Provenance is the historical record of an artwork's ownership.
Discovering provenance is quite difficult to do - some works are impossible to trace.
Episodes such as the Nazi looting of artworks during the Holocaust have raised awareness of the importance of doing due diligence when acquiring works of art. We determine authenticity, valuation and ownership through records of provenance.
For most of the works in your assignment, you need to track the history of the work as it was exhibited, displayed or staged. In some cases, you may find documentation or artifacts from an exhibit that have been collected and are held at an institution.
What should you look for:
- Owner(s') name(s)
- Dates of ownership
- Method of transference (auction, private sale, dealer)
- Locations where artwork was kept and/or displayed
Note that a complete record is the exception rather than the rule.
Where will you find this information?
This guide will have options for doing this research on the pages at left.
