Posted on 05/18/2006 7:09:08 PM PDT by tbird5
A portrait of a dashing young sea captain often called the "Black Admiral" was supposed to be a centerpiece for an exhibition of paintings from the Revolutionary War era about black patriots and loyalists. But the portrait, often seen in books on African-American history, was recently discovered to be a fraud.
Peter Williams, an expert on painting restoration, was hired to clean the portrait for an exhibit at the historic Fraunces Tavern Museum titled "Fighting for Freedom: Black Patriots and Black Loyalists." But with a quick dab of special paint remover, he discovered that black paint concealed a portrait of a white sailor underneath.
The painting is owned by Alexander McBirney, a retired doctor living in Rhode Island. Williams says he admires McBirney for wanting the truth to be revealed.
"He could have kept the secret and sold the painting for a huge profit," Williams says.
Williams believes the fraud was probably committed sometime in the early 1970s. He completed the restoration and McBirney kept the painting.
"I believe it now proudly rests in Dr. McBirney's living room," he says.
I would bet half the people in America and probably most people elsewhere think Cleopatra was Black.
I'm dying.....Bwahhhaaaaahaa. That was funny! I knew if I lurked long enough tonight one of you guys would come through for me. Thanks for the laugh. I needed that.
Sweet painting
LOL...all I know is that my dog always wags his tail when he has anything better than a full house...8>)
LOL!! He's got no poker tail.
i thought cleopatra looked like liz taylor?
I do not see why
this is called a fake. Painters
sometimes paint in layers,
doing "structure and
light" with one set of tones, then
glazing a finish
that may be different
from the underpainting. Hell,
Caravaggio
used to paint figures
naked and then add clothing
as a final step . . .
I thought it was a painting of David Robinson.
Go Mavs!
Nope, he's no Cool Paw Luke
LOL!!!
Hurricane Katrina Art Bump
LOL, that's great! BTW, I like your screen name. A good friend of mine used to have a '47 CJ2A.
Thanks! Mine's a 46 and is in good restorable condition...just don't have time to do it. That thing in first gear 4 low will crawl over ANYTHING.
from May of last year.
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