How to check a work of art: signature, back and provenance

Provenance comes first

Provenance is the history of a work: who made it, who has owned it and where it has been shown. For established artists it is often the strongest evidence there is.

• There is a clear chain of ownership, ideally with receipts, letters or auction records
• Exhibition labels or catalogue entries match the work's title, size and medium
• For a well-known artist, the work appears in the catalogue raisonné, the scholarly list of their works, where one exists
• The seller can explain how they came to own the work

The signature

A signature is easy to add and hard to judge on its own. Compare it with signatures on accepted works from the same period of the artist's life.

• Placement and size should be typical for the artist
• On a painting, a signature should sit in the paint layer, not on top of old varnish or cracks
• A signature that looks fresher than the rest of the surface deserves a closer look

Original or reproduction?

Many fakes are not painted at all but printed. Look at the surface closely, at an angle and with a loupe.

• Brushstrokes have real texture and height where the paint is thick
• Under magnification there is no regular dot pattern, which would point to a printed reproduction
• Limited-edition prints are numbered and usually signed in pencil, with the edition size stated
• The paper or canvas edges show the work runs all the way to where it should, without a printed border

Turn it over

The back of a painting or print often says more than the front.

• Gallery, framer and exhibition labels look old if the work is old, and the details match
• The canvas, stretcher bars and fixings look right for the claimed age
• Staples rather than tacks suggest the canvas was stretched, or restretched, more recently
• There are no signs that a new canvas was attached to an old stretcher, or the reverse

Certificates of authenticity

A certificate is only as good as whoever issued it. A certificate from the artist, their estate or foundation, or a recognised expert carries weight. One printed by the seller does not.

Photos to take for a check

1. 1The whole piece, straight on and evenly lit
2. 2The signature, close up
3. 3The back, with any labels and stamps
4. 4Certificates and provenance documents