Expertise of the work of art
The expert is a person (usually an art historian), specialized in certain authors or historical periods, who is able to give an expert opinion: an evaluation of the authenticity, the state of conservation, the dating or the age and the history of the work, in addition to the attribution of its economic value.
The appraisal is a technical report related in written form that includes a series of information and considerations that can be diversified depending on the use it is intended for. The appraisal is a professional act that must be performed in full awareness that the written declarations are the responsibility of the signatory expert who certifies and guarantees a work of art.
Appraisal
An appraisal means a detailed and descriptive report including each evaluation element of the work in question. The appraisal contains the expert's reasoned opinion regarding the originality and authenticity of the work and its commercial value. Photo must be attached.
Expertise
Expertise means a detailed and descriptive report prepared in the manner described above, but without indicating its value. In general it is also referred to as a Certificate of Authenticity or Validation. Photo must be attached
Market data is generally recovered both by the gallery owners who deal with the artists and by the databases that record the auction sales of the works.
Each authenticity assessment must begin with examinations and analyses to establish whether the age of the work, the materials and the techniques used are compatible with those used by the artist and with his period of action.
Analysis of a painting
For example, if one wants to examine a painting, one first observes the pictorial surface to study, for example, the canvas, the crimp, the pigment thickness and other characteristics both of the pictorial layer and of the support (table, canvas, cardboard, paper).
We observe the texture of the canvas, any inscriptions on the frame or the back of the works, the type and arrangement of the nails.
It is also particularly noticeable the signature that would seem the easiest detail to imitate but in reality it has its own graphological setting which is unique for each artist and which the expert is familiar with.
Then we pass to the examination with grazing light and then to the one with the lamp of Wood to ascertain the epoch, the eventual restorations, the abrasions the pictorial retouches, the signatures appended and therefore not coeval.
Finally, the iconographic, compositional and stylistic examination based on a series of comparisons and comparisons with certain works by a certain artist in order to identify the salient features of the style.
In conclusion:
The art and antiques expert must be aware of the techniques and secrets that the artist examined and used, techniques that can also be changed over the years through evolutions or stylistic involutions that have characterized the different periods of his production.
Authenticity and value of the works
The primary need for any commercial operation involving works of art, especially for those who buy, is the guarantee. When the work being sold is by an artist who is no longer alive and there is no precise cataloging of his works, attributing authorship is a task, as well as a burden, of great responsibility.
The seller, in Italian legislation, is the only one who can certify the work being sold. This rule is governed by Article 63 of the Legislative Decree of 29 October 1999, n. 490, which replaced the old article 2 of the law 20 November 1971, n. 1062:
"anyone who carries out the activity of selling to the public or exhibiting in order to trade in works of painting, sculpture, graphics, objects of antiquity or of historical and archaeological interest must deliver to the buyer the certificates of authenticity and provenance of the works and of the objects themselves, which are found in the exercise or in the exhibition.In addition, at the time of sale, the purchaser must issue a photographic copy of the work or object with a written declaration of authenticity and indication of origin bearing his signature ".
The law makes no mention at all that the certification of authenticity must be issued by an art expert or an antiquarian expert, but only by the seller. Therefore those who buy a work of art should have it checked by an expert before purchasing.
Become an Art Expert
The journey to become an art and antiques expert is long and difficult, since its preparation is entrusted to personal and direct experience and to a solid base of historical knowledge. The figure of the art expert takes on a decisive role in many commercial activities. In some cases it is art historians who improperly hold the qualification of experts, since they are not inclined to follow market valuations.
In other cases it is the same antique dealers and gallery owners who carry out this activity, or rather profession, incurring in an inevitable conflict of interest. The extreme case can occurs in modern art works, that when the artist is deceased it will be the closest relative to be able to certify its authenticity, often totally unaware of the work of its relative. So the art expert is quite an anomalous figure in the Italian legal system. This activity is carried out independently without having to belong to any professional register. The guarantee that can be given in this situation is purely trustworthy. Not even the Courts and the Magistrates Courts recognize the figure of the art expert and for on entry in the general lists of C.T.U. (Technical Consultant Register) a technical degree is sufficient or if you have been an antiquarian for at least three years.
Only some Courts and all the Chambers of Commerce have set up their own list of art experts and accept admission also by qualifications.