Peter paul biro biography samples

Peter Paul Biro

Canadian art analyst

Peter Paul Biró (–) was a forensic art analyst, known for his work in authenticating paintings using fingerprint analysis. He was involved in several high-profile cases, including the authentication of works attributed to artists Jackson Pollock, Leonardo da Vinci, and Goodridge Roberts.

Biro's techniques and conclusions were subjects of debate and scrutiny.

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    • In , The New Yorker published an article that critically examined Biro's methods. Subsequently, Biro filed a defamation lawsuit against the magazine, the article's author, and others. The courts later dismissed the lawsuit.

    Early life and background

    Peter Paul Biro was born in in Budapest and emigrated to Montreal with his family as a teenager.[1][2] He left college early to join his father and brother in the art restoration business.

    Through this business, Biro helped to authenticate a painting by J. M. W. Turner. While examining the Turner painting, he developed the idea to compare a fingerprint found on it to other paintings by Turner. His idea to use fingerprint analysis added a scientific approach to art authentication, a field that had been traditionally subjective.

    Biro built his career on the analysis of fingerprints.

    He operated on the premise that artists may leave their fingerprints on a work of art either intentionally or inadvertently while painting.[2] Biro used high-resolution digital photography and advanced imaging to detect latent fingerprints.

    Peter paul biro biography samples free By capitalizing on the media interest surrounding the painting, the plan said, the work could be resold for between forty and sixty million dollars, maybe even a hundred million. As Kemp well understood, countless artists could have made the drawing in that two-hundred-and-ten-year span. Urban Cowboys. Our editors and critics review notable new fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.

    He then would compare any found prints to known fingerprints of the artists in question. The assumption is that a match could strongly suggest the artist's direct involvement with the painting.

    Career

    Biro gained public attention in through his involvement in the authentication of a painting that he suspected was done by Jackson Pollock.[3] The artwork was purchased at a thrift store by Teri Horton, a former truck driver, who was unaware that it may have been painted by Pollock.

    Biro performed a fingerprint analysis on the painting and determined that it matched a known fingerprint from Pollock. This finding led Biro to state that the painting was an authentic Pollock. These events were captured in the documentary "Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock?". In the film, Biro explains the forensic techniques that he used to determine that the painting was a genuine work by Pollock.

    Biro's findings were later called into question by journalist David Gran, who speculated that the print on the canvas was planted using a stamp from a fingerprint on a paint can that came from Pollock's studio.[2]

    In , Biro conducted a fingerprint analysis on the artwork known as the La Bella Principessa.[4][5] The painting was originally thought to be a 19th-century German painting, but art historians, including Martin Kemp, suspected that it might be a work by Leonardo da Vinci.

    Biro was consulted to examine the painting. He reported finding a fingerprint on the La Bella Principessa that matched on another of Da Vinci's paintings, the Saint Jerome in the Wilderness. Biro's discovery of the fingerprint held the potential to substantially increase the value of the painting.

    One art dealer speculated that the painting could be worth over $ million if historians could achieve consensus that da Vinci painted it.[4] The legitimacy of this fingerprint identification was later challenged by several fingerprint experts.[2]

    The New Yorker article and Lawsuit

    The New Yorker published an article in called "The Mark of a Masterpiece" that centered on Biro's methods.[2] The author of the article, David Grann, raised questions about the legitimacy of Biro's professional background, methods, and findings.

    Biro had come under scrutiny in the s for allegedly selling forged artworks. He sold two paintings that were purportedly by the Canadian artist Goodridge Roberts. The buyer later sought Biro's help in verifying the authenticity of the painting, but Biro would not disclose where he obtained them. Moreover, Roberts' widow and other art experts disputed the authenticity of the paintings.

    The buyer sued Biro for fraud and he was found liable. In other lawsuits in the s, Biro was found liable for duplicating and altering artworks. Grann's article also questioned the legitimacy of Biro's unconventional techniques for finding fingerprints on artworks.

