Bob Kane Original? 0

[Catwoman_Fan]

I did write to him once but he never answered instead I bought the Dynamic forces signed copy of Batman, let's hope that that is real.

 

Its as real as it gets. I think you're good!

[tv horror]

phew that's a relief as I bought two along with Lee Kirby Romita sketch comic Gil Kane Nodell infantino and a host of others, I even wrote to Steve Ditko he did not give an autograph but he did take the time to explain why in a note. I had the last laugh for he signed the return envelope tee hee..

[comicartcom]

Kane believed that if he hired someone to draw something for him, it was the same as if he drew it himself.

 

It's as simple as that.

 

So, it might be real. Stranger things have happened. But knowing how he approached his "art", do you want to spend the money on it?

 

I wouldn't.

 

Yeah, this. "Fake" is the wrong word, it's ghosted.

 

I don't believe this piece was even done by anyone Kane employed to draw for him.

that's what I mean when I call it a fake. Not Kane for sure and not a piece he paid to have done as a Kane. I'd venture to say it's a piece done to make money by some anonymous person just like so many pieces on ebay coming from Philadelphia and Europe. Fake!

[Unca Ben]

Did you receive any provenance with the piece? Any background on the piece would help authenticate it. (what gallery was it sold through, a chain of ownership)

 

 

I have a Catwoman by Kane drawn in the 80s (or ghosted) but to me - it's as official as it can get with Kane.

 

Also, is there really proof that any finished Bob Kane commissions were recently created fakes? The Kane sketches on ebay (especially from GALLERY ON BAUM) are lower end pieces.

 

This guy in particular, has several questionable pieces by other artists - that puts his (tightly drawn) Bob Kane into question.

 

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=1152182&GSub=159478

 

 

Stay away from GALLERY ON BAUM. Far away.

[malvin]

Did you receive any provenance with the piece? Any background on the piece would help authenticate it. (what gallery was it sold through, a chain of ownership)

 

 

I have a Catwoman by Kane drawn in the 80s (or ghosted) but to me - it's as official as it can get with Kane.

 

Also, is there really proof that any finished Bob Kane commissions were recently created fakes? The Kane sketches on ebay (especially from GALLERY ON BAUM) are lower end pieces.

 

This guy in particular, has several questionable pieces by other artists - that puts his (tightly drawn) Bob Kane into question.

 

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=1152182&GSub=159478

 

 

Stay away from GALLERY ON BAUM. Far away.

 

if it is any consolation, gallery on the baum and tony greco seem to have disappeared.

 

the fakes he sold are out there in circulation though

 

malvin

[comicartcom]

Did you receive any provenance with the piece? Any background on the piece would help authenticate it. (what gallery was it sold through, a chain of ownership)

 

 

I have a Catwoman by Kane drawn in the 80s (or ghosted) but to me - it's as official as it can get with Kane.

 

Also, is there really proof that any finished Bob Kane commissions were recently created fakes? The Kane sketches on ebay (especially from GALLERY ON BAUM) are lower end pieces.

 

This guy in particular, has several questionable pieces by other artists - that puts his (tightly drawn) Bob Kane into question.

 

http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=1152182&GSub=159478

 

 

Stay away from GALLERY ON BAUM. Far away.

 

if it is any consolation, gallery on the baum and tony greco seem to have disappeared.

 

the fakes he sold are out there in circulation though

 

malvin

 

and sadly will recirculate until any owner says "well I got screwed.. let me burn it so no one else does" rather than "oh #$@! I got screwed.. how can I sell this to some other schmuck and get my money out?"

Edited October 13, 2014 by comicartcom

[shadroch]

Possible, but unlikely. Batman first used the yellow ellipse in 1964, and Bob Kane retired from DC in 1966. The design of Catwoman looks more like a 1970s design as well. Unless DC was allowing Bob Kane to sell sketches of their characters after he retired, I'd be inclined to say this was a forgery.

 

 

Do artists need permission to draw a companies characters?

[malvin]

Possible, but unlikely. Batman first used the yellow ellipse in 1964, and Bob Kane retired from DC in 1966. The design of Catwoman looks more like a 1970s design as well. Unless DC was allowing Bob Kane to sell sketches of their characters after he retired, I'd be inclined to say this was a forgery.

 

 

Do artists need permission to draw a companies characters?

 

Technically yes, but in practice no. Which is why I thought his opinion made no sense.

 

Malvin

[Dave Aikins]

Yeah, that line of thinking doesn't work. Bob did a series of gallery paintings at the time of the TV show that had the oval around the bat and the Catwoman costume....

 

http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2012/10/return-to-the-swingin-60s-with-bob-kanes-batman-paintings/

 

 

And of course, by saying he "painted" them, I mean he hired someone to paint them.

 

You would think you wouldn't have to even say this, but there's a guy that owns the one of Batman that still thinks Bob Kane painted it...But hey, it's not a forgery. It is an original Bob Kane. It's just that Bob has help... Maybe he points at things? Tells someone what color Batman's cape is? One can only speculate...

