What is a Certificate of Authenticity and why you need one?

The Certificate of authenticity is an official document that proves the artwork is genuine and authentic. Artists can be subject to artwork forgeries and a COA signed by the artist and or gallerist is the document that proves a work’s provenance, quality, and verifies the artwork’s authenticity. 

What Should a Genuine COA Include?

1. Artist Name
2. Title of Work
3. Year of Completion
4. Dimensions
5. Medium
6. Special instructions. If necessary, it should include any special instructions regarding the condition of the work, installation instructions, and any other specific details that may assist in identification and conservation in the future.
7. Edition number, if applicable.
8. Artwork Image. Ideally, the COA should include a high-resolution image of the work within the document.
9. Statement of Authenticity. This should consist of a short, one to two sentence statement declaring the authenticity of the work, as well as a statement that the work is copyrighted by the artist.
10. Location and website. The authors of certificates should be traced easily at any moment, in case a necessity for that arise.