Those who collect works by living artists run less risk of faulty attribution.
Theoretically, yes. The artist is around to say I did or I did not create the work, assuming the artist will talk to you about it. Modigliani was known to have signed works by his less famous friends so that they could sell them. There is an apocryphal story of Picasso selling a work to an American couple, then denouncing it as a fake the next year. Artists might decide they do not want to be known for that bad day.Most statutes of limitations are short term. Yet a collector can buy a work that seems authentic, then 20 years later have art historians discover new evidence that it has been falsely attributed.
If it has been a case of fraud, you might have recourse against the seller. Most authenticity issues are good-faith mistakes, however. If expert opinion about a work changes, there it is: You are stuck. The answer is not to cut off the fingers of the researcher, but to say that is what historical research is about. Collectors lock horns with archaeologists over laws prohibiting antiquities from being removed from a country of origin. Who owns history?
This is a serious debate, raising profound basic questions such as whether cultural objects belong to all of mankind, or to a modern country as part of its patrimony. However, Egypt’s laws go back only to 1983, and Italy’s to 1939, so objects that were taken out before then are not affected retroactively. The enforcement of the laws against importation of cultural objects has generally been arbitrary; it’s like asking how likely it is that the IRS will find out if you cheat on your income taxes. However, it is fair to say that a collector who buys such an object, whether knowingly or unknowingly, is at risk of losing it.  Back to Main Article: The Specter of Spoils
|
