Andy Warhol's signature went through changes during the course of his career. His 1950's prints were signed by his mother, Julia Warhola.
His 1960's prints were often signed on the back beginning his first name with a round "A" , some used a stamped signature, some just his initials. So not all of the first 250 lithographs editions were hand signed.
Examples:
50'sAndy Warhol signature
Andy Warhol signature
60'searly 60's
1966
1967 stamp
70'sAndy Warhol signature
1971
80'sAndy Warhol signature
Andy Warhol signature
Typical fake Andy Warhol's signature received for evaluationAndy Warhol fake
(Round A in 1966 and Andy Warhol never mentioned the year on exhibition posters)
Typical fakes supposedly "authorized" by Andy Warhol FoundationFakes offered for resale
Onion fakeMao fake
Coke fake
fake stampsIn principle Andy Warhol was a lazy man. But it is true, he gave occasionally to his friends or gallery visitors autographs or made quick drafts. But these occasions were rare. You will find a lot of "hand signed" prints of Andy Warhol in different auctions but also in renowned galleries. To 99 % these offers, mostly offset prints, are just pages torn from different illustrations (books, journals) and signed with a black or gold felt pen by somebody but definitely not by Andy Warhol.
About 99.99 % of all Andy Warhol signatures are counterfeits and the offers on ebay, onlineauctioneers or other obscure sources go up to 99.9 % > good luck buying a hand signed Warhol for under $ 25000.
In recent time more and more fakes are also sold with the stamps of "The estate of Andy Warhol" and "Authorized by Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts". You cannot tell the difference to the original stamps. But there is one simple sign to identify the forgery. Contact us if you wish to have
our advice.All marks of www.grafy.blog are of NO significance and these prints were edited in Italy in the last years and never with the consent of Andy Warhol or his Foundation. Convince yourself and try
www.grafy.blog you will see yourself!
grafy blog
Now to all the certificates, search first in the internet the name of the certificate issuer, maybe you will find it but you will see it is of no relevance and then look up the address in Google Maps and you will be surprised, maybe it doesn't exist or it is a gasoil station or or. Here an example "issued" by Aviomar S.P.A. Ardea, Italy:
Certificate in Italian
Aviomar address in Italy
Here an example like you get easy a certificate for a small fee:
One of many certificate issuers
As the mafia doesn't get enough 1 or 5 $ bills,
"signed" $ bill
which are sold as signed by Andy Warhol, they take old Italian Lira bills but Andy Warhol never signed any Lira bill and even more stupid, some bills were issued after Andy Warhol's death!
example Italian Lira
Andy Warhol Italian Lira fake signature
On some marketplaces are offered "trial proofs" for about $ 2500, don't believe that nonsense, they are all fakes. The edition of the print is an important factor identifying an authentic Warhol. It could be that the print in question claims to be a trial proof edition, but there is an authenticated and recorded trial proof with the exact coloring and composition. Each proof is the ONLY ONE of its kind, compositionally meant. There can be no two trial proofs alike, as trial proof editions were printed only once. An example of such a "trial proof" which was offered us for resale:
"Trial Proof Andy Warhol"
How funny, we were offered in the same month 3 "trial proofs" and 2 were similar, so once again: each proof is unique, there aren't any copies of a trial proof.
Conclusion:Let us ask you a question: Who would sell a hand signed print of a value of min. $ 10000 for just $ 100?
If Andy Warhol would have signed all these prints he would have had to live for another two centuries. The value of these fakes is simply zero.
It doesn't work without common sense, so simple! And take your time!
Very interesting article how the whole art fake industry works:
How art fakes are sold.