Authentication and Evaluation of Paintings

Is the painting authentic? Is it hand copied from an original? Does it have a fake signature?

TFAO's approach to this subject is to provide to readers, wherever possible, ways of taking advantage of information on the Web.

Even if you have proved that a painting is an "original," that doesn't mean is it painted by the artist you think painted it. For more valuable paintings (in the tens of thousands of dollars) a buyer or owner may want an authentication report. The more famous the artist, the higher the risk of forgery. Even highly trained art dealers and museum officials get caught once in a while with fakes. There are truly brilliant forgers. Many of them live offshore, are very well trained, and produce duplicates that are hard to distinguish from the "real thing.'

Preliminary evaluation work that you can do yourself, based on the name of an artist or other information, can inform you as to whether your painting has enough potential for professional authentication.

Steps you can take:

• Contact reference librarians
• Read about the artist
• See images of the artist's work
• Research the artist's signature
• What to do if you can't identify the artist

Go back to Authentication and Evaluation of Paintings

While Traditional Fine Art Organization, Inc (TFAO) does not provide authentication services, the information in this report is provided as a public service and may be of help to readers studying approaches to authentication and evaluation of their works of art. Names and addresses of consultants or vendors.are provided only as referrals for your further consideration. TFAO is not paid by consultants or vendors for listings in this report and does not receive any referral fees from them. Please use due diligence in employing these or other consultants or vendors. TFAO takes no responsibility for the accuracy of the information herein. Information from the named consultants or vendors may be inaccurate or out of date. TFAO neither recommends or endorses referenced organizations. Although TFAO includes links to other Internet sites, it takes no responsibility for the content or information contained on those other sites, nor exerts any editorial or other control over those other sites. The names, logos, trademarks, and service marks of TFAO and its publications that appear within this web site may not be used in any advertising, publicity, promotion, or in any other manner implying TFAO endorsement, sponsorship, or affiliation with any product or service, without TFAO's prior express written permission.

Copyright 2003, 2004 Traditional Fine Arts Organization, Inc., an Arizona nonprofit corporation. All rights reserved.