FORENSIC AUTHENTICITY WARRANTY

FORENSIC AUTHENTICITY & PROVENANCE WARRANTY

Kaufman & Kaufman operates under a mandate of total archival integrity. We recognize that in the acquisition of fine art, authenticity is the primary safeguard of capital. Every specimen curated by the Firm is backed by a multi-layered forensic verification protocol and a comprehensive warranty of authenticity.

THE FOUR PILLARS OF VERIFICATION

The Firm does not rely on aesthetic intuition. Every asset must satisfy our Four-Point Forensic Audit:

Direct Provenance Mapping: A complete, documented chain of custody from the artist's studio or authorized gallery to the Kaufman & Kaufman repository.
Comparative Morphological Analysis: Technical comparison of brushwork, pigment application, and compositional signatures against verified archival benchmarks.
Metallurgical & Chemical Auditing: (Where applicable) Non-invasive testing of pigments, binders, and substrates to ensure chronological consistency with the artist's known materials.
Authorized Liaison Certification: Coordination with recognized third-party authorities and estates to secure formal letters of inclusion in the artist's catalog raisonné.

THE KAUFMAN & KAUFMAN WARRANTY

Kaufman & Kaufman provides a lifetime guarantee of authenticity for every fine art specimen sold. If, at any point, a specimen is found to be non-authentic by a mutually agreed-upon board of accredited forensic experts, the Firm will initiate the Asset Reacquisition Protocol and provide a full refund of the original acquisition price.

LIMITATIONS OF GUARANTEE

This warranty is strictly limited to the Authenticity of Authorship. It does not cover:

Subjective valuations or market fluctuations.
Minor condition issues were disclosed at the time of acquisition.
Damage incurred after the asset has cleared our Chain of Custody logistics.

Examples of The Artists We Authenticate Frequently and Know Extremely Well

Abbott Handerson Thayer, Albert Bierstadt, Alexander Calder, Alexej von Jawlensky, Amelia Pelaez, Andy Warhol, Claude-Joseph Vernet, Arshile Gorky, Asher Brown Durand, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Auguste Rodin, Balthasar Griessmann, Bartolome Esteban Murillo, Bengt Lindstrom, Bernard Buffet, Camille Pissarro, Charles Edward Hallberg, Christophe Fratin, Salvador Dali, Zhang Daqian, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Willem De Kooning, Edgar Degas, Diego Rivera, Emile Eisman Semenowsky, Ernest Bieler, Fra Paolino, Francisco Zuniga, Meyer von Bremen, George Luks, Gilbert Stuart, Hector Poleo, Henri Alphonse Barnoin, Henri Honore Ple, Antoine-Louis Barye, John Francis Murphy, Isaac Levitan, Jackson Pollock, Salomon van Ruysdael, James Whistler, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jerzy Kossak, Joan Miró, John Marin, Juan Carreno de Miranda, Julius van Klever, Wassily Kandinsky, Keith Haring, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, LeRoy Neiman, Loren MacIver, Edouard Riou, Louis Comfort Tiffany, Louis Valtat, Marc Chagall, Mario Carreno, Meindert Hobbema, Claude Monet, Nicolas Poussin, Norman Rockwell, Pablo Picasso, Peter Max, Rene Portocarrero, Rafael Barradas, Robert Henri, Erté, Roy Lichtenstein, Rudolph Ernst, David Wilkie, Thomas Cole, Thomas Doughty, Thomas Moran, Titian, Vincent van Gogh, William Morris, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Annibale Carracci, Howard Behrens, Caravaggio, Veronese, Sandro Botticelli, Canaletto, Francisco Goya, Diego Velazquez, Frida Kahlo, Edouard Manet, Alfred Sisley, Rembrandt, Peter Paul Rubens, Eugene Delacroix, J.M.W. Turner, Jacques-Louis David, Raoul Dufy, Gerrit Dou, Albrecht Durer, Kazimir Malevich, Nikolai Suetin, Amedeo Modigliani.

