The Studious Studio - Business Practices For Artists

The recent troubles of Knoedler Gallery, now airing in the press and later, presumably, in the courtroom, may shed some light on certain art world concerns – due diligence, gallery sale practices, sophisticated fakes/forgeries, and problems with authenticity in the market. This piece discusses the importance of carefully managing the business of artistic production. These considerations include strict inventory lists, transaction history, image and information database management, responsible studio control, and good artistic practices in general.

In one of our December blog articles, we discussed an artist's catalogue raisonné as a crucial source of information for any collector conducting pre-purchase due diligence. There, we said that omission of a work from an artist's catalogue raisonné indeed can prove fatal to any potential resale of a work, notwithstanding proof the owner may offer to support authenticity. We advised that potential art buyers should exercise due diligence in investigating the authenticity of a work, and should likely seek the advice of impartial third parties in evaluating the genuineness and potential value of a work not included in an artist's catalogue raisonné. The artist's studio or estate should be consulted as well, if practicable.

These considerations were spotlighted in connection with allegations by Richard Diebenkorn's estate that Knoedler Gallery, the artist's longtime dealer, had been trading in fakes, Diebenkorn fakes, for some years. In a May 7, 2012 New York Times account of the dispute, the executive director of the Diebenkorn Foundation implied that fakes are easy to track where good studio practices are maintained: "...the family was very suspicious of these [alleged fakes] and totally confused about how they could get out of the studio with nobody knowing about it." Clearly, a well-run artist studio has information about the works, including what they are and where they go after they leave the studio. Without good inventory controls, quality images of the work, cultivation of longtime professional contacts, and studious management practices, it could prove difficult to assert and support these authenticity claims. The Diebenkorn estate conducted careful research and compiled a catalogue raisonné as part of managing the artist's work and his legacy. These practices protect the market and now aid in tracking suspicious works.

Some of these good artist management practices include developing the...