Fake or Fortune!

I have to say, I'm a little bit addicted to the TV programme 'Fake or Fortune'! For those who haven't got a clue what I'm talking about, the basic premise is this: A member of the public submits a picture that they can't identify, but they suspect that it is, (normally through family folklore) by the great 'Splashy Painton'.It is then submitted to the shows presenters - The enigmatic Philip Mould & the charming Ms Fiona Bruce - who then cogitate upon it, and after copious amounts of research and foreign travel - denounce it as rubbish (Fake) or eulogise about it as a previous unseen masterpiece that will pay off the owners mortgage and allow them to retire to obscurity forever (Fortune) - hence the title 'Fake or Fortune'!

Now, as a gallery we often 'take a punt' on some artworks- in the hope that using our massive knowledge & skill we can take a bargain and turn it into our fortune - the fact that you are reading this signifies that we have so far been spectacularly unsucessful in the 'fortune bit'!

However........Let's play Fake or Fortune with this little curio!

This is original artwork for the cover of 'Englebert Magazine' the marketing magazine for Englebert Tyres. It should be said at this stage that Englebert magazine DID exist and they used well -known artists of the day to produce the front cover illustration - I have copies by Geo Ham amongst other greats. I have never seen a copy of the finished magazine featuring this artwork - (and I have hunted high & low!)

So....back to 'playing fake or fortune'! My suspicion is that this is original artwork by Ernest Dryden, now cards on the table - If it is NOT by Dryden (& knowing how much I spent on restoration and framing) it is 'worth' around £300 - If it IS by Dryden comparible originals make this worth around £2500 , so we're not playing for high stakes here - this is purely for the satisfaction of identification! But, let's play Fake or Fortune!

A little bit about Ernst Dryden..... Ernst Dryden (1887-1938) Was born in Vienna, his 'born' name was Ernst Deutsch and his parents were Hungarian - It says a lot about his career that he died in Hollywood as a darling of the 'Hollywood set'. His career included commercial magazine illustration and fashion design - it is probably the latter for which he is most famous, he is acknowledged as one of the great designers of the Art Deco fashion scene and his designs still influence some of todays fashions - his original 'fashion sketches' are very collectable and desirable - his motoring work less so, although he could count Bugatti as one of his clients! He was based in Paris until the 1930's until he was lured away to Hollywood where he was the designer of choice for Marlene Dietrich and became very much 'part of the nasent Hollywood crowd'.

Why do I even think that this could be a 'Dryden' Let's examine the evidence FOR:

The style is very Dryden, he was identified by his 'lean' pinch cheeked gentlemen in very tailored clothing - Check! He was very fond of using 'metallic papers' for his artwork - commonly silver but also gold and here we have gold paper.

It terms of 'The people' my instinct is that we have a very 'Drydenesque' gentleman in the Englebert art. 

Stylistically the image is Dryden, also the use of Gold metallic paper adds to the evidence. Although the 'Englebert man' has more 'chiselled features' than I would expect, my suspicion is that this work was quickly produced and the fashion plates illustrated were more refined so I can forgive the unrealistic detailing. The treatment of the tailoring has classic Dryden detailing and the 'reflection lines' on the top hat are a plus.

The timing suits the suspicion - Dryden was working as a magazine illustrator in Paris in the late 1920's which fits very nicely with the date of the magazine (1927), he was the 'house' illustrator for Die Dame magazine and was often commissioned to produce work for advertising clients, as previously mentioned Bugatti were a client, as were BP, so we have 'right place - right time' in our favour! 

Englebert were not afraid to use artists at the top of their game to produce their cover illustrations (e.g. Geo Ham) and they would certainly have been aware of Dryden and his growing reputation, he had the profile of artists they liked to use, so I would have no concerns about them being his client. Dryden was also one of the artists who were unafraid to use the motorcar as a subject, and he was pretty good at motoring images.

Whilst Englebert would have had a 'corporate font', Dryden was known for producing his own stylised lettering - the lettering in the artwork is very distinct - the curly 'S' and the 'long P' in Paris are classic Dryden hallmarks - another positive.

Unlike the duo on 'Fake or fortune' I do not have access to the lovely Aviva from the Courtald Institute so I can't do a scientific analysis of the picture, but by comparible images and other evidence, at this stage of my detective work I'm thinking that this is probably a Dryden original.

Now I'm all excited, it's time to come back down to earth and look at why this is NOT a Dryden.......

The big one for me, is 'Why can't I find a copy of the finished magazine' Surely if Englebert had paid a top artist they would want to use the image? I have hunted high & low in the UK & France and can't find a copy, (To be fair I also can't find a copy of an alternative version with the date - so maybe they have all been pulped! - stop it - I'm supposed to be objective now!). If anyone reading this has ever seen a copy, please let me know!!!!

The image is not signed! Maybe not unusual for a sample sketch, but Dryden was not known for modesty, so my suspicion is that he would have! Also there are two initials on the radiator of the car - 'BO' My feeling is that Dryden was enough of an egoist to have made this ED! 

Dryden loved women and was very good at womens faces - the lady in the image is very 'plainly' done and doesn't fit with Dryden comparibles - having qualified the 'man' as being a quick sketch, I can't justify it with the lady - Dryden would have taken more care.

Here's a quick reminder of the picture in question.....

I'm throwing this over to you 'internet world' what do you think???

Back to the TV show, I'm now at the point where the charming Ms Bruce gathers the picture together with owners and experts to 'open the envelope' and divulge the perceived truth, drumroll please (they don't actually do this in the show, I'm just trying to be dramatic).

"We have asked the experts and they can't confirm that this IS by Dryden" 

This is my opinion - I'm 70% sure that it is, but would not sell it as such, however it is a nice work and it is a keeper, so I'm not disappointed and it will stay in the personal collection - In 20 years somebody else can have the same challenge - Unless M.Englebert suddenly appears and says "Yes - I remember getting Dryden to knock that up & we didn't use it"!!!

Such is the fun of unsigned artworks! Thank you for reading detectives - over to you!