How do you find an Expert?

Research... research... research. You must ask questions. Go to your local library and look through books, magazines and catalogs that pertain to the period or artist you are interested in. See who wrote the books and who is quoted in articles. Once you have a list of people, search the internet. Type in their names and see if anything appears. Type in the artist´s name and see what comes up. Do you find the same people appearing more than once?

Look to see if there is a catalogue raisonné for the artist in question. If so, see who wrote, or is writing, it. A catalogue raisonné is a book that attempts to list and illustrate all the know works by an artist. The books usually take between 8 and 15 years to complete and when finished is considered the bible of that artist´s work. If you can find this person, your search is over.

Who are the experts?

Some experts are professors, some are curators and some are dealers. Most professors do not get involved in the commercial end of the art business. Curators are usually accessable only by people who are ´well connected´ to a specific museum. Dealers, who are considered ´experts´ by their peers, are your best choice.

You found your expert, now what?

Contact them by telephone or in writing. Let them know what type of information you need. If you have questions concerning a particular work of art that you are thinking about purchasing ask them. They are probably very familiar with the work in question. If you own something and want to have it authenticated, you will need to supply them with high quality images of the work; both in color and black & white. They may even require you to send them the work so they can examine it.

A true ´expert´ will never give you an opinion about a work of art unless they see an image of it.

Most experts will charge you for a written opinion about a work of art. Fees usually begin at $250 for a basic letter and can go as high as a few thousand dollars for detailed historical information and photo certificates. Each expert is different, so make sure you talk about their fees.