 

and DC & Marvel were/are always pretty lax about their artists using their characters for private commissions. At some point, some insufficiently_thoughtful_person will take this too far and make Disney send out Cease & Desist letters to artists, but for now, it's a gentleman's agreement that it's okay...

Edited October 14, 2014 by Dave Aikins

[comicartcom]

Look here's a few rules of thumb

 

1) actual Bob Kane art, while it can be found, is rare

when you see actual Kane art, it definitely has it's own characteristics and doesn't look like art drawn by any of his ghosts

2) most original Kane pieces are small sketches and when I talk sketch, a sketch is a pencil sketch or a writing pen sketch.

3) most good "Bob Kane" signed finished pieces of the era prior to the middle 60's are Sheldon Moldoff and they are done in a style closer to Bob's style than Sheldon's own style.

4) finished Bob Kane pieces are rare enough as to be non-existent

5) after Moldoff, Kane used any number of artists at different times to do different work.

Hired to sign their art "Bob Kane" these people are ghost artists

Greg Theakston did some ghost work for Kane.

 

and finally

6) if you met Kane and said "Hey, I would love to have a really nice piece of art done by you for my small son. How can I contact you about that and get something".. well you could indeed get a piece of art signed Bob Kane, however.. what price do you think you would have to pay?

Hint: It would not be in the hundreds of dollars

as a matter of fact, getting a piece of art from Bob was no inexpensive task and he was more than happy to say "Yes, I'll be happy to do it fo ryou. The price is $5000" and then he would call up a ghost artist, pay them $500 and pocket $4500.

so if someone is selling a piece such as the one that started this thread and it wasn't some expensive piece - alarm bells should be ringing

 

in my opinion, the piece this thread started is not even by a ghost artist, but by someone creating a piece of art to sell it and "faking" it as a Batman piece by Bob Kane

 

you want an authentic piece by Kane.. Watch Heritage, contact Albert, Mitch, Mike, Anthony or even Steve and Rick and you will be at least guaranteed it is an authentic ghosted Bob Kane. Anything else is to be avoided unless any respected dealer can say "oh yeah, I sold that piece to that guy".

 

 

[drdroom]

Look here's a few rules of thumb

 

1) actual Bob Kane art, while it can be found, is rare

when you see actual Kane art, it definitely has it's own characteristics and doesn't look like art drawn by any of his ghosts

2) most original Kane pieces are small sketches and when I talk sketch, a sketch is a pencil sketch or a writing pen sketch.

3) most good "Bob Kane" signed finished pieces of the era prior to the middle 60's are Sheldon Moldoff and they are done in a style closer to Bob's style than Sheldon's own style.

4) finished Bob Kane pieces are rare enough as to be non-existent

5) after Moldoff, Kane used any number of artists at different times to do different work.

Hired to sign their art "Bob Kane" these people are ghost artists

Greg Theakston did some ghost work for Kane.

 

and finally

6) if you met Kane and said "Hey, I would love to have a really nice piece of art done by you for my small son. How can I contact you about that and get something".. well you could indeed get a piece of art signed Bob Kane, however.. what price do you think you would have to pay?

Hint: It would not be in the hundreds of dollars

as a matter of fact, getting a piece of art from Bob was no inexpensive task and he was more than happy to say "Yes, I'll be happy to do it fo ryou. The price is $5000" and then he would call up a ghost artist, pay them $500 and pocket $4500.

so if someone is selling a piece such as the one that started this thread and it wasn't some expensive piece - alarm bells should be ringing

 

in my opinion, the piece this thread started is not even by a ghost artist, but by someone creating a piece of art to sell it and "faking" it as a Batman piece by Bob Kane

 

you want an authentic piece by Kane.. Watch Heritage, contact Albert, Mitch, Mike, Anthony or even Steve and Rick and you will be at least guaranteed it is an authentic ghosted Bob Kane. Anything else is to be avoided unless any respected dealer can say "oh yeah, I sold that piece to that guy".

 

 

Thanks! Good info. Glad I'm not looking for a Kane!

[Captain Canuck]

Look here's a few rules of thumb

 

1) actual Bob Kane art, while it can be found, is rare

when you see actual Kane art, it definitely has it's own characteristics and doesn't look like art drawn by any of his ghosts

2) most original Kane pieces are small sketches and when I talk sketch, a sketch is a pencil sketch or a writing pen sketch.

3) most good "Bob Kane" signed finished pieces of the era prior to the middle 60's are Sheldon Moldoff and they are done in a style closer to Bob's style than Sheldon's own style.

4) finished Bob Kane pieces are rare enough as to be non-existent

5) after Moldoff, Kane used any number of artists at different times to do different work.

Hired to sign their art "Bob Kane" these people are ghost artists

Greg Theakston did some ghost work for Kane.

