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Authorized authenticators
There is more money in the world than great paintings by John Jan Popovic
Authorized authenticators
Authorized authenticors Who are the real authenticators? ------------------------------------------------------ Originals, Art archives and Artwork Authenticity ------------------------------------------------------ Before buying an artwork, it is appropriate to verify its provenance and authenticity. If the artwork is not included in the latest and most comprehensive Catalogue Raisonné of the artist and if there is no the the Certificate of Authenticity issued to the owner, you have a problem!
You should ask for a CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY, Artwork archiving number, and relative bibliography if existent. In the case that purchased artwork is not accompanied with the CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY, it is convenient to obtain it directly from the artist, if living, or from the foundation's experts and scientific committee, or from the art archive which is protecting the artistic heritage of the artist.
For the protection against acquisition of fake, counterfeited artwork or of dubious origin, the certificate of authenticity is the only way to protect investments.
Those who are approaching to the world of art, both collectors and enthusiasts, it is of fundamental importance to re-control the validity of their CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY, by well known established authority for the artist in question.
There is also the existent legislation on cultural heritage which impose on those who trade paintings, sculpture, graphics, objects of antiquity or objects of historical or archaeological interest, to release time of sale of a photographic copy of the artifact with the written statement of authenticity and an indication of the origin.
------------------------------- Well documented Artworks ------------------------------- The big auction houses look mostly at the provenance and the catalogue raisonné. If the painting has not been sold at auction before, or you do not have its documented history since it left the artist's studio, and it is not listed in the catalogue raisonné, 99% of the time the painting will be rejected. Never mind that most catalogue raisonné are vastly outdated and that none of them was ever complete to begin with. You could call this the recycling approach to authenticating art. Only the paintings already recorded get to be sold again. That is how it works. Publishing a catalogue raisonné is important in order to establish control and protection of the art heritage and the market for an artist. Many catalogue raisonné are published by the biggest art dealers, like Wildenstein.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Authentications of not well documented artworks ---------------------------------------------------------------- In America and Europe, museums no longer authenticate works of art. They do not give expert opinions either. They are afraid of lawsuits. This trend is extending everywhere and the result is that it is becoming increasingly difficult to find out if a painting is authentic or not.
There are official art experts, art archives, and art foundations. Some famous experts have not authenticated anything in 20 years. Some are difficult to deal with. Often they reject newly discovered artworks presented to them, and even sometimes they refuse to give an opinion at any newly discovered painting. Sometimes they do not even respond to mail and photos sent to them.
The main problem with the private experts is perhaps that most of them use only subjective discretional opinion. They look at the painting and compare it to what they remember and know. Often they just reply with the statement "No. This is not an artwork by..."
----------------------------------------- Case study: Picasso Authentication ----------------------------------------- Do you have a Picasso, with a certificate of Gallery XY, famous gallery in London? What is the value of that ridiculous certificate of authenticity? NOTHING!!
If the drawing is not included in the latest and most comprehensive catalogue raisonné, The Picasso Project edited by Wofsy, or in the old Zervos catalogue, the only alternative to establish value today is to obtain a signed photocertificate of authenticity from Maya Widmaier Picasso and/or Claude Picasso. They are two of his children and the only people in the world who have the legal authority to authenticate his unique works. Marina Picasso, one of his grandchildren, has sold a part of her inheritance and generally has a stamp that bears her name on the back of her prints and works on paper. But her Picassos are typically already catalogued. Unlike Maya and Claude, she doesn’t authenticate works that have surfaced and been brought to her attention. Without inclusion in at least one catalogue raisonné or authentication by Maya or Claude, the authenticity of the drawing can’t be proved and it becomes impossible to sell for anything close to the value it would command if it were real, unless the seller finds an unsuspecting newbie collector who is prepared to make a costly mistake without engaging in the most basic due diligence.
