A great catch from Mike Lynch (who credit’s his dad, Dr. Lynch) for this letter to the editor in the Pittsburg Post-Gazette from Jean Schulz, wife of Peanuts creator Charles Schulz warning that not all the original drawings being auctioned off are authentic.
Sally Kalson’s April 11 article (“From Peanuts to Picasso: Art Collection Is Vast, But Is It the Real Deal?”) is a cautionary tale to those who may think a “deal” is too good to be true. It is!
Tony Greco says he gets few returns, but I know he has had more than a few. I know of work that has been returned to Mr. Greco because our studio was able to explain to the purchaser that it was not the work of my husband, “Peanuts” creator Charles M. Schulz.
Since my husband’s death in February 2000, I have been sent innumerable images which people who are familiar with his work are questioning. In 98 percent of the cases they are not my husband’s original drawings.
I see artwork on the websites of galleries and auctions, as well as individual work on eBay, that I have had to tell the sellers is not authentic. Of course they feel cheated.
So all of us who represent my husband’s legacy are saying, again, as loudly as we can, “Buyer beware.” Buy only with a 100 percent, good forever, guarantee of authenticity! And remember that even then a certificate of authenticity may not be worth the paper it is printed on.
With the price of peanuts originals skyrocketing well into the $20,000 range I expect we’ll see more and more cases of fraud.
I’ve been struck by the number of “originals” I’ve seen coming up at auctions houses.
Save your money and visit the real stuff at the Charles M. Schulz Museum. It’s worth the trip.
Charles Shultz was open about the kind of ink, pen nibs and paper he used–especially the pen nibs. That would make it easier to forge his stuff. Speaking of the nibs, there was a story in one of the magazines about the fact that the company that made his favorite nib was going to discontinue it–and he wrote them and bought every last one thay had in the warehouse, figuring he would never run out. He didn’t. I am sure there were a bunch of them left over. Wonder what happened to ’em?
So who can look at the one I have have for forty years and tell me if it is authentic or not?