 
