How to Verify the Authenticity of a Contemporary Artwork

Why authenticity has become a serious matter

For a long time, the question of authenticity concerned chiefly the market for Old Masters: a Rembrandt, a Vermeer, a Caravage. For contemporary art, it seemed peripheral. The artist was living, the gallery was established, an invoice sufficed.

This has changed for three reasons.

The first is commercial: the secondary market for contemporary art has grown fivefold in twenty years. Works purchased for €2,000 in 2005 are resold for €40,000 in 2025. The forgers' interest has followed the same trajectory.

The second is technical: large-format printers and cutting plotters now allow the production, from a simple high-definition file, of reproductions that only a conservator or chemist can distinguish from the original.

The third is legal: since the Marinot ruling of 2018, the gallery's liability regarding the authenticity of the works it sells has been considerably extended. A serious gallery must now document each piece as one would document a museum piece.

Here, for an individual buyer, are the benchmarks we use at Galerie Roz In Winter, and which any beginning collector can apply.

The three essential documents

A contemporary artwork sold through a gallery must always be accompanied by three documents. If any one of them is missing, that is a signal to take seriously.

1. The invoice

It must mention:

The exact title of the work.
The year of creation.
The technique and materials.
The exact dimensions (excluding frame and including frame, where applicable).
The artist's full name and, if the work is signed on the back, the location of the signature.
The price excluding VAT and including VAT, with the VAT rate applied (5.5% for works sold by the artist, 20% for secondary market sales).

An invoice lacking in precision, for instance indicating "untitled" when the work is titled, or rounding dimensions, is the first sign of poorly kept records.

2. The certificate of authenticity

This is the document linking the work to its author. It must be:

Signed by the artist's hand (or by their heirs if the artist is deceased). A merely printed signature has no legal value.
Numbered, for editions (photographs, prints, edited sculptures). Typical format: 3/30 + 2 AP means example 3 of 30, plus 2 artist's proofs.
Dated and containing the work's technical specifications (dimensions, materials, sometimes even the studio's internal reference).
Accompanied by a reference image (photograph of the work, seal or specific pictogramme).

This certificate is not mere formality. It is the document that protects your acquisition for the next fifty years. Keep it in a dry place, flat, ideally in a neutral pH folder.

3. The provenance file

For a new work, fresh from the studio, the invoice and certificate suffice. For a secondary market work, that is to say one previously owned, the provenance file becomes essential. It traces:

Known previous owners (with their consent, some remaining anonymous).
The exhibitions the work has participated in.
Publications in which it is reproduced (catalogues, monographic works, specialist press).
Any conservation or restoration work.

A work whose provenance has a "gap" of several years, with no plausible explanation, warrants scrutiny. This does not necessarily mean the work is suspect. But you should ask for clarification before committing to a significant purchase.

The material signs of an authentic work

Even without scientific expertise, several visual, tactile and olfactory indicators can confirm an initial impression.

For an oil painting:

The surface presents, under raking light, the relief of the paint layer. Impastos reveal the trace of brush or palette knife.
The back of the canvas bears a patina, however slight, corresponding to its declared year. A canvas presented as dating to 2010 but whose stretcher shows no sign of age is suspicious.
The smell: oil takes years to dry completely. A recent canvas still carries a characteristic, slightly resinous odour.

For a limited edition photograph:

The paper must bear, on the back, the blind stamp or signature of the professional printer, with the printing date.
The edition number must be consistent with other known impressions (some galleries publish the complete list of editions).
The image size and margins must correspond to the official specification sheet.

For a bronze sculpture:

Serious foundries apply their mark (lost-wax, Bocquel foundry, Vincent foundry…) in a discreet but identifiable area.
Each edition must be numbered in the metal itself, in addition to the certificate.

The NFC device: a concrete advance

Since 2024, Galerie Roz In Winter integrates, upon request and at no extra cost to the buyer, a passive NFC chip on the back of the frame or on the base of each work. This chip contains no confidential data. Scanned with a simple smartphone, it directs to a digital archive file hosted with us, which brings together:

High-definition photograph of the work.
The certificate of authenticity, in time-stamped digital version.
The exhibition and loan history.
The record, where applicable, of any conservation or restoration undertaken.

This file is updated by the gallery at each event. It follows the work throughout its life, including at resale to a new owner, who may request the file to be transferred to their name.

This device does not replace the paper certificate, which remains the primary legal proof. It complements it: it makes traceability far simpler to exercise, especially when the work changes hands ten or twenty years later, at a moment when the artist may no longer be reachable.

What if I resell the work?

The digital file is transferable. Simply send us a copy of the resale invoice and we update the owner's name. The new holder inherits the entire file, which maintains the work's documentary value over time.

What to do if doubts arise

You bought a work several years ago, the gallery has closed, documents are incomplete, and you would like to verify. A few avenues:

Contact the artist directly, if living and reachable. Most will authenticate a work on presentation of photographs.
Contact the heir or the artist committee, for deceased artists with an official committee (Soulages, Dubuffet, Giacometti, Hantaï…). These committees issue attestations that carry authority.
Engage an accredited expert (SFEP, Compagnie nationale des experts). An examination costs between €150 and €800 depending on complexity, and may include laboratory material analysis for significant works.
Solicit a gallery that represents or has represented the artist. We ourselves regularly receive authentication requests for works we did not sell; we treat them with care when they concern artists in our programme.

For any question regarding the authenticity of a work you own, the simplest way is to write to galerie@rozinwinter.com with photographs of front and back and any available documentation. We reply within 72 hours.

Three frequently asked questions

You will find further detail in our Frequently Asked Questions, particularly regarding tax arrangements, return and refund conditions, and the precise legal framework of the certificate of authenticity in France. We answer some forty questions collectors regularly ask us.

Buying contemporary art today remains a beautiful and relatively straightforward decision, provided you observe these few precautions. It is not because a market experiences abuses that you should refrain from participating in it. Rather, it is an additional reason to favour galleries that take documentation seriously, and to ask, unhesitatingly, all the questions on your mind.