Back up your collection with appropriate paperwork

Nurturing art investments is often trickier than compounding your wealth through some other conventional means. It is very vital to back up your collection with the appropriate paperwork. In the previous post, we checked about some relevant papers and precautions to be taken while buying or selling an artwork. We considered aspects like proof of authenticity. Here are some more aspects be considered as suggested by art expert Kishore Singh:

1. It makes sense to spend some time to ensure the genuine worth of what you own or want to own as part of your art collection.

2. The next crucial factor is provenance. Ask, who has first bought the painting? Check where it was shown, stored and displayed? Seek catalogues and any other possible source where it might have been published earlier.

3. Ask for receipts of purchase (sellers may be reluctant to give them if prices have increased sharply, as they don’t want the buyer to engage in a process of negotiation on basis of the escalation).

4. Make it a point to ask for the framer’s bill plus any restoration bill (including paperwork), relevant auction papers, or anything else that will prove the previous ownership claims, history, records as well as health of an artwork.

Galleries now increasingly give a certificate that guarantees authenticity apart from transfer of ownership. Well-established auction houses also issue the assurance of compensation along with the work of art purchased. What is the level of legal scrutiny for documentation? Reputed galleries may not refund the purchase value, but may agree to replace a work of art in question with another of commensurate value. Importantly, if you buy sans the requisite paperwork, it won’t be easy to sell the work at close to its right market value.