Authentication

The moral right to correct attribution is one of several moral rights established internationally for artists.  To mis-authenticate the artist of a portrait, or any work of art, is identity theft.  To correctly attribute an art work restores the integrity of the work and the reputation of the proper artist. 

Staff at Fine Art Investigations carefully research the date of the composition through a thorough analysis of styles of clothing, hair, and props.  Portraits were sometimes painted for a particular purpose, such as to commemorate an engagement, marriage, or to immortalize a loved one after death. The date often makes such a purpose apparent.  But more importantly, once the date is firmly established, the life of the subject can be compared with artist biographies to determine the probable artists. By creating an array of images of similar dates by potential artists and performing a detailed comparison of the images, the correct artist can be identified.  Once artist identification is confirmed – occasionally a scientific analysis is needed — FAI prepares a full-color, high-quality bound report. The degree of certainty weighted among the experts becomes a part of the report.  One copy of the report is sent to the client; another to the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Inventory of American Painting where a permanent record is kept on file.

An appraisal is an inter-related, yet separate process.