Certificates of Authenticity
By by Daniel Grant
Friday, September 1 2006
Friday, September 1 2006
Published on AllBusiness.com
Many artists are unaware that the same art-print-disclosure laws that require galleries and dealers to provide certificates of authenticity when selling prints or reproductions of original artwork apply to them as well, especially when making direct sales, such as in shows or online. These consumer- protection laws, which have been enacted in 14 states?Arkansas, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, and Wisconsin?ensure that the reproduced artwork being purchased is authentic and has value.
Although these laws vary slightly from state to state, all states require the sellers of multiples?defined as any fine print, photograph, sculpture cast, collage, or similar art object produced in more than one copy (such as in an engraving, etching, woodcut, lithograph, or serigraph)?to provide certain information to buyers, such as the name of the artist, the year in which the work was printed, the printing plate used, the number of prints that are signed and numbered, and the total size of the edition. The majority of art-print-disclosure laws also require collectors to be notified of the type of print (digital, lithograph, or etching, for example), whether the edition was produced after the artist's death, if the edition is a restrike (a later printing that is not part of the original edition), whether the artist actually signed the print or if the signature was printed mechanically along with the image, the name and location of the printer, and whether the printing plate has been destroyed or is in storage. Most of the states follow California's lead in identifying the applicable prints as selling for more than $100, not including the frame. These statutes protect buyers in their respective states, regardless of where the prints were actually created, making dealers and gallery owners who sell prints in those states liable for incorrect or absent information.
As a result, galleries throughout the United States regularly provide documents for the art multiples they sell, usually referred to as certificates of authenticity. Artists who sell their own prints directly are responsible for providing this same documentation, although it is far less common to see them offering certificates of authenticity when making sales at exhibitions, in their studios, or through a website. In fact, the New York State law specifically assigns liability to the artists if the information they provide to a gallery owner in writing about their prints is incorrect. In all 14 states, sellers of prints?both dealers and artists?who violate the law could face prosecution by the state attorney general.
Walton Mendelson, an artist in Prescott, Arizona, who creates drawings, collages, and photographs, doesn't have a high opinion of certificates of authenticity, but he has come to see that many collectors
Although these laws vary slightly from state to state, all states require the sellers of multiples?defined as any fine print, photograph, sculpture cast, collage, or similar art object produced in more than one copy (such as in an engraving, etching, woodcut, lithograph, or serigraph)?to provide certain information to buyers, such as the name of the artist, the year in which the work was printed, the printing plate used, the number of prints that are signed and numbered, and the total size of the edition. The majority of art-print-disclosure laws also require collectors to be notified of the type of print (digital, lithograph, or etching, for example), whether the edition was produced after the artist's death, if the edition is a restrike (a later printing that is not part of the original edition), whether the artist actually signed the print or if the signature was printed mechanically along with the image, the name and location of the printer, and whether the printing plate has been destroyed or is in storage. Most of the states follow California's lead in identifying the applicable prints as selling for more than $100, not including the frame. These statutes protect buyers in their respective states, regardless of where the prints were actually created, making dealers and gallery owners who sell prints in those states liable for incorrect or absent information.
As a result, galleries throughout the United States regularly provide documents for the art multiples they sell, usually referred to as certificates of authenticity. Artists who sell their own prints directly are responsible for providing this same documentation, although it is far less common to see them offering certificates of authenticity when making sales at exhibitions, in their studios, or through a website. In fact, the New York State law specifically assigns liability to the artists if the information they provide to a gallery owner in writing about their prints is incorrect. In all 14 states, sellers of prints?both dealers and artists?who violate the law could face prosecution by the state attorney general.
Walton Mendelson, an artist in Prescott, Arizona, who creates drawings, collages, and photographs, doesn't have a high opinion of certificates of authenticity, but he has come to see that many collectors
