He’s here! He’s there! He’s everywhere!
Big Tony Castelli


Six falsifications, to the left three signed Picasso, to the right three signed Magritte
Click on each picture to see it at eBay
Not sold. All six paintings removed by eBay

The cheeky Big Tony Castelli, this scarlet-runner, alias Eric I. Spoutz, alias di-laurenti-aution, alias Imm-sla-auction, alias …the very same person we here on artfakes call The Scarlet Pimpernel is back at stage, he’s with us again. We’re convinced that these names and others cover one and the same person. You need only to look at their addresses in Florida (Spoutz in Detroit, Mi.).

This shady figure sells falsifications done by the same few daubers (in our best judgement this is the case). They also produce computer generated false certificates signed by deceased persons. All that they up till now have put for sale at eBay have been falsifications and with false signatures like Picasso (most used), Magritte, Matisse, Kandinsky, Chagall, Modigliani, de Kooning, Gauguin, Schiele, Gris and many more. He really travelled widely, this individual.
 

In according to international law (and American law as well we take it?) these are to be considered acts of crime with a penalty frame of up till several years of prison. That is if anyone should care to prosecute them! We on artfakes won’t let go. As soon as they put something for sale at eBay we’ll be there, we’ll reveal their hole-and corner business each time they show up and at any Internet Page be it in English, German, Polish or old Mongolian languages.
 

Quite recently (October 4, 2005) the loudly braying Big Tony Castelli has put three Picasso falsifications and three Magritte ditto forward for sale. (Take a look at his menacing letter to artfakes on June 1st, 2005). The three Picasso-signed paintings have within this week been offered by di-laurenti-auctions with a terminal time set to 2005, September 29th. Two of them achieved no bid whereas one was sold for 1.782 dollars. Now this painting has been put forward for sale once more, probably because the former buyer regretted that he bought it. He saw too late that what he held in his hand was thorough-going falsification.

We on artfakes are no longer surprised that the eBay group does absolutely nothing to prevent these criminals to do their hole-and-corner business for so long now. The reason is that eBay profits each time the same picture is sold – they’ll always be the winner They are laughing all the way to the bank!
 

But when at the same time the Picasso Administration constantly keeps quiet that they do not try to bring those criminals before the court for smearing Picasso’s artistic reputation we simply cannot understand. Can you?

 

artfakes.dk October 5, 2005