FAQ

We are not a one-size-fits-all service, so we offer flexible pricing to better address the needs of each individual customer. From an unresearched initial opinion for less than $100 to advanced scientific analysis for $10,000+ we offer a wide range of services to fit every budget and answer every question that you might have about your work of art.

We are a fully remote team with experts based in the cultural capitals of New York, Paris, London and Munich. This decentralization allows us to access more museum collections, libraries and archives around the world.

We are able to perform most of our research services from high-resolution photographs of your artwork and do not require the physical object. However, for scientific analysis or if you wish to sell your piece at auction, you will need to ship it to one of our partners in Europe or North America. We can help you make all of the necessary arrangements.

We can authenticate any work of art from the secondary market with a minimum estimated value of $5,000 or more. We examine paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures and some works of decorative art. Rather than being specialized in one particular period or artist, we are trained to look for the telltale signs of a forgery, which tend to be similar across most genres. We have experience with hundreds of artists from around the world.

Signature does not provide what is commonly known as a Certificate of Authenticity (COA) because we do not — in legal terms — have "droit morale" or the "moral right" to authenticate works of art as originals. Only the artist, or an individual or organization designated by the artist is able to issue a legal COA.

In the case of many artists, such an individual or organization does not exist, so your best course of action is to gather expert opinions, which we offer in the form of our comparative analysis report, and demonstrate findings from provenance research and / or scientific analysis.

Beware of any business (and there are quite a few) that would offer you a COA, as this practice is generally regarded as deceptive and misleading. Such "certificates" have no legal validity and would not be recognized or accepted by any major auction house.

While we cannot guarantee that our opinion will be accepted, our experts have successfully helped customers consign and sell their works at Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Bonhams and other international and regional auction houses in the past.

We take matters of confidentiality very seriously. This means that all of the reports that we produce are under NDA and can only be viewed by members of the Signature team and the customer. However, we are happy to provide you with an outline so that you can better understand how your report will be structured.

Unfortunately, in a market flooded with fakes and forgeries, it is not uncommon that our conclusion is negative. However, we always encourage our customers to seek a second opinion and are happy to provide the names and contact details for other experts and organizations if you wish to proceed.

We do not buy works of art or facilitate private sales, but we do offer a complimentary consignment concierge service to those customers with artworks that we have deemed authentic. We can connect you with a suitable auction house and negotiate favorable terms of consignment. While we don’t accept a fee or commission from our customers for this service, we do receive a “finder’s fee” from the auction house, so we are motivated to help you get the best price.

Unfortunately this arrangement creates a conflict of interest and would compromise our integrity as a research organization, so we only offer our services for a fee, which must be paid in advance.

If we didn’t answer your question in this FAQ section, please feel free to reach out to us by email at info@authenticate-art.com. You can also catch us on our live customer support chat offered Monday through Thursday, 9am to 2pm CEST.