COA's Certificate of Authenticity: The ProcessWhen we represent a Lamar work for sale, the purchaser can be assured of the artwork's authenticity. Confirming authenticity after the fact can be a nightmare. A dead artist cannot sign a certificate. 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.
|
|