Detail from Imitation by John Haberle Detail from Imitation by John Haberle Detail from Imitation by John Haberle

John Haberle, Imitation (detail), 1887, National Gallery of Art, Washington, New Century Fund, Gift of the Amon G. Carter Foundation 1998.96.1

Haberle created a close counterfeit in Imitation, but he did not try to hide his identity and signed the work in three ways. First, with his painted photograph, second, with the torn paper label marked J. Haberle on the front of the frame, and third, in the upper right corner, with a cropped-off version of his name, followed by "New Haven, Ct. 1887." He left no doubt about who "perpetrated" the painting. (He also it made clear that the currency was not real by entitling the work Imitation.)


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