You Can Find Art For Sale Almost Anywhere, Most Of Itcoupled With A Variety Of Forms Of Certification,documentation, Authentication, Provenance,attribution, And All Other Claims That The Piece Is Bythis Artist, Etc. But Guess What? None Of Thesepapers, Claims, Certificates Of Authenticity,documents Or Even Tall Tales Mean A Thing If They'renot Stated, Authored, Or Else Traceable To Or Directlyassociated With Accepted, Recognized, And Qualifiedauthorities About The Art In Question, And Also Theartist Themselves.So Here Are Some Of The Essentials To Know Onattributing And Authenticating Art, How It Works Andwho The People To Be Trusted Are.Theyre All Connected-Not!One Of The Most Pervasive Problems In Selling Artdeals With "attributed" Art. Its So Common That Everykind Of Unqualified Individual Would Attributeartworks To Different Kinds Of Artists, Sad To Say100 Of These Attributions Are Considered To Beworthless.How Come? Simply Because In The Art Industry,legitimate Attributions Are Only Made By Known Andrecognized Authority Figures That Have Legitimateauthority On The Attributed Artists Names.Defining "Attributed"Officially And Technically Speaking, "attributed"means A Specific Work Of Art, Which Is Most Likely Anoriginal, Is At The Hand And Is Certified By Aqualified Authority On The Matter. Take Note That Yourkeywords Here Are "qualified Authority". Thus, If Theattribution Is Done By An Unqualified Person, Then Itwould Be Meaningless.Who Are The Qualified Authority?A Qualified Authority Is Someone Who Really Knows Whatheshe Is Talking About And Has The Proof To Anythingheshe Says. Qualified Authorities Are Those Peoplethat Have Deliberately Studied The Artist Underconsideration, Have Already Published Papers About Theartist, And Have Curated Major Gallery Shows Ormuseums Catering The Works Of The Artist.They Can Also Be Someone Who Have Taught Courses Aboutthe Artist; Bought Or Sold At Least Dozens Or Evenhundreds Of Artworks By The Artist; Have Writtenmagazine Articles, Books, Or Catalogue Essays Aboutthe Artist, And The Like.The Artist Himherself Can Also Be A Qualifiedauthority, Along With His Relatives, Employees, Directdescendants, And Heirs. Also, People Who Have Formal,legal, Or Estate-granted Sanctions Or Entitlements Inable To Pass Judgment The Artists Works Areconsidered To Be Qualified Authorities. Mostimportantly, They Should Be Recognized Throughout Thewhole Art Community To The People In Charge When Itcomes To The Matter Of Dealing With Works By Thatartist.Who Are Not Qualified?The List Of People Whom Are Not Qualified Could Takeforever To Complete. However, Here Are Some Of Thegeneral Characteristics Of Those Unqualified Peoplewho Most Likely Say That They Are Qualified.First Off, You Should Watch Out For Those Who Thinkthat The Piece They Are Selling Is By This Certainartist Just Because The Work Looks Like It Is Doneby That Artist; Also, Those Who Think That The Pieceis By That Artist Because They Saw Some Illustrationsfrom Art Books That Are Similar To The Piece At Hand.Additionally, Sellers That Answer You With "that Iswhat The Previous Owner Told Me" Kind Of Questions Arenot To Be Trusted. You Really Cant Rely Ontattle-tailing To Very If The Work Is An Original Ornot. This Is Just The Same If They Say That The Workis By Such Artist Because The Previous Owner Is Richand Famous.You Should Also Watch Out For Art Appraisers, Sincethey Only Appraise And Not Authenticate; Unless Theyhave Qualifications To Do So. Take Note That Appraisaland Authentication Are Two Different Things.So, If Youre Planning On Buying A So-called Original,then You Must Make Sure That The Person Youre Talkingto Is A Qualified Authority, Or Better Yet, The Artisthimself!
