Bruno LILJEFORS
1860–1939, Sweden
Also known as: BL
Oil on canvas, motif with seabirds, signed "Bruno Liljefor", size 36x62,5 cm. The painting was for sale at an online auction house in Stockholm in spring 2013. It had been submitted along with another counterfeit painting signed "Zorn". The painting has been investigated by technical and specialist expertise which found that an area next to the existing signature has been tampered with and that the signature is not performed by the artist Bruno Liljefors. The district court: The painting is a fake. The signature shall be removed and the painting will permanently be noted that the signature is removed. The owner regains the painting after this action.
Watercolour, Three crows, signed "Bruno Liljefors 1890", size 56x49 cm. The painting was for sale at an online auction house in Stockholm, Sweden, in October 2015. The staff contacted the police and reported that they had a suspected counterfeit painting signed Bruno Liljefors sale. The police took the painting seized for further investigation. Court decision: Examination and expert opinion showed that the painting was a forgery. The painting is forfeited.
India Ink Drawing, Fox with hare, signed "BL" 10.5 x18 cm. Ostensibly picturing a genuine painting by artist Bruno Liljeforsgatan. The artwork had been submitted to an online auction house in Stockholm where it was noted as suspected to be a forgery. The submitter stated in the police interrogation that the artwork is a gift to the family directly from the artist himself. After investigation it was found that the painting is not authentic, it is a forgery.
Oil on canvas, fox in winter snow, signed "Bruno Liljefors". 48x60 cm. Fox in winter snow is a very popular motif to forge. It may be complete fakes, where they copied Bruno Liljefors and then forged his signature. It can also be paintings made by others and later received Liljefors signature. On the back of this painting was a certificate of authenticity of the "Gustav Jaensson" (Jansson) in Stockholm. This person had written many dishonest certificates in several of the paintings seized in connection with the investigation against the league “The Society of Art Friends”. The story of “The Society of Art Friends”. Three men, aged 30, 37, and 40 years old, were caught in Stockholm, Sweden after a reconnaissance tip from police in Ängelholm, Sweden. Shortly afterwards, another two men were caught. In total, 48 house searches were made through out the nation from which 83 forged paintings were confiscated. Forged art had already been sold for millions of Swedish crowns. Victims of the gang were well known businessmen with considerable incomes. League had good help from educated art experts who have written certificate of authenticity to many of the fake paintings, often at very small remuneration. On a door to a flat in Stockholm the men had displayed a sign with the text “The Society of Art Friends”.
Oil on canvas with fake signature forest with leaping hare in winter snow, signed "Bruno Liljefors -31", 50x60 cm. Hare in winter snow is a very popular motif to forge. It may be complete fakes, where they copied Bruno Liljefors and then forged his signature. It can be overpriced paintings made by others and later Received Liljefors signature. When examined with UV light it seemed clear that the painting has been manipulated in the lower right corner. An old signature was scraped away. On the back of this painting was a certificate of authenticity of the "Gustav Jaensson" (Jansson) in Stockholm. This person had written many dishonest certificates in several of the paintings seized in connection with the investigation against the league "The Society of Art Friends". The story of The Society of Art Friends. Three men, aged 30, 37, and 40 years old, were caught in Stockholm, Sweden after a reconnaissance tip from police in Ängelholm, Sweden. Shortly afterwards, another two men were caught. In total, 48 house searches were made through out the nation from which 83 forged paintings were confiscated. Forged art had already been sold for millions of Swedish crowns. Victims of the gang were well known businessmen with considerable incomes. League had good help from educated art experts who have written certificate of authenticity to many of the fake paintings, often at very small remuneration. On a door to a flat in Stockholm the men had displayed a sign with the text "The Society of Art Friends".
Oil on canvas, motif foxhunting in the winter landscape, signed "Bruno Liljefors." The whole painting, in addition, the fox and the dogs are over-painted with acrylic and then signed again. Technical examination with UV light shows how much of that has been painted over, and also the material of the painting is done in. With the help of infrared radiation can also see the underlying signature. A sample of the solvent which dissolves acrylic but not the oil conducted to show the beginning of the underlying the signature. It also shows soil layer imposed on the painting to give it an ancient appearance, was done in acrylic, a modern material such as Bruno Liljefors never used. The painting is part of a large seizure of counterfeit art in Halmstad from the beginning of the 2000's.
Oil on canvas, signed Bruno Liljefors 1927. This painting was found during the searches of a private home. The owner stated that he acquired the painting through an exchange at a price of SEK 4000 by two men and one woman (strangers). The painting was examined by the National Museum in Stockholm, who immediately noted that the painting was a forgery and not signed by Bruno Liljefors.
