BEHIND THE PICTURE FRAME,
Genesis Publications

    Genesis Publications Limited is a British publishing company founded in 1974 by Brian Roylance, a former student of the London College of Printing. His aim was to create a company in the traditions of the private press, true to the arts of printing and book binding. Headed today by his son and daughter, Nick Roylance and Catherine Roylance, Genesis Publications produces signed, limited edition books that are created in close collaboration with authors and artists.
     First known for specialising in historical volumes, Genesis is now known as an art house publisher in the fields of modern music and culture.

     Published around 2017, BEHIND THE PICTURE FRAME is a limited edition of 25 sets of 10 prints, presented as signed by Bob Dylan on each photo. Really "signed"? See below...

Above: Back and front of the 10-page-catalogue of prints.
"Each archival print is signed as a mark of authenticity by the artist himself, Bob Dylan".
The photos, printed on "100% Cotton Hahnemuhle Photo Rag® 320gsm" are from 1962 to 1966 by photographers such as David Gahr, Don Hunstein, Jim Marshall, Sandy Speiser, Daniel Kramer and Barry Feinstein.
See the inner pages below.


    'Bob Dylan has autographed a limited run of 250 prints of classic photographs taken between 1962 and 1966. There are 25 sets of the Behind The Picture Frame collection of 10 prints available for sale, with each individual image costing $1800, or $1900 framed.
    The 10 prints are titled Folk City 1962, Greenwich Village 1963, Newport Folk Festival 1963, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan 1963, The Times They Are A Changin' 1963, Another Side Of Bob Dylan 1964, Princeton NJ 1964, Biograph 1965, Columbia Records New York 1965 and Royal Albert Hall 1966.
   Fans who purchase the complete set of 10 [total $18 000] will also be given [!] an archival case [above] in which to store them.' (www.loudersound.com).

Thank you to John Baldwin for the scans and information. The images of the inner pages come from eBay.

   "SIGNED BY DYLAN", really?: The BEHIND THE PICTURE FRAME series is now sold out, but you can still see it here on the Genesis Publications website, where it is noted that "Each archival print is signed as a mark of authenticity by the artist himself, Bob Dylan".
   But there, if you examine the "Dylan signatures" at the bottom of these prints (sold $1800 each), you will see that they are all exactly the same! Years before THE PHILOSOPHY OF MODERN SONG, was Autopen already used to make these signatures?
   Only three of them are reproduced below, but you can check here or on the Genesis Publications site that the seven others carry exactly the same signature: the one printed on the promo booklet above and on the storage box.
   Was that similitude just for the presentation on the website -but for what reason?- or were autopened signatures sold for authentic ones? The question seems relevant.

   Please also check this page on the Genesis Publications site: The Dylan prints are there, among other sets from various artists, all presented as signed by them or the photographers... but as for Bob Dylan, for each artist, the signatures are all identical!