Why sign paintings and what is a certificate of authenticity
Why sign paintings and what is a certificate of authenticity
There was a scandal in the art world about 15 years ago. According to open sources, the painting "The Cardsharps" by Caravaggio was sold by the Sotheby's auction house for 42 thousand pounds as a copy. But the new owner, with the help of experts, proved the authenticity of the purchased painting. The cost of the original painting was estimated at least 10 million pounds. And this means that the seller lost 9.9 million! Of course, he sued the auction house to return the sold painting or to compensate for his damage. What is important in this story for us, modern sculptural artists?
In order for your clients not to have to sue after 400 years, proving the originality of the painting, you need to sign your works and issue a certificate of authenticity for each work.
The signature is the artist's business card, proof that the work was created by him.
Usually, the signature, initials or author's mark are placed on the front side of the work in the corners of the painting. The signature should fit succinctly into the general atmosphere of the work, be not very noticeable, preferably from the same material as the painting itself.
On the reverse side of the work, it is desirable to sign all the output data of the painting: the author's full name, name, country and year of creation, materials, size and signature of the author. This data is mandatory for art exhibitions, sale in online galleries, sending paintings abroad, etc.
In addition, when selling paintings, a certificate of authenticity is mandatory.
A certificate of authenticity is a document that records the technical data of a work of art and the copyright of the artist. Issued by the author to the new owner, confirming the authenticity of the purchase. Since there is no mandatory form of this document, the design can be any. If the painting is sold to another country, then the certificate must be issued in English.
In more detail, the registration of the certificate, the creation of the signature and examples, I consider with the students at the lesson "Final completion of paintings" at the school of sculptural painting:
An equally important point for contemporary artists is the protection of their intellectual property on the Internet. You can read more about this in the article "How can an artist protect photos?"
