How Experts Can Detect Art Forgeries

The art business is a huge business worth billions of dollars across the world. While it’s recommended sometimes to separate the art from the artist when analyzing a certain artwork, this consideration is not taken into account when it comes to actually appraise a work. In this case, the value of an artwork is directly related to the person who painted it.

As a result, there is a lot of money to be made from forging artworks and passing them off as original works. To prevent art forgeries from happening, however, experts have a whole host of tools that they can use to analyze the works before making a decision on their originality. If you are interested in what they are, then you are in the right place, as this guide has a complete overview. Read on now to learn all about it.

X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry

When it comes to looking at the composition of a painting, it’s important to be able to do this in a way that is completely non-invasive. This is where an x-ray fluorescence spectrometer can come in and provide the necessary compositional analysis without damaging the sample in any way. It can look at the type of material that was used in the making of the painting, which can then be combined with art scholarship to identify the era in which it was painted. This means that if it was painted recently, it would be easy to spot. Companies such as Malvern Panalytical are leading the way when it comes to providing this type of technology.

Provenance Research

Usually, when an artwork is originally commissioned or bought, there is some kind of record pertaining to that deal. While there might not be an official record of sale, art historians are able to find some kind of correspondence that confirms that the artwork was actually created by that person. Nonetheless, as shown in the classic art forgery film F for Fake, provenance can be invented by forgers as well, making for extra challenges for people to verify the originality of art.

Microscopic Analysis

When it comes to looking, if extra elements have been added to a painting to change the owner, for example, adding Rembrandt’s signature to a painting by one of his contemporaries, then professionals should definitely be using microscopic analysis. This is because they can take a deep look and then be able to see if the signature has been added later on.

Bring In A Dedicated Expert On That Artist

When it comes to particular artists, such as Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, or David Hockney, some dedicated experts know all about their styles and the history of their artworks. This means, if traditional forensic methods to trying to authenticate the provenance have failed, then it is always a good idea to bring in a dedicated expert who knows all about the style of the artist being imitated, as they will be able to engage in a dedicated analysis of style to see if it actually belongs to the artist being imitated.