Authentication

Authorship is a key concept in art history: who is this work by? But such a simple question can be difficult to answer. Whether looking to find the artist of a newly discovered work or challenging the authenticity of something suspect, authorship is the underlying question. Reliably establishing answers presents unique challenges.

Modern approaches to authorship are complex but potent. Synthesising science, technical art history, provenance research and connoisseurs’ opinions, we now have a huge array of analytical and scholarly tools to help. Using them to best effect requires skill and knowledge.

AA&R have advanced and extensive expertise in providing scientific evidence in a technical art historical context for authenticity and attribution studies. Services include:

• Dating by means of object analysis and use of material chronologies
• Scientific imaging to support stylistic and technical evaluation
• Technical research on artists and schools
• Preparation of research reports evaluating technical evidence

We have had considerable success in both authentication and attribution studies. AA&R has had key roles in identifying the Beltracchi forgeries and other fakes, to internationally important discoveries of paintings by Rubens, Rembrandt, Velázquez, Watteau and Kandinsky amongst others.