Here is a short list of experts for some major European artists, who are the unique authorized authenticators: Picasso: Zervos Committee, Mrs. Maya and Claude Picasso Van Gogh: Comite Van Gogh Degas: Mr. Brame & Mr. Lorenceau Chagall:Comite Chagall Campigli: Archivio Campigli, Prof. Nicola Campigli Fontana: Fondazione Lucio Fontana Miro:Les Amis de Miro, and Mr. Jacques Dupin Dali: Mr. Descharnes Cezanne: Mr. Reff Seurat : Mr. Philippe Brame Sisley : Wildenstein Foundation Gauguin : Wildenstein Foundation Matisse : Mrs. Wanda de Guebriant Malevitch : Mr. Andrei Nakov Kandinsky : Mrs. Vivian Barnett Nolde: Mr. Martin Urban Leger: Comite Leger Poliakoff: Archives Serge Poliakoff Pissaro: Comite Pissaro Modigliani: Mr. Christian Parisot Boudin: Mr. Schmit Picabia : Mrs. Olga Picabia Utrillo: Mr. Fabris & Mr. Petrides Pascin: Mr. Abel Rambert Morisot: Mr. Yves Rouart Valtat: Mr. Louis Andre Valtat Foujita: Mrs. Sylvie Buisson Toulouse-Lautrec: Mr. Brame Turner: Mr. Martin Butlin Van Dongen: Mr. Belier Viera da Silva: Mr. Jaeger Nattier: Mr. Baillio Oguiss: Oguiss Myoko Millet: Mr. Aubry or Mr. Lorenceau Henri Martin: Mr. Cyrille Martin Magritte:Mr. Isy Brachot Georges Carrey: Mr. Arry Van Weyenbergh
--------------------- Scientific tests --------------------- There are also laboratories, they can only prove that come artwork is fake or modern copy, but these tests can never give a proof that an artwork is an original. Laboratories are advertising that they can test pigments, C14 dating, take infrared and X ray photographs. It is just misleading people into believing this will authenticate the painting. Of course it is just ridiculous. No pigment analysis will ever prove that you have a Rembrandt, or Picasso. Scientific tests can only contribute to authenticating a painting, but mostly they serve to confirm or establish an approximative date, and to reveal forgeries. They can only show that a painting is not authentic. They can NOT identify who painted it, and much less that it is authentic.
----------------------------- Masterpiece syndrome ----------------------------- Another problem is the masterpiece syndrome. It consists in rejecting all the paintings that are run-of-the-mill, or mediocre, as if every artist produced masterpiece after masterpiece. Artists have bad days, bad weeks and even bad years. Most painters, even among the most famous, only produced a few masterpieces. The rest of their production was ordinary and may have included numerous mediocre works. The result of the masterpiece syndrome is that if it is not as good as the well-known masterpieces, your painting is immediately rejected. Then, there is the fact that many artists experimented with styles, subjects or media and produced paintings that are very different from their general output. The so-called atypical paintings. Another reason for a quick rejection.
----------------------- Attribution process ----------------------- The main difference between an authentication and an attribution, is that in the case of authentications the question is generally: is it genuine, or is it a copy, a reproduction or a forgery? Authentication is largely a yes or no question. Attribution deals mostly with authorship. The issue at hand is that one does not know who painted the work. Authenticity is not in question.
Generally the painting is not signed, but sometimes it is with a signature added later. Sometimes there is no history either, or very little, no documentation, and no provenance; which means that we don't know who owned it in the past.
The materials, the condition, the subject and the style, allow us to place the painting in a certain place at a certain time.
In some instances, such as if a painting has been relined, or transferred to a different support, we may need x-ray photographs and other scientific tests. Once we are satisfied that a painting is from a certain place and period, we move on to identifying the specific artist. If the painting is immediately reminiscent of a particular painter, we check it out. If it is not, we make a list of all the possible authors and proceed by elimination, performing series of comparative analyses. The most basic are subject, composition and style. We tackle them one by one. In total we perform up to 45 different series of analyses. Progressively, the number of possibilities shrinks, and we end up with just one painter. This is a short summary of the attribution process. It consists among other things in methodical and systematic series of comparative analyses, each focusing on one particular aspect, characteristic, or element of the painting, as compared to the same in his known works. Scientific tests help to support or confirm some facts, but by themselves they are rarely sufficient to identify a painter.
Another approach is to check if in the literature, history and archives about this artist, we could be so lucky as to find some information, some historic reference perhaps, which would support or confirm the attribution. We consign our research and conclusions in a report and if they are positive we issue a certificate to the owner. Any painting that has been properly attributed to a particular artist increases instantly in value. Information increases the value of art and the most important piece of information is who executed the work.
Bibliography: www.Masterpiecesartgallery.com
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