ARCHIVAL SERVICES & ASSET OVERSIGHT

Art Experts specializes in fine art attribution, authentication, and appraisal. We work with museums, galleries, and auction houses worldwide and provide our services directly to private collectors and owners.

AUTHENTICATION

The first step in determining the value of a work of art is determining its authenticity. Knowing the difference between a fake and an original requires a trained eye for detail and years of professional experience.

APPRAISAL
If you have a work of art authenticated by Art Experts or documentation from another reputable organization, we can determine its fair market value or replacement value.

SCIENTIFIC & FORENSIC
Scientific testing can be a valuable means of providing evidence. For more information about the scientific tests we offer and may recommend during the authentication process, use the menu to the right.

FORENSIC ART AUTHENTICATION: THE SCIENCE OF VERIFICATION

Recently, a client told us, "I have three opinions that my painting is authentic. Is this enough, or do I need more opinions for a big auction house to sell it?" First, it is not a matter of how many opinions one has. Still, most importantly, today, paintings are no longer authenticated based on "opinions." Some professors who certified artwork in the past would give an opinion, and the paintings were sold as authentic.

That's where painting authentication services are needed. Tens of thousands of mistakes have been made in the past. Authenticating artworks using this method is how we ended up with over 1,000 Rembrandts, and why we only have about 300 today. Many mistakes, errors, and misattributions were made in building the extensive collections of the past, both in private and museum collections.

We still have to review many past authentications and re-attribute, re-assign, and downgrade the old authentications based on" opinions." Today, art is no longer authenticated based on opinions but instead based on research, references, analyses, provenance, and forensics. As a result, the art market now demands proof, evidence, and demonstration of authenticity. Not "opinions."

Technology has improved, and so have analytical methods. As a result, authentications must be performed systematically and rigorously, and evidence must be documented, recorded, accumulated, and presented coherently in an unbiased scholarly authentication study.

It is common for records to be located in several countries because artists moved during their lifetimes and because the art they produced has been increasingly sold and moved across borders, particularly in the past 100 years. Even for artists who spent their entire lives in the same region, it is common to find many works in various countries.

For this reason, productive research requires visiting archives and art libraries across multiple locations. Kaufman & Kaufman Art Experts is not an office where we all come to work from 9 to 5, Monday through Friday. Instead, we are a network of specialists in 17 countries, speaking 15 languages, with instant access to the world's most extensive archives, art libraries, and museums.

The World Wide Web is an excellent source of information, but it is estimated to contain less than 1 percent of human knowledge. We are leaving over 99 percent to be discovered and saved the old-fashioned way by consulting old and antique books, vintage periodicals, old catalogs, archives, personal papers, manuscripts, letters, journals, unpublished theses, official administrative and legal documents, vintage photographs, and unpublished films. We do authentications in 17 countries with a network of researchers.

While forensics and technology are immensely helpful in authentication, it would be a mistake to believe that works of art are authenticated solely by analyzing their materials. For example, painting and drawing were popular hobbies in the 1800s. In addition to the tens of thousands of professional artists, there were hundreds of thousands of Sunday painters, meaning it takes more than pigments and canvas that existed when an artist was alive for a particular painting to be his work, and why research is crucial.

Research in archives generally requires accreditation from the institution where the libraries are located and the granting of research time.
Biographical research
Documentary research
Historical art research
Documentary research
Provenance research is unique because it involves investigating each previous owner of the artwork and documenting their ownership. The idea behind authenticating based on the art's provenance is that if we know where the art has been at every step, from the artist, through every owner, to today's owner. And if all ownership is verified, the art is authenticated without any gaps. It is currently a popular authentication method because it also provides a complete record of where the art has been and who has owned it throughout its history. However, in practice, we can rarely reconstruct a full provenance if there have been more than five owners.

