The State - News from May 8, 1988

A judge has ordered an art gallery chain not to represent what are actually $50 posters as hand-signed, limited-edition prints by such artists as Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali and Marc Chagall. U.S. District Judge Prentice Marshall issued a temporary restraining order against Austin Galleries, with stores in San Francisco, Carmel, Laguna Beach, Detroit and Chicago. Donald Austin, president of the Illinois-based group of art galleries, denied the charge. Marshall issued the order after receiving a complaint from the Federal Trade Commission, which said the gallery chain sold the prints for $200 to $5,000 each, while claiming that they would turn a profit when sold.