The certificate of authenticity (or authenticates) of works of art

Introduction

The certificate of authenticity of the work of art assumes a fundamental role in multiple respects, from the buying and selling of the work of art, to it’s market valuation and, Nevertheless for the construction of the Artist’s Archive.

There is no shortage of gray areas since some matters are not properly regulated, and it gives rise to uncertainties and difficulties.

In the article, an overview of the certificate of authenticity of artwork.

The certificate of authenticity of works of art

The certificate of authenticity, also called artwork authentication, is a document having a written form attesting to the originality and authorship of a work of art.

The importance of the certificate is underscored by Article 64 of Legislative Decree no. 42 of January 22, 2004 (Cultural Heritage and Landscape Code), by the virtue of which, the certificate, is required to be delivered to the buyer by those engaged in the business of art selling to the public, exhibiting for the purpose of trade, brokering for the purpose of selling or, otherwise, habitually selling works of painting, sculpture, graphics, or objects of antiquity or historical – archaeological interest, to the buyer.

The certificate should always accompany the work of art when it is sold, but, according to l. no. 633 of April 22, 1941 (copyright law), in Italy there is no official, codified procedure for authenticating works of art.

The content of the certificate of authenticity

The content of the artwork’s authentication is not regulated by law, so its determination has developed in practice.

Usually the certificate contains a statement regarding the authenticity of the work of art and its belonging to a specific artist.

In addition to this, the content concerns:

the image of the work, reproduced in color and in high resolution. Article 64, referred to above, indicates that whenever possible, with regard to the nature of the work of art or of the object, the authentication shall be affixed to the photographic copy of the work of art;
the title of the work;
the year of creation;
the type of the work;
the technique used;
the name of the artist and the presence or absence of the artist’s signature;
the statement that the information is true and the signature of the document.

The function of the certificate of authenticity

The certificate has different functions.

In the buying and selling of a work of art it acts to be a guarantee of the authenticity of the work of art and attributes it to a specific artist.

Another important function is that it allows the artist to build his or her own archive, the so-called Artist’s Archive.

In addition, the certificate is decisive in the market valuation of the work.

The subjects who can authenticate the work of art

Again, no specific rules are dictated, but these are formed by the market and practice. Therefore, there is no set template or procedure to follow.

In any case, pursuant to Article 20 l. No. 633/1941, the artist has the exclusive right of authorship over the work. This means that he or she can issue a certificate of authenticity attesting to his or her own creation of the work.

In addition to the artist, the authenticity of the work can also be certified by other parties, such as:

art gallerists who have represented the artist or sold the work in the past can issue certificates of authenticity based on their knowledge of the artist and his work;
auction houses;
artists’ associations that issue certificates of authenticity to their members;
art experts with proven experience;
heirs of the artist.

In any case, since there is no exclusive right to the certification, it can be carried out by anyone who holds an authoritative position in the matter and has the necessary expertise; in the case of an absence of authority, the certificate would in fact be found to have no value, indeed.

The obligation to issue the certificate of authenticity: the difference between professionals and private

The aforementioned Article 64 lists in a punctual manner the subjects who are obliged to deliver, to the buyer of the work, the certificate attesting to the authenticity or at least to the probable attribution of the work.

The gray area lies in the fact that this obligation is imposed only on professionals in the art market and not also on private individuals who sells the works of art; in the private fiel, transactions are often not accompanied by any delivery of the certificate, indeed.

Another point to note is that, by express provision of Article 64, the certificate is required only for certain types of works of art.

In any case, it is always appropriate for the buyer to request the delivery of the certificate, both when the transaction takes place with a professional and when it takes place with a private individual; this is not enough, because it is also necessary to proceed to a specific verification of the content of the certification, as well as the analysis of other indices that may increase or decrease the value of the work.