New to Fairey - Looking for Authentication help...

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raulleaf
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New to Fairey - Looking for Authentication help...

Post by raulleaf »

Charlie here.

I purchased the "Make Art not War" print a while back. I am a movie poster collector first - own a forum pretty much like this one and have thousands of posters. Stumbled on the Obama images and I was offered and purchased a set of four small unsigned 13x19 Obama posters (supposedly from a Las Vegas campaign office):

Hope
Progress
Change
Obama

and then just picked this one up (although the seller is systematically selling one every couple of months):

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Shepard-Fairey ... 2749.l2649

With movie posters I can tell pretty easy originals vs. fakes. With these political posters, it is difficult. I understand there are limited prints and would love to find one but also thought it would be fun to have something that would have been used in the campaign.

Are there any tell-tale signs of fakes like shiny vs. matte or sizes etc...

Any help is appreciated or if there is an authentication site etc.

Thanks!
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conartstudio
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Re: New to Fairey - Looking for Authentication help...

Post by conartstudio »

All of the ones you bought are fake and worthless
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Cookie Head
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Re: New to Fairey - Looking for Authentication help...

Post by Cookie Head »

http://thegiant.org/wiki/index.php?titl ... ory:Prints

Look here under Obama and it will give you an idea of the official Obama prints. There are a lot of fakes out there, so buyer beware.
raulleaf
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Re: New to Fairey - Looking for Authentication help...

Post by raulleaf »

I get the numbered print bit but am wondering more how to tell about any runs done for the campaign. When watching Fairey’s documentary he talks about running off numerous prints for the campaign and there was a scene where you could see sheets of Obama posters in different sizes etc.

One point that could make things very clear is if Fairey’s pasters were ever semi-gloss vs matte.

Secondly, were Fairey’s images ever used by the campaign and printed outside his studios. Yes, not an official print run from Fairey but still used in the campaign. Similar to how his Walk the Line imagery was made into movie posters (both DS and SS) @ 27x40.

I’m not naive about fakes and price points. I know that obtaining any numbered Progress/Hope Obama print will run thousands.

But I would like to think there would be some idea of how his images were used and printed by the campaign.

Thanks again for the input.
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conartstudio
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Re: New to Fairey - Looking for Authentication help...

Post by conartstudio »

raulleaf wrote:I get the numbered print bit but am wondering more how to tell about any runs done for the campaign. When watching Fairey’s documentary he talks about running off numerous prints for the campaign and there was a scene where you could see sheets of Obama posters in different sizes etc.

One point that could make things very clear is if Fairey’s pasters were ever semi-gloss vs matte.

Secondly, were Fairey’s images ever used by the campaign and printed outside his studios. Yes, not an official print run from Fairey but still used in the campaign. Similar to how his Walk the Line imagery was made into movie posters (both DS and SS) @ 27x40.

I’m not naive about fakes and price points. I know that obtaining any numbered Progress/Hope Obama print will run thousands.

But I would like to think there would be some idea of how his images were used and printed by the campaign.

Thanks again for the input.
No, paster are not glossy. The ones you got are fake. Use Cookie Head’s advice and use the print section here along with EB because between the two, pretty much all authorizes prints are documented.

Three quick things:
1) the image with “progress” was only released by Shepard as 24”x36” and 9”x12” limited edition screen prints. They were made prior to the campaign using the image. This progress image has the obey star and this particular poster was never used by the campaign. This two versions are the rarest.

2) if they were authentic, they would cost a hell of a lot more

3) never buy hope prints off of eBay unless they out know exactly what you are buying.
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Gigantico
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Re: New to Fairey - Looking for Authentication help...

Post by Gigantico »

I think this gentleman is referring to the 300k that Shep is talking about: https://obeygiant.com/obama-hope/

There were stacks and stacks of Obey Hope pasters, folded and unfolded. The same run as the Obama Hope Signed Paster, just unsigned. I think the stock differs between runs, but I haven't looked at mine for awhile. But these are all 24x36 matte finish thinner stock. Regarding other sizes, it would not surprise me if different locales did one-off on different sizes and mediums, since the image was out there to duplicate.
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jjttdw
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Re: New to Fairey - Looking for Authentication help...

Post by jjttdw »

I wouldn't buy a signed and numbered Hope or Progress from anyone but a well respected member of thegiant.org. Way too many fakes. I had a neighbor buy a cheapy Hope from eBay. I compared it to the one I bought off here and the differences were pretty obvious. Colors were different as was the collar. Another difference was the price. He spent $20 and I had to dig quite a bit deeper.

Part of me would like to pick up a Progress but that part keeps getting shouted down by my wallet.
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