Oil on canvas, motif grouse in the forest, signed "B.L." in the lower left corner, 30x38 cm. On the reverse is the inscription "grouse in birch forest 1916." The painting has previously been provided with certificates of authenticity by Gustaf Jaensson but that has been painted over 1970. Included among a high number of confiscated forged art called ”The Society of Art Friends” in Sweden. Three men, aged 30, 37, and 40 years old, were caught in Stockholm, Sweden after a tip off from the police reconnaissance force in Ängelholm, Sweden. Shortly afterwards, another two men were caught. In total, 48 house searches were made through out the nation from which 83 forged paintings were confiscated. Forged art had already been sold for millions of Swedish crowns. Victims of the gang were well known, well to do, businessmen. The gang were aided by art experts who, for very little money, issued certificates of authenticity for a number of the forged paintings. On a door to a flat in Stockholm the men had displayed a sign with the text “The Society of Art Friends”.
Oil on canvas, ducks waterfront, signed "Bruno Liljefors", 65x100 cm. In the lower left corner there is an over painted area. The painting is signed afterwards in the lower right corner. The Danish artist Henning Hovgaard has stated that he painted the painting in 1958. He has painted many similar motifs and recognize their own way of painting. He signed it with his own name and sold it as an original work. The District Court's decision: The painting has a forged signature and is not an original work of Bruno Liljefors.
Oil on canvas, 74x92, motives fox in burrow. Signed "Bruno Liljefors 1939" in the lower left corner. Sold at auction for SEK75.000, but was paid back later when the suspicion that the painting was a forgery. The auction house paid the money back. The painting, along with eight other works of art were submitted to a pawnbroker in Göteborg in Sweden. They have subsequently been released to an auction house in Stockholm for sale. All the artwork in the investigation is false. The owner, JW has been the subject of serious investigation into embezzlement and is also guilty of this. A painting that was stored in the bank deposit has been submitted to the auction house for sale. Although this board has proven to be false. It is signed Toulose Lautrec.
Oil on canvas, motif with hare in the forest, signed "Bruno Liljefors", 33x41 cm. Technical examination and illumination with UV light show that there are traces of a signature in the lower right corner. Since then, the painting has a new signature in the lower left corner. Bruno Liljefors painted with a much higher quality than this painting. The painting is part of a large seizure of counterfeit art from the 1980's. The painting is a forgery and shall be forfeited.
Oil on canvas, 76x126 cm, signed "Bruno Liljefors 1915". On the back is a certificate of authenticity performed by "Gustav Jaensson". This is a copy of an original work of Bruno Liljefors painted by an amateur. The signature has been painted later, after the painting was originally produced. The painting's lower right corner changes have been made. Probably the original signature is scraped away. The copy is so bad that it has not been acceptable if it performed in a museum. There is an original painting by Liljefors as a model for this painting. Gustaf Jaensson denies that he has written certificate of authenticity on the back of the canvas. The artist Lindorm Liljefors (son of Bruno) said during questioning that he is convinced that the painting is equipped with a forged signature. The district court's assessment: The painting seems to have been made as a copy and later altered and signed in the name Bruno Liljefors. It is therefore a forgery.
Oil on canvas, signed "Bruno Liljefors", 64x100 cm. Technical examination of Mattias Persson has shown that the painting's lower left corner has been processed and that the signature is superficial on the outside end of the varnish. It is an amateur-made copy of a Liljefors-painting probably named "Felling geese". Artist Lindorm Liljefors, son of Bruno Liljefors, has said he is convinced that the painting is false signed. The District Court's Verdict: This painting, signed Bruno Liljefors, have been subjected to such measures that it has been a forgery.
Oil on canvas, 33x48 cm, apparently representing an original painting by Bruno Liljefors, subjects with sea birds in the archipelago, signed "Bruno Liljefors." This painting is a reduced copy of Bruno Liljefors original painting that is, at this time, at the "Thilska Galleriet" in Stockholm. Compared to the original is this painting clumsily and hesitantly made without artistic quality. Technical examination of the signature shows that it is counterfeit and applied retrospectively. The district court's assessment: The painting is not done, nor signed by Bruno Liljefors. It is a forgery.
Oil on canvas, motif with birds in the archipelago, 35x91 cm, signed "Bruno Liljefors' and provided with certificates of authenticity by Gustaf Jaensson. The painting is signed at the same time it was painted and not altered since. An amateurish painting made of thin cotton cloth. The painting is a copy of a larger Liljefors painting, which, at that time, were on the Thielska Gallery in Stocholm. The artist Lindorm Liljefors (Son of Bruno) has looked at the painting and certifies that it is a forgery and not signed by his father, Bruno Liljefors. The district court's judgment: Because the painting was signed with Bruno Liljefors signature and not reported as a copy it is a forgery.
Watercolor on paper, apparently representing an original painting by Bruno Liljefors, subjects with owl, signed "Bruno Liljefors." The painting was seized in a small auction house in Stockholm in 1988. The district court's assessment: The painting is not done, nor signed by Bruno Liljefors. It is a forgery and shall be forfeited.