How to Talk About ArtsHow to Talk About Arts

For a long time, art collection has been one of the most effective strategies for growing wealth. Some reports indicate that investing in specific art pieces has better long-term returns than traditional bonds. However, would you spend thousands of dollars on art pieces whose authenticity cannot be confirmed? Obviously not. It would make your investments practically useless. Fortunately, you can hire an expert to use scientific methods and determine whether a piece of art is fake or original. This article highlights scientific methods used to investigate art collections.

Provenance Investigation

It is the first scientific technique that experts use when they receive an art piece suspected of being a forgery. Fundamentally, provenance refers to the ownership history of an art piece. When you buy an artwork, your name goes on record as the current owner, and when you sell it, the new buyer's identity is added. Unfortunately, records can get lost over time. In some cases, the current art owner and a buyer complete the transaction with nothing more than a handshake. Such instances make tracking authentic owners challenging. Thus, provenance investigators unscramble the history of an art piece by relying on historical records like receipts, catalogues and correspondences. Therefore, while provenance research is the cheapest scientific method of investigating art pieces, it is still very efficient and can reveal critical information.

Microscopy

This is another popular scientific method that art investigators use to determine if a piece is fake. As the name implies, microscopy applies a magnifying glass or microscope and has been used by art investigators for centuries. During microscopy investigations, experts magnify certain sections of an art piece using an optical microscope. The device allows them to examine specific aspects of an artwork, such as paint layers, to determine whether or not shading was added. Microscopy also enables investigators to examine the cracks on a piece of art, most of which have a unique pattern depending on the painting's age. Notably, the cracks are tough to reproduce, making it easy to tell a fake/forgery from an authentic piece.

Imaging Spectroscopy

There is a common misconception that artists go straight into painting once they sit in front of a canvas. However, this is not the case since professional artists need a guide for their drawing. For example, an artist must make preliminary sketches on a canvas before painting. Commonly referred to as underdrawings, the pre-painting sketches are unique to every artist. Imaging spectroscopy allows investigators to examine the seemingly invisible underdrawings beneath the painting. Artwork is only genuine if the spectroscopy images of underdrawings match an artist's unique preparation technique.

For more information, contact a scientific art investigation service near you.