Is It Real? Authentication, Provenance, and the Warranties Behind a Work of Art
By Casey Scott McKay ·
The art market runs on two questions that no other market asks in the same way: is it by whom it is said to be by, and did the seller have the right to sell it. This article works through authentication as a legal rather than an art-historical problem, the collapse of the authentication board model under litigation pressure, and the warranty structures that allocate attribution risk between dealers, auction houses, and buyers. It then covers title and provenance, including the demand and refusal rule that shapes stolen art claims, the cultural property statutes that reach imported antiquities, and the restitution framework for wartime losses. The second half addresses consignment and dealer insolvency, auction house conditions of sale, copyright in artworks as distinct from ownership of the object, reproduction and catalogue rights, and the export and financing questions that arise once a work becomes an asset.
IP and Technology > Copyright | Article | Published 9 August 2025 - Updated 25 August 2025 | Casey Scott McKay - marksy.us
Summary. The art market runs on two questions that no other market asks in the same way: is it by whom it is said to be by, and did the seller have the right to sell it. This article works through authentication as a legal rather than an art-historical problem, the collapse of the authentication board model under litigation pressure, and the warranty structures that allocate attribution risk between dealers, auction houses, and buyers. It then covers title and provenance, including the demand and refusal rule that shapes stolen art claims, the cultural property statutes that reach imported antiquities, and the restitution framework for wartime losses. The second half addresses consignment and dealer insolvency, auction house conditions of sale, copyright in artworks as distinct from ownership of the object, reproduction and catalogue rights, and the export and financing questions that arise once a work becomes an asset.
Keywords: art authentication · attribution and connoisseurship · catalogue raisonne · authentication board liability · warranty of authenticity · provenance research · stolen art claims · demand and refusal rule · good faith purchaser · cultural property restitution · consignment terms · dealer insolvency · auction house conditions · resale royalty preemption · copyright in artworks · reproduction rights · transformative use · export restrictions · title insurance · forgery exposure
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