 

and finally

6) if you met Kane and said "Hey, I would love to have a really nice piece of art done by you for my small son. How can I contact you about that and get something".. well you could indeed get a piece of art signed Bob Kane, however.. what price do you think you would have to pay?

Hint: It would not be in the hundreds of dollars

as a matter of fact, getting a piece of art from Bob was no inexpensive task and he was more than happy to say "Yes, I'll be happy to do it fo ryou. The price is $5000" and then he would call up a ghost artist, pay them $500 and pocket $4500.

so if someone is selling a piece such as the one that started this thread and it wasn't some expensive piece - alarm bells should be ringing

 

in my opinion, the piece this thread started is not even by a ghost artist, but by someone creating a piece of art to sell it and "faking" it as a Batman piece by Bob Kane

 

you want an authentic piece by Kane.. Watch Heritage, contact Albert, Mitch, Mike, Anthony or even Steve and Rick and you will be at least guaranteed it is an authentic ghosted Bob Kane. Anything else is to be avoided unless any respected dealer can say "oh yeah, I sold that piece to that guy".

 

I disagree on that last point, all those major art reps claim that they are authentic Kane's and not ghosted. E.g. Batman and Me drawings sold by Burkey were claimed to be original. I question the Joker sketch, but the Batman sketch looks more like Kane's style.

 

 

Edited October 14, 2014 by Captain Canuck

[comicartcom]

I disagree on that last point, all those major art reps claim that they are authentic Kane's and not ghosted. E.g. Batman and Me drawings sold by Burkey were claimed to be original. I question the Joker sketch, but the Batman sketch looks more like Kane's style.

 

yeah I'm not so sure I like either of those

 

and you're welcome drdoom

(thumbs u

[Catwoman_Fan]

you want an authentic piece by Kane.. Watch Heritage, contact Albert, Mitch, Mike, Anthony or even Steve and Rick and you will be at least guaranteed it is an authentic ghosted Bob Kane. Anything else is to be avoided unless any respected dealer can say "oh yeah, I sold that piece to that guy".

 

 

I have to agree with the others.

 

I don't see why you would trust a dealer or Heritage to sell an authentic Bob Kane. Since when do they trace the Bob Kane piece back to the original gallery that sold the piece

 

 

They will resell art regardless of authentication.

 

 

 

 

[comicartcom]

you want an authentic piece by Kane.. Watch Heritage, contact Albert, Mitch, Mike, Anthony or even Steve and Rick and you will be at least guaranteed it is an authentic ghosted Bob Kane. Anything else is to be avoided unless any respected dealer can say "oh yeah, I sold that piece to that guy".

 

 

I have to agree with the others.

 

I don't see why you would trust a dealer or Heritage to sell an authentic Bob Kane. Since when do they trace the Bob Kane piece back to the original gallery that sold the piece

 

 

They will resell art regardless of authentication.

 

at least from a reputable seller if you want to return the item you can get your money back.

from Joe Blow on ebay, what are your chances?

[Captain Canuck]

Yes, but even from a reputable there is no way of proving that it isn't authentic, unless one of his ghosts comes forward and says Kane didn't create that drawing. There will always be that air of doubt surrounding Kane artwork. At least you can legitimately claim that it has come from the Bob Kane Studio and has been approved by Kane.

[Dave Aikins]

Years ago I was lucky enough to get one of the limited editions of Batman & Me with the sketch in it. I believe I got mine for under $100. That was great for me, as I knew it was authentic to the extent that Bob Kane had produced the drawings...and maybe...just maybe...he actually drew them.

 

A girl can dream, right?

 

But really, for the price, that's as good as I was ever gonna get. So for me, I would recommend finding one of those limited editions as you at least know it's an official "Bob Kane hired someone" drawing.

 

After that, if I was going to actually spend some serious cash on classic Batman art, I'd track down some Sprang art. That guy was the best. His commission recreations from the 90's are incredible.

[Catwoman_Fan]

you want an authentic piece by Kane.. Watch Heritage, contact Albert, Mitch, Mike, Anthony or even Steve and Rick and you will be at least guaranteed it is an authentic ghosted Bob Kane. Anything else is to be avoided unless any respected dealer can say "oh yeah, I sold that piece to that guy".

 

 

I have to agree with the others.

 

I don't see why you would trust a dealer or Heritage to sell an authentic Bob Kane. Since when do they trace the Bob Kane piece back to the original gallery that sold the piece

 

 

They will resell art regardless of authentication.

 

at least from a reputable seller if you want to return the item you can get your money back.

from Joe Blow on ebay, what are your chances?

 

Believe it or not, the GALLERY ON BAUM also offered returns.

[tv horror]

What does "Spoon"" mean I've seen it all over the forum, yes sometimes it is good to be dumb.

[DeadpoolJr.]

What does "Spoon"" mean I've seen it all over the forum, yes sometimes it is good to be dumb.

Its a word filter that automatically mask profanity, and other naughty words on the forum.