A certificate of authenticity is a document in which a work’s authenticity is confirmed by someone who knows it at first hand: the artist, their gallery or a foundation managing their estate. It usually gives the title, year, technique and dimensions, for a print the edition number as well, and carries a photograph of the work and a signature. An expert opinion, by contrast, is a view from the outside. A specialist examines the work’s style, materials and documentation and only then pronounces on its authenticity. The certificate says “this is my work”, the opinion says “on my examination, this is their work”.
In the Czech Republic a formal expert report (znalecký posudek) may only be issued by a court expert entered in the register kept by the Ministry of Justice, and only in their own field. Since 2021 this has been governed by Act No. 254/2019 Coll., and you can commission such a report privately, not only through a court. The report must carry an expert’s clause (a record of who issued it and in which field), and the expert is liable for it, even criminally for a knowingly false report. A specialist statement (odborné vyjádření) is a less formal view from a specialist, typically an art historian or restorer, without that clause. Written by a recognised authority on the artist in question, it carries real weight on the market, but in court it cannot replace a formal expert report.
In Art Part Club’s Edutéka we advise: with older art, make sure you have an expert opinion. With contemporary art bought directly from the artist the risk of a forgery is minimal, and a certificate from the artist or gallery is usually enough. Both then belong in the folder you keep for the work, together with the invoice, exhibition catalogues and correspondence with the artist. It is from such a folder that provenance (a work’s documented history) will one day emerge. And a work with clean papers sells more easily.
A certificate is only as trustworthy as whoever issued it, and forgers fake papers as readily as paintings. With artists who are no longer living there may be no one left to confirm authenticity: in 2012 the Andy Warhol Foundation dissolved its authentication board because disputes over rejected works had cost it millions of dollars. So ask who wrote the opinion, in which field they are registered and what they based it on. Did they see the original, or only a photograph? And remember that an opinion on authenticity is not yet a valuation.
— Anna Pulkertová, founder of Art Part Club
Related terms: Fakes and forgeries · Verifying authenticity (blockchain and AI) · Provenance · Catalogue raisonné · An artist’s signature style
