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HankronQUICK TIP: ‘Is it Catalogued?’ and prints by famous arists
Probably few board readers are actively buying original Salvador Dalis, Rembrands or Leroy Neimans. However, you, a family member or friend may come across a sale or print and wonder where to start. While there are many steps to safe buying, the first and most important is to see if the print in question is listed in the artist’s ‘catalogue raisonne.’
Often produced by a famous scholar, museum or the artist’s estate, a catalogue raisonne is a detailed listing of the known original prints by the artist. Along with a checklist, the catalogue raisonne should picture the prints, and give the essential details (size, type of paper, if/how numbered and signed, etc). In some sense, these are like an SCD or Beckett price guide. Sometimes there is more than one volume for an artist, or, like Beckett versus SCD, different catalogs produced by different authors/publishers.
When considering buying an original print by Picasso or Andy Warhol, the first and most important thing to do is to see if it’s listed in the artist’s catalogue raisonne as genuine. In other words, see if it’s catalogued. Often times it’s as simple as saying to the seller, “Is this print listed in the artist’s catalogue raisonne, and can you show me the listing or give me the reference?” If you don’t know how or where to obtain an artist’s catalogue raisonne, ask me. Some famous artist’s catalogues raisonne are free online.
A beginning collector should never buy as original a print that is not listed/detailed in the artist’s catalogues raisonne. It’s as simple as that. It’s much the same as if every potential AAA buyer was given the common sense advice of, “Buy a copy of SCD or Beckett, and if a card isn’t listed in it, don’t buy it.”
The vast majority of forgeries and scams involving famous artists are bought by naïve collectors who didn’t read or follow this quick tip.