Authentication Committees

Victor Wiener has an article in the new Chubb Collector on Authentication Committees and Questionable Works of Art.  Victor discusses the difficulties and subjectivity of authentication and issues including perceived biases of authentication committees.  As many appraisers are aware, and as posted on the AW Blog, the Warhol authentication board and foundation have been accused of manipulating the market in order to reduce supply and increase demand.

The next excerpt from the Journal of Advanced Appraisal Studies - 2010 is by Jane Brennom, ISA CAPP on Authentication vs Appraising.  A very interesting article and one all appraisers should be familiar with as the lines between the two can easily get blurred, look for the excerpt this weekend. It fits nicely with Victor's Chubb Collectors article.  Victor has also contributed to the Journal, writing article in the 2008 edition Appraising Art in the Stratosphere: The Dynamics of Steve Wynn's Elbow and Other Valuation Situations   and the 2009 edition The Unique Aspects of Appraising Large Scale Art.   For more information on the Journal, click HERE.

Winer states in his Chubb Collectors article

Yet, for all these categories of authenticators there have been significant challenges, legal and otherwise. Challenges center around whether the expert was biased towards the object or owners; whether compensation to the experts for their services was above the norm; whether improper methodology was employed for identification of objects; whether there is inconsistency in opinions and, in the case of artists themselves, whether there are falsifications of their own earlier works (as in the case of de Chirico) or imprecise memories of what they had created (as in the case of Balthus).

In an effort to render the process as objective as possible several steps have been taken within the legal and art communities. In France and other European countries experts have been designated by the courts as the holders of the "droit moral" or "moral right" to pass judgment. These are generally members of the artist's family. In France, the courts try to determine whether the family is competent, although there is an inherent tendency to give the designation to the family if possible. In Italy and some other countries, the droit moral generally goes to the family regardless. Upon occasion the courts have given the droit moral to scholars of the artist's work.

Whether family members, once recognized as authenticators by the courts, are also recognized as such by the marketplace is determined on a case-by-case basis. For example, when Picasso died he left a huge number of unsold works and several heirs. The French courts gave the droit moral to all of his family members, but two of his children - Maya and Claude Picasso - have emerged as the primary authenticators. However, there is considerable consternation in the art market over which of these is the most knowledgeable. Prospective buyers of Picasso paintings and sculpture have been known to seek the opinion of Maya Picasso, even when Claude was the one who had written a certificate of authenticity.

To read the full article in Chubb Collector by Victor Wiener, click HERE.