Another improvement from the past is that it is no longer necessary to always examine paintings in person. We do it when it is essential, of course, and we travel to every State, every Canadian Province, and worldwide to do so. Some situations that require in-person examinations include Old Master paintings and paintings that have been extensively restored or are in poor condition. For more recent artworks in good condition, we work perfectly with high-resolution, large-format photographs. Of course, suppose you are in a city where we have a specialist, such as New York, Miami, Los Angeles, London, Brussels, Paris, Madrid, Lisbon, Florence, etc. In that case, it is easy to arrange for an examination of your painting or other artwork.

While we handle many simple authentications, our setup and resources are particularly well-suited to solve the most difficult authentications. As a result, we have successfully cracked a surprising number of highly complicated cases. The value of art is so high that everyone needs to be sure it is authentic. Even simple sketches or prints by well-known artists cost at least thousands of Dollars or Euros. For sellers, solid authentication makes it possible to sell the art for its absolute highest price. In addition, authentication guarantees buyers that what they buy is worth what they pay. Solid authentication will protect intermediaries like auctioneers and art galleries from costly and embarrassing lawsuits. Painting authentications are mandatory for tax-deductible donations, the valuation and distribution of estates, divorces, and the dissolution of partnerships.

We have been authenticating for 25 years and have never made a mistake. We would be happy to authenticate your artwork. Contact us today to learn more!

BY EMAIL: r.kaufman@kaufmanandkaufman.com

WE TYPICALLY RESPOND TO INQUIRIES WITHIN 24 HOURS.

ART APPRAISAL: THE FORENSIC VALUATION AUDIT

Appraising art is an unregulated activity. Anyone can go to City Hall and pay $70 for an occupational Licence and Bingo! Voila! You are an acceptable art appraiser, just one example of why there is so much incompetence among art appraisers. We see so many terrible, horrible, absurd, inept art appraisals. The people producing them have no training in assessing value, no experience with the art market, and no understanding of the factors that drive value in fine art.

Consider the following question. Why are some paintings by the same artist selling for $500,000 and some for $10 million? Is it because the more expensive ones are bigger? Is it because it didn't rain that day, and more people attended the auction? The correct answer is ARTISTIC MERIT. The market pays more for better art, and a whole lot more for great art. The average appraiser immediately fails. He and she cannot discern, evaluate, and price artistic merit. They did not graduate with honors from years of college art appreciation courses. Other factors increase value enormously.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: THE PROVENANCE MULTIPLIER

Is the art of great interest beyond its artistic merit? Consider...

Norman Rockwell's 1964 "The Problem We All Live With"

Courtesy Norman Rockwell Museum

ILLUSTRIOUS OWNERSHIP

Why did the J. F. Kennedy cigar humidor sell for $575,000? Because it used to belong to the most illustrious J.F. Kennedy. The same applies to fine art. Who used to own the art can enormously increase its value?

RARITY

Rarity is, of course, an ever-present building block of value. Considering that only 155 paintings by Frida Kahlo are known to exist, everyone is naturally imbued with a sense of significant value by their scarcity.

MARKETS AND VALUE

The value of art is flexible and changes with WHERE its importance is being appraised. The same painting will generally have a higher value in its best market. Consider paintings such as:

"The Prairie Is My Garden" by Harvey Dunn.

Courtesy South Dakota Art Museum

Or "Coyote at Sunrise" by Charles Greener

Courtesy University of South Dakota

An intelligent appraiser might select South Dakota as the reference market for their value.

TYPES OF VALUE

When we appraise the value of paintings and drawings for the US Marshals Service, they request the 30-day liquidation value. The values would be higher if they asked for the 90-day liquidation value. Usually, more time allows for selling at higher prices. When art is destroyed, replacing it may require travel, packing, shipping, and finder's fees to locate a similar piece. For this reason, the Replacement Value is always higher than the Fair Market Value. On the other hand, if you donate art to the charitable organization of your choice and claim a tax deduction, the IRS requests that the Fair Market Value be used. For these reasons, the value of the same artwork depends on the type of valuation that applies to the particular circumstances.

