Art Authentication

People often ask us if we authenticate art by William and Marguerite.  We regret that we cannot do so, but would like to explain why and help you understand the process involved.

First, the work itself rather than a photograph needs to be examined. Second, authentication is a very complex process, so much so that we cannot undertake it conscientiously, effectively, or practically. Third, it has become an area of potential litigation, which can be both expensive and prolonged.

It may be helpful for you to know more about this issue; if you would like to, read on.

Authentication has been described as a three-legged stool involving connoisseurship, provenance, and scientific analysis. Ideally it works by consensus; all the legs should be the same length and equally strong.

Connoisseurship involves impartial assessment by a scholar or expert, someone with long experience not just with art in general, or a specific medium or period, but with the artist in question themself. If you rely on an expert or scholar, do check their credentials. Even with such experience, experts may have differing opinions or make mistakes. Even if they make a mistake, they are probably not being dishonest but rather “misattributing” a work. Their involvement in a newly “discovered” work, and whether they are by nature self-confident, optimistic, skeptical, or pessimistic may all come into play. Recently, “rediscovered” Jackson Pollack paintings authenticated by experts were found to be forgeries; on the other hand, the Metropolitan Museum deaccessioned a Rubens painting of his daughter because it was “by" his studio, but other scholars felt it was by Rubens himself.  Artists themselves are not always consistent; even by the same artist. Their skills, style, and subject matter change over time.  Artists, particularly recently, experiment with different styles or techniques; such works may not resemble the main body of their work.  A dealer or an auctioneer purporting to be an expert may have a financial conflict of interest, wanting to acquire a work at a cheap price or sell it in a gallery or at auction as an original when it may not be.  

Provenance or art historical documentation, the history of a work of art and its ownership, may be very helpful, but it is also subject to abuse and there may be gaps in the record.  Do you have an original bill of sale?  Did you or a previous owner have a personal connection with Marguerite or Bill?  Is there a continuous and documented chain of ownership?  Remember that people who forge artworks can also forge documents of one sort or another.  An auction record also may not be reliable if the auction house has simply attributed a work to an artist without valid authentication.

Scientific analysis of an artwork is so sophisticated and expensive that it is rarely conducted unless an artwork if remarkably valuable.  It may reveal whether the technique, age, and materials of a work are consistent with what the work purports to be.  Scientific analysis may include many types of analysis including but not limited to x-ray, microscopic, chemical, fluorescence, or spectrometry.  Fortunately, for some works where connoisseurship and provenance are fairly thorough and consistent, scientific analysis may not be necessary.

Forgery is extremely common.  We come across many instances of forgeries of Marguerite and Bill's artwork each year.  Forgers are remarkably adept at adapting styles of artists and can often rapidly create an artwork similar in style to a known artist.  They may borrow and slightly modify motifs from an artist’s other works.  Although we might imagine that forgers would prefer to forge an artwork by an artist whose works command astronomical prices, such works are apt to have well-established provenances and to be subject to greater scrutiny.  In practice forgers love forging works by artist who are well-known, whose works have significant worth, but who are less in the limelight.  Sometimes a forger will add a signature to an anonymous work that bears some resemblance to a known artist’s work.

We also should note that there are some fine reproductions of Bill’s and Marguerite's works, and they are sometimes mistaken for originals.  Nearly every year we get an inquiry about whether a reproduction of a particular watercolor at the Art Institute of Chicago is the original.   These copies have come up at auction and brought substantial prices.   After he began carving sculptures, in an effort to make them affordable to more people, Bill for a time approved some very fine reproductions of his sculptures by a gallery in New York, but these also are not originals.

We do not have a complete record of Bill’s and Marguerite’s artwork.  We do have a catalogue raisonne of Bill’s carved sculptures, about half of his sculptural output, but even it is not complete.  We have records and photographs of other works of both Bill and Marguerite.  We may be able to confirm that what you have may be one of these works.  We are also glad to discuss other aspects of works you feel may be by Bill or Marguerite, albeit without confirming whether they are genuine or fake.