Bob Dylan issued a rare public statement Friday night to admit that he“regrets” having made “an error in judgment” in using machine technology toaffix duplicate signatures to artwork and books that were advertised and soldas hand-signed over the past three years .
He says the use of autopen signatures only occurred since 2019, when he wasafflicted with a case of vertigo, and on through the pandemic, when he was notable to have staff assist him with the hand-signing he had previously done.Dylan says was given “the assurance that this kind of thing is done ‘all thetime’ in the art and literary worlds.” Now that it has come to light andstirred controversy, the singer-songwriter says, “I want to rectify itimmediately. I’m working with Simon & Schuster and my gallery partners to dojust that.”
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Other musicians have been suspected of using autopen for purportedly hand-signed items, and in rare instances have even owned up to it, but the othershave not been selling art prints that routinely sell for $3,000 to $15,000, asDylan’s art prints do. Dylan’s statement indicating that he has used forautopen to sign artwork follows Simon & Schuster’s admission one week ago thata batch of $600 autographed copies of Dylan’s new book, “Philosophy of ModernSong,” had been machine-signed, with refunds immediately offered.
A gallery that has specialized in selling Dylan art prints, the UK-basedCastle Galleries, issued a statement Saturday to say it was “reaching out toeach and every one of our collectors who purchased any print from the(pertinent) editions to offer a solution to fully rectify the matter.”
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Dylan’s statement, published on his Facebook account, says that he did hand-sign everything that was advertised as such up until 2019. It reads asfollows:
“To my fans and followers, I’ve been made aware that there’s some controversyabout signatures on some of my recent artwork prints and on a limited editionof ‘Philosophy Of Modern Song.’ I’ve hand-signed each and every art print overthe years, and there’s never been a problem,” the statement begins.
“However, in 2019 I had a bad case of vertigo and it continued into thepandemic years. It takes a crew of five working in close quarters with me tohelp enable these signing sessions, and we could not find a safe and workableway to complete what I needed to do while the virus was raging. So, during thepandemic, it was impossible to sign anything and the vertigo didn’t help. Withcontractual deadlines looming, the idea of using an auto-pen was suggestedto me, along with the assurance that this kind of thing is done ‘all the time’in the art and literary worlds.”
Dylan’s statement concludes, “Using a machine was an error in judgment and Iwant to rectify it immediately. I’m working with Simon & Schuster and mygallery partners to do just that. With my deepest regrets, Bob Dylan.”
Bob Dylan’s statement about signatures on Facebook
It’s unknown whether plans to address the artwork situation would involverefunds — which could conceivably run into at least hundreds of thousands ofdollars — or the less costly option of providing replacement prints that aretruly hand-signed, if Dylan is now up to it — or some other unknown option.The “Philosophy of Modern Song” snafu, meanwhile, has already been addressed,with customers who bought the $600 limited edition of 900 books having alreadybeen refunded this week by Simon & Schuster.
Dylan’s reps did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
Castle Galleries’ statement, also posted on Facebook, reads: “We were informedlate yesterday that during the Covid 19 pandemic Bob Dylan used an autopen tosign several of his limited edition prints rather than his usual handsignature. These editions are: The Retrospectrum Collection prints and theSunset, Monument Valley print which were released by us this year. We canconfirm that all other editions were individually hand signed by Bob Dylanhimself.”
The gallery’s statement continues: “We were entirely unaware of the use ofautopen on these particular prints, and we sincerely apologize for thedisappointment this may cause. We will be reaching out to each and every oneof our collectors who purchased any print from the above editions to offer asolution to fully rectify the matter. Details on how we intend to resolve thismatter will follow shortly.”
Castle Galleries’ statement on Bob Dylan’s signed art
As of Sunday morning in the US, prints of hundreds of different Dylanpaintings were still being advertised on Castle Galleries’ website, and as“hand-signed,” ranging in price from about 2700 pounds for the lowest-pricedindividual print to £14,500.00 (or about $17,500 U.S. dollars) for a boxed setof six. Many, if not most, of these items predate the period in which thesinger-artist says he began using the machine technology, but collectors willno doubt be scrambling to figure out which side of the divide their priorpurchases land on.
The unfolding controversy over Dylan’s use of autopen for items advertised as“personally hand-signed” was magnified by the extent to which his bookpublisher went to great pains to attest to the signatures’ authenticity, evensending the $600 limited-edition “Philosophy of Modern Songs” books out with aletter of authenticity signed by the publisher. Requests for refunds wereinitially refused, as Simon & Schuster continued to attest to the signatures’authenticity, before admitting that a “mistake” had been made Nov. 20 andrefunding hundreds of thousands of dollars in purchases this past week.
Not all fans are upset about the revelations about the signatures. On Dylan’sFacebook post expressing regrets about the autopen signatures, the thousand-plus responses that had been added by Sunday morning were overwhelmingly infavor of the singer, saying the duplications were no big deal to start withand/or that he did a stand- up thing in publicly apologizing. Many sympathizedwith Dylan about the vertigo he described himself as having experienced in2019. (The artist’s statement did not say whether he still suffers from thecondition.)
The website Autograph Live has been integral in tracking what turned out to beeasily detectable duplicate signatures on the books, although there were 17different variants of the signature ultimately detected as users of the sitecompared notes and screenshots.
Soon after the book duplicates came to light, users began comparing signatureson their far more expensive art prints and seemingly finding some identicalsignatures, as well… albeit in what might be called auto-pencil. The generalconsensus on forums so far seems to be a belief that what Dylan said in hisFacebook statement is true — that prints signed prior to 2019 or 2020 doappear to have individually signed.
Dylan’s statement that he has suffered from vertigo is the first time this hasbeen revealed to the public. The singer continues to be active, having resumedhis vigorous touring routine with a highly acclaimed tour.
The post that has become a resource for those looking to compare notes on themachine-generated signatures was created by Jason Hicks, who tells variety ,“Celebrities need to be taught a lesson to stop this autopen practice forgood, for the sake of our hobby. I despise autopen with a passion, which iswhy I spent countless hours creating that post, comparing photos andorganizing as much info as possible. … It’s been a sore thumb in this hobbysince before I was born. If autopen technology advances, there’s a chance itmay become undetectable, which is why we need to end its use asap.”
Van Morrison was recently accused in the forums of using autopen to sign CDs,although his management issued a statement denying it. Sinead O’Connor,however, owned up to doing it with her signed memoir, with no apologies. Inboth these instances, the disputed items were selling for less than $50,limiting the potential for uproar.
“The books which are signed,” said O’Connor, “I signed using a signature stampas I was not in a position to hand write my name ten thousand times, which ishow many I was asked to sign. My son was unwell as was I. So I stamped themmyself. And it is my signature,” she contended. Nevertheless, many retailerswith Drew O’Connor’s “autographed” books, which were selling for about $30,from sale.
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