The U.K. gallery that sold a lion’s share of the prints of Bob Dylan’s paintings, Castle Galleries, has issued a statement offering full refunds for customers who bought “hand-signed” items that have been revealed to have actually been machine-autographed. They’ll get to keep the prints, but will apparently have to send back the certificates of authenticity that came with them to have the refunds processed, getting back a certificate that attests the prints are auto-signed, in return.
The gallery’s Sunday morning post announcing the refunds followed Dylan’s own post of “regret” on Friday night. In an uncharacteristic statement, he stated that he used reproduction signatures to sign artworks in 2019, when he was experiencing vertigo. He continued using this method during the pandemic as he could not have staff assist with signings. In his statement, he said that his team was working together with both galleries and his publisher to address the issue.
Castle Galleries said that only two batches of prints had been subject to the autopen process, both of them released this year: “The Retrospectum Collection” and “Sunset, Monument Valley.” Although the gallery released other collections subsequent to the 2019 date Dylan gave as the start of his using autopen, the gallery has told customers that editions released in 2020 had been signed earlier, when the singer-artist was still hand-signing.
In its Sunday statement, Castle Galleries avowed that it had no prior knowledge the supposedly hand-signed prints — which typically sell on its site for 5,000 to 15,000 pounds — were anything other than as advertised.
“We were informed very recently that during the Covid 19 pandemic Bob Dylan used an autopen to sign several of his print editions, rather than his usual hand signature. The Retrospectum Collection as well as Sunset, Monument Valley are affected editions, which we have released this year. We can confirm that all other editions preceding these releases were individually hand-signed by Bob Dylan himself.”
The statement continues, “We were entirely unaware of autopen on these prints; nevertheless, we sincerely apologize for this very regrettable situation and want to make matters right. We are offering a full reimbursement to clients who bought the incriminating prints directly from us to remedy the situation. Clients will be invited to keep their artwork, although they will be asked to exchange the current certificate of authenticity for one reflecting the autopen signature.”
In summary, the gallery wrote, “We will be contacting affected clients directly from Monday with information on how to progress their refund. We are incredibly sorry for the inconvenience and disappointment that this situation may have caused our affected clients and believe our solution is the best way to resolve matters.”
Dylan fans were hoping for a different outcome. They wanted Dylan to sign a new batch and offer them for free in exchange for autopen-signed copies. Dylan hasn’t said if he intends to sign items again personally.
The statement from Castle Galleries would seem to put to rest how affected items will be handled, as it follows Simon & Schuster already having refunded customers who bought a 900-copy edition of Dylan’s “Philosophy of Modern Song” that was sold for $599 each. The refunds were applied automatically and customers didn’t have to return the letter confirming authenticity signed by the president. There’s not much room for confusion in that case, anyway, as apparently none of the copies of the book, which came out only this month, were hand-signed, so book owners holding onto the original Simon & Schuster letters are unlikely to affect future resales.
To see if Dylan was using Autopen before 2019, Eagle-eyed fans are now comparing signatures to art prints dating back to 2019. However, so far the consensus is that these signatures are unique.
In his Friday night statement, Dylan wrote that “while the virus was raging… it was impossible to sign anything and the vertigo didn’t help. With contractual deadlines looming, the idea of using an auto-pen was suggested to me, along with the assurance that this kind of thing is done ‘all the time’ in the art and literary worlds.”
Dylan acknowledged in his statement that he had come to realize the “done all the time” rationale did not cut it, especially in the world of high-priced collectibles. “Using a machine was an error in judgment,” his statement said, “and I want to rectify it immediately. I’m working with Simon & Schuster and my gallery partners to just that.” He signed it “with my deepest regrets.”
For now, it is unknown who will cover the cost of the book and art print refunds. If the 900-copy edition of the “Philosophy of Modern Song” book sold out (which is not known for certain), Simon & Schuster would have been on the hook for more than $500,000 in refunds. Although the exact number of art items sold from the two collections have not been made public, it is likely that the money being returned would reach into the hundreds of thousand of dollars or more.
Autopen has been used by other celebrities to sign autographs, but more often for books or albums that are less expensive than those selling for hundreds of thousands or even thousands of dollars. Needless to say, Dylan’s admission is opening the gates wide for fans of other artists and stars to compare screenshots and attempt to determine just how common this shortcut is.