Fine Art Registry™ Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information contact:
David Phillips — 206-420-8341
PETER PAUL BIRO FINGERPRINT EVIDENCE IN JACKSON POLLOCK PAINTING "AUTHENTICATION" FOUND TO BE INVALID IN FINAL REPORT FROM VETERAN FINGERPRINT EXAMINER TOM HANLEY, COMMISSIONED BY GLOBAL FINE ART REGISTRY, LLC. FINE ART REGISTRY RETAINS FINGERPRINT FORGERY EXPERT FOR FURTHER PEER REVIEW AND EXAMINATION.
(Phoenix, AZ. — October 17, 2007) Thomas Hanley, veteran fingerprint examiner with close to thirty years experience in fingerprint identification, has issued the final report of his findings regarding fingerprints used by Montreal art restorer, Peter Paul Biro, to “authenticate” an abstract expressionist painting which Biro claims was the work of Jackson Pollock. Tom Hanley’s work has been reviewed and corroborated by another fingerprint expert with 27 years experience as an ID expert in Suffolk County, New York, police department.
Biro claimed in his report to the owners of the painting that the fingerprint he found on the back of the stretcher on their painting matched one that he photographed on a paint can at the Pollock Krasner House, thus proving that their painting was by Jackson Pollock. In an email to them, dated 10 Jan 2005, Biro states: “You are so lucky. I am able to confirm a match to a print that appears on a paint can in the Pollock Krasner House. It is also the same print as the one on Teri Horton’s painting. The print is extremely hard to image. It is going to take work and it will take time to document it satisfactorily….” And in the conclusion of a final “Forensic Report” of 20 October 2005 he states: “As stated on the attached Comparison Chart, Fingerprint A and Fingerprint B were created by the same finger. Based on the foregoing, until the present evidence is disproved, based on the foregoing evidence I am personally satisfied that the painting under examination here is indeed a work by Jackson Pollock. The connection of the painting with the hand that handled the blue paint can is compelling evidence.” He also states that, “The fingerprint comparison is based on accepted procedures and standards.”
Tom Hanley’s report states: “There is insufficient detail to individualize print #1A [the one on the paint can, used by Biro] and the print as recorded in multiple images is of no value for identification. No conclusion can be drawn as to the source of the print nor can it be individualized as being made by one and the same person who deposited prints, latent or patent, elsewhere.”
He also states, “No conclusion can be drawn from the comparison between print #1A and that labeled “B” [in Biro’s report]. The methodology, raw data, and techniques used to create the image of “B” in the Biró report were not made available for peer review. Therefore, no further conclusion or comment is rendered and the noted difference in Level 1 and Level 3 detail are unresolved.”
Tom Hanley’s full report is available at www.fineartregistry.com for review. A video of Chief Hanley going over his findings is in production and will be posted on the Fine Art Registry website in the next few days.
One point found in Tom Hanley’s examination – the fact that Biro’s digitally processed image of the fingerprint found on the paint can at the Pollock Krasner House appears to contain more detail than is actually available in the original fingerprint – has led Tom Hanley to request Fine Art Registry to retain a leading expert on fingerprint forgery and fabrication, Pat A. Wertheim, Southern Regional Crime Laboratory, Arizona Department of Public Safety, to work with him in a further examination of this comparison. Results of this further examination will be published on the Fine Art Registry website when available.
Theresa Franks, CEO of Fine Art Registry, said, “FAR will continue this independent review to its full conclusion. This type of situation is exactly why Fine Art Registry was founded, and its system of tagging and registering art, as it is produced, is designed precisely to remove any possibility of forgery and false authenticity and attribution in the future.”
For more information please see the Fine Art Registry Web site www.fineartregistry.com. For an interview with Theresa Franks or additional information, contact David Phillips at (206) 420 8341 or .
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:
http://www.fineartregistry.com/articles/phillips_david/art_forensics.php
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