Art & Inspiration Is this real? (Von Dutch)

'50-'51 Merc dash housings aren't too expensive to buy, you might consider hanging yours up and using a different one when it comes time, seems a shame to lose that when it's been intact for 60 years. Even if it's not a famous artist, it's still a piece of period art.

 

I'm not sure what you've seen but there's quite a bit of 50's pinstriping that was dated this way.

 

Hang it on the wall, tell everyone who visits the story, and if someone offers you good money for it, take it.

 

Many don't know your lineage..................

 

We had a "local legend" like that. He passed. Actually tried to steal my T touring project from me in 2001ish. Kicked his only son outta the shop the son paid for and built. Changed the locks. The took credit for my old touring after I had it done and was asked to put it in our indoor show. He didn't know I was standing 10 feet away as he tried to impress some groupie. When he stroked out it was his estranged son who found him and took him to the hospital where he died. Total POS that the locals still revere. Karma is great tho, we got Ron Kimball credit for the car he built and the 60s that this tool played stolen valor with. Chris Shelton gave the builder credit due in the 2012 R&C Little Pages.

 

I guess I'm of the camp rhat it could very well be real. Not saying it is but I'm saying it's very possible.

Trying to pretend to know how he signed every piece he ever put a stripe to is unreasonable.

The striping itself looks really old, rust pits starting to show thru the stripes, the sig itself looks legit enough even if a fake as far as age due to the missing specks of paint around it along with missing signature to match.

As was also stated, Von Dutch was never one to conform to just one way to do anything, signature, date, style whatever.

So yes I think it could be legit, enough so I'd dig into it alittle more....

...

 

Mind altering chemicals , the old saying “ he doesn’t know where he shit last” , is truly where the Von Dutch, falls into my train of thinking . He was one weird dude , beat to a different drummer , everyday of his life .

It’s a cool piece , if you think it’s not a real piece , it’s still cool . Don’t want the fake , I’ll take , hang it in my shop , and talk about it for years to come .

 

My wife bought these sweats with Von Dutch on the ass, back when Paris Hilton was wearing Von Dutch. I told her, if she really knew what kind of person he was(racist) she wouldn't be wearing them. So, I told her a few stories, and she threw them away.

 

My dad had more than one argument with him, over the way he talked around me.

 

As the saying goes--- "Even Hitlers artwork sells for a lot of money, there will always be a collector"

 

It looks like his work IMO. I never saw anything he did that was symmetrical, even when he was trying. He did a lot of free form stuff that looked just like that. The full date is really weird though. Does it look like it was laid down the same day as the rest of the striping? From here it looks less faded. It's a good conversation piece for sure.

 

That signature reminds me of my own as I'm nearing the end of signing closing documents. The last signature never looks like the first... not even close.

 

I am not looking to start an argument and by no means am I an expert on Von Dutch but by your own admission @Bad Bob Von Dutch was less then creditable. He also striped many cars, motorcycles, dashes etc... If history is correct, he was often in a less then sober state even he might not have remembered what he did.

I remember a few years ago an unfinished 1970s era tube chassis dirt modified surfaced locally.
There was a big debate over it being commercially built (Tobis or Profile) or a well built homemade.
People who had worked for both Tobis and Profile insisted it wasn't built by ether company because it didn't look like anything they remembered seeing it and had to be homebuilt.

When the smoke cleared it was discovered it was one of just a handful of chassis built by one of the companies (I can't remember which one.)

 

Yep. The mystery, rumors and stories of Kenneth Howard continues long after his passing.

 

I was waiting for this one.

 

Some greaser will give you 500 bucks for it to hang on his wall. Take the money and run....

Just saying.

 

It's sad that someone who gets so much recognition was such a troubled person. When I knew him as a kid, he was funny, always messing around. If you asked him do do something for you(meaning me)he said sure. He wasn't the same with customers or visitors. Later he was always drunk and lived like a homeless guy. You can't compare him with artists, or painters who have a certain style, and was fairly consistant. A gardner dropped his Pickup to be striped and when he went to pick it up, Dutch had striped the lawnmower, shovel, broom and the vacuum. Why? who knows....He did some stupid stuff when you pissed him off. So...true, you CAN'T say he never did this or that, cause stories come out that contradict it.

 

I don’t think it’s real.
I’m not an expert.
I have owned some originals of his and I also owned one of his bench top drill presses before I sold it to a guy in Oregon.
I was always more interested in his tooling and his weird machine combination stuff, his knives and random guns. Etc

I have never been much of a pinstriping person.
I don’t think it’s real because I know that he wasn’t a big “date” guy when he did something. He did things fast and it’s pretty certain that mental illness and substance abuse played a huge role in his work.
He was unpredictable.

I think I romanticized his character when I was in a fucked up place in my life. I liked the edgy, “fuck everyone” style and attitude he displayed.
I still believe that some of the stuff he made was genius.
But honestly I’ve suffered mental illness most of my life and there’s accomplished people out there who would say that some of the stuff I’ve written was genius.
To me it’s just a part of a cycle until I got the help I needed.
Dutch never got the help he needed.
He lived in squalor, hateful and racist and drunk till he died.
I think that it is a tragedy.

 

Sounds like the guy I met out there in the mid 90's. He had a bunch of cars in a building on the north side of town. On the road that a few junkyards were on back then. I can't remember his name any more was told he was a real douchebag. A few years later I talked with someone from here in Mi. who was royally screwed over by him

 

Yup

 

I salute your straight talk. And I don't know you but I'm glad you got the help you needed. A lot of us really need some quality help. It's tragic Dutch didn't get that. A lot of us went through a "fuck you and the horse you rode in on" phase. I was briefly a young rebel without a clue. Just angry about everything and bitter. Really bitter. And self destructive. Disastrous drinking induced stuff. Growing up and staying sober have been major factors for me. I'm in the same business as a fellow who despite great success ended up on the streets in very bad condition. I think it can happen to most anyone.

Regarding the piece, I think it could be genuine. Who really knows? Germ says no. Tell the story accurately, all you know is all you know.

 

His talent I always thought was incredible but always heard different about his personality.

I went thru that "don't give a damn" attitude too then I realized one day all the choices I was making were mine and mine alone. If I wanted changes in my life it started with me. Stopped the heavy drinking and running and decided my life was much better for it.

Although I never had the popularity of Von Dutch and the notoriety so I will never understand the kind of pressure he may have been under..

 

History both general and automotive is full of stories of people who were just flat-out a-holes but have been turned into folk heroes.

My family has been deeply involved in oval track auto racing going back to the late 30s.
We have family friends, who raced with Dale Earnhardt when he was coming up, some who with him in his early days of Winston Cup.

If people knew the stories, I have heard about Earnhardt he would be a hero to no one.

Like it or not you have to look at the person's over all contribution to history not just their lifestyle or person beliefs.

By no means was General Patton a nice or friendly guy, but would we have won WW II without him?

 

We forget that a person can be functional as well as depressed, manic, racist, stupid, introverted, genius, talented, addicted, or anything else. Do we "cancel" people, ignore what they got right, compartmentalize their lives and accomplishments and contributions, or accept the fact that we are all a mish mash of good and bad? Sometimes (always) being in relationship with other require us to work. If Von Dutch isn't worth the work, then check out. If he is, I hope he's worth it for you. Substitute names and faces as needed.
Well-said, Germ.

 

It seems to be exceedingly difficult for people to realize that not everyone is, or wants to be, just like us. You know . . . normal.

 

Of course. You had Canada on your side!