CONDITION

The condition of the artwork and the extent of its restoration affect its value. A common misconception, however, is to imagine that restoring art will increase its value. Generally, for all good investment-grade fine art, selling it "as-is" or "as-found" rather than restoring it for sale is preferable. Museums, art galleries, and advanced collectors all have their preferences regarding how much restoration to do, how minor it should be, and which products and methods to use. Therefore, they much prefer to buy unrestored art and fix it to their liking. When appraising art that requires restoration, a knowledgeable appraiser will determine its value after restoration.

APPRAISAL NEEDS

We appraise the value of fine art for all purposes:

Before a purchase - before you buy, make sure you are not vastly overpaying.
For your information, it's natural to want to know the approximate value of what you own.
Insurance - For financial protection, your insurance agent should list the art you own, including all pertinent details, at its actual Replacement Value.
Moving and shipping insurance
Insurance claims
Divorce
Tax-deductible donation
Gift
Bequest
Estate planning
Estate valuation- You need to know what it is worth before anything else can be done.
Distribution- to comply with what is specified in the Will or Equitable Distribution
Estate sale
Valuation for tax purposes
Inventory of art galleries- antique dealers, other art professionals
Fraud and misrepresentation- Value is the most critical component of any legal action
Import and export requirements.- Stating values is a legal requirement
Liquidation
Pre-sale estimates- Of course, you would want to know what to expect before you sell or contact an auctioneer or an art gallery. Advance information works in your favor.
Legal situations of multiple types require knowing what the art is worth, or what it would have been worth had it not been damaged or had it been authentic.

APPRAISAL CLIENTS

Private investors
Collectors
Investors
Speculators
Corporate collections
Insurance agents
Insurance companies
Insurance underwriters
Insurance adjusters
Banks
Financial companies
Mortgage lenders
Packing companies
Shipping companies
Movers
Art storage facilities
Art galleries
Art restorers
Frame shops
Law firms
Courts
Customs services
Law enforcement

APPRAISAL TYPES

Official appraisals are utilized by insurance companies, the courts, the IRS, and when obtaining loans. Our official appraisals fully comply with the most recent edition of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice. Accordingly, we are qualified appraisers as defined by § 170(f)(11) and 6695A of the Internal Revenue Code.
Informal valuations - When you want to price to sell. You don't need an official appraisal, but you do need solid and reliable values.
Estimates of value - This is generally done when it is just for your personal information.
Bulk appraisals - Accumulations of items of the same kind are often best valued with a bulk approach.
Estate appraisals - This is important when fairness is an important consideration.
Collection's inventory and valuation.
Running list appraisals.
Walkthroughs - This is done in person, by appointment, or on location.

WHY KAUFMAN & KAUFMAN?

We are expert appraisers with over 150 years of combined appraisal experience. We have appraised collections comprising 5,000 items. Our clients are the largest insurance companies, banks, law firms, and famous personalities. Appraising your fine art is essential. Come to a professional firm. Get it done well, as it should be. To have your work of art appraised, don't hesitate to get in touch with us.

BY EMAIL: r.kaufman@kaufmanandkaufman.com

WE TYPICALLY RESPOND TO INQUIRIES WITHIN 24 HOURS.

Legal Disclaimers

Errors

At Kaufman & Kaufman, we make every effort to ensure the accuracy of our products, prices, and information; however, we regret that mistakes and typographical errors may happen. In this event, we reserve the right to correct those mistakes/errors immediately. Please accept our sincere apologies in advance for any inconvenience this may cause. In addition, if a transaction predicated on misinformation is completed, Kaufman & Kaufman reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel the transaction with no further liability.

Brand Names/Trademarks

Kaufman & Kaufman is an independent art dealer not affiliated with any art gallery or other brands. We are an authorized reseller. Any art galleries referenced on our website and any other brands are registered trademarks of their respective owners.