COA's Certificate of Authenticity:  The Process

When we represent a Lamar work for sale, the purchaser can be assured of the artwork's authenticity.   Trying to confirm authenticity after a purchase can be a nightmare.  News in the art world is rife with challenges to authenticity and stories of the impossibility of validating he authenticity of a work of art

Disclosure.  Howard Lamar is both the artist and is a self-represented dealer.  This creates an inherent interest in the values of Howard Lamar artworks.  To avoid a conflict of interest by assigning a value to the artwork, Howard and Howard Lamar Fine Art cannot in good faith, issue or offer a statement of opinion of the value of any Howard Lamar artwork we are not representing for sale.  We are not appraisers.

Therefore, we strongly recommend an independent appraisal by an accredited fine art appraiser who is not an art dealer (many of them are). 

An appraiser who is also a dealer could be subject to an inherent conflict of interest.  For example, an appraiser/dealer may be tempted to undervalue an artwork so that he or she could purchase it at a sub-fair market price, and then resell at market price for a profit.  

By that token all artworks accepted on consignment by Howard Lamar Fine Art must have a recent third-party appraisal, as well as a Certificate of Authenticity.

We are the dealers but we  feel an essential part of a healthy, long term market for Howard Lamar's artwork allows for other legitimate authorized agencies to represent a work for sale on the secondary market.  The COA essentially gives the collector (owner) of an artwork the freedom to consign with another agency if desired.  ​​

Do you own Howard Lamar Art?

You can download a COA Information Worksheet,  fill it out and return it to us with the information about your Howard Lamar art work.  This is a preliminary  information worksheet, and obligates neither you to pay nor us to provide a Certification of Authenticity.  

Seller Anonymity

Seller anonymity is one of the rules of the high stakes art world in that sales very often deal with large amounts of money and...celebrity.    If an image can be tied to a particular individual or organization as an asset, that potentially discloses, in part, financial information about that person or organization.  A specific work of art is not anonymous - an image of that work is generally recognizable, and since the totality of that artist's market is affected by key sales, often the only way to protect personal financial information is keep both seller's and buyer's names anonymous. 

 This assures compliance with regulations against disclosing an individual's financial information without authorization.   

Occasionally, a buyer will publicly acknowledge such a purchase, this is often done to support the market and/or cultivate the demand for that artist's works.​

Catalogue Raisonné

All Howard Lamar art which has been certifiably  authenticated will be included in the artist's Catalogue Raisonne.

A catalogue raisonné is a comprehensive, annotated listing of all the known artworks by an artist either in a particular medium or all media.  The works are described in such a way that they may be reliably identified by third parties.

Provenance

Definition of Provenance:  The history of the work of art, where it's been, changes in ownership. 

It is important to note in your records and share with us the history of the piece.