    Peter paul biro biography samples for adults: And several of those cases involve allegations of the business selling artworks of questionable authenticity. The Old Master appeared to have dictated a message to Perino, just before his death. We never got it back. Customarily, art dealers are bound to stand behind what they sell, and the Wises refunded the gallery that had bought the Georgian Bay painting.

    For example, some fingerprints on artworks authenticated by Biro appeared too recent to be genuine. Fingerprint experts consulted by Grann suggested that some fingerprints identified by Biro might have been planted using a cast.[2]

    Biro filed a defamation lawsuit against the magazine and Grann that sought $2 million in damages.[6][7] Biro maintained that the article caused damage to his reputation and health by insinuating that he fabricated fingerprints on artwork.

    He expanded his lawsuit to include several other publications that portrayed him negatively. In response, many news sites retracted their statements or issued corrections.[8] Biro's lawsuit was not successful. The US Court of Appeals for the second circuit dismissed Biro's complaint on the grounds that he failed to demonstrate sufficient facts to support a plausible inference of actual malice in the publication of the article.[9] This ruling also dismissed Biro's lawsuits against several other publications that had publicized the original story from The New Yorker.

    References

    1. ^"Peter Paul Biro: Forensic Studies in Art".

      Archived from the original on Retrieved

    2. ^ abcdefGrann, David (). "The Mark of a Masterpiece".

      Peter paul biro biography samples for kids Yet, unlike a great actor, he receives no glory for his feats of mimicry. About thirteen inches long and nine inches wide, the picture showed the profile of a girl, on the cusp of womanhood, with pale skin and glowing brown hair pulled back in a long ponytail. I asked whether their father had forged the fake Goodridge Roberts landscape, or the painting given to Saul Hendler, or any other works of art. But as shown in the New Yorker piece which you should really read in full , Biro's complicated cameras and forensic techniques have only introduced a new layer of uncertainty to the hazier corners of art history.

      The New Yorker. ISSN&#;X. Archived from the original on Retrieved

    3. ^Kennedy, Randy (). "Could Be a Pollock; Must Be a Yarn".

      Peter&paul biro restoration Biro is its director of forensic studies. Fingered another Turner, too. The more he and his brother cleaned it, the more they became convinced that they were looking at a work by none other than J. Finally, he was free to be an immortal striver.

      The New York Times. ISSN&#; Archived from the original on Retrieved

    4. ^ ab"Art Experts Claim New da Vinci Found - CBS News". . Archived from the original on Retrieved
    5. ^Israely, Jeff ().

    6. Settings
    7. The Mail - The New Yorker
    8. Forensics and Microscopy in Authenticating Works of Art
    9. Art detectives use forensics to spot forgeries | New Scientist

      10. "How a 'New' da Vinci Was Discovered". Time. ISSN&#;X. Archived from the original on Retrieved

    10. ^Ryzik, Compiled by Melena (). "Forensic Analyst Sues Over New Yorker Article". The New York Times. ISSN&#; Archived from the original on Retrieved
    11. ^Zeveloff, Julie ().

      "Renowned Forensic Art Inspector Sues The New Yorker For Calling Him A Fake". Business Insider. Archived from the original on Retrieved

    12. ^Miller, M.H. ().

      Peter paul biro biography samples Perhaps the New Yorker is just the type of magazine that will help everyone wise up to him. Connoisseurship is rife with flaws. And when Wertheim looked at these prints, they were so similar. He determined that the way the fingerprints were impressed or put onto the back of this canvas, they had various irregularities.

      "Peter Paul Biro, Art Authenticator, Expands His Defamation Lawsuit Far Beyond 'The New Yorker' [UPDATE]". Observer. Archived from the original on Retrieved

    13. ^Cohen, Patricia (). "Forensic Art Expert's Libel Case Against New Yorker Magazine Is Dismissed". ArtsBeat. Archived from the original on Retrieved