Salon.Vision
7 important things to know about artist signatures
7 important things to know about artist signatures
7 important things to know about artist signatures
#1
It all began with the Renaissance
Artist signatures first became prevalent during the early Renaissance, which saw art production shift from co-operative guild systems to a celebration of individual creativity. A signature was the perfect way to differentiate your talent from that of lesser peers.
In the case of Albrecht Dürer, whose famed monogram featured prominently on everything from printed masterpieces to hurried sketches, his ‘AD’ trademark was so popular that he went to court in both Nuremberg and Venice in a successful bid to protect his authorship, resulting in the subsequent proliferation of copycat prints labelled ‘after Dürer’.
#2
Signatures can be part of the artistic process
‘I’ve worked with artists who use signatures as a note to themselves,’ says Sid Motion, who works with emerging contemporary artists at her eponymous gallery. ‘It’s a way of saying, “That piece is complete, don’t rework it”. It’s an honest, personal mark that stops them endlessly returning to a piece.’
#3
Signatures have function and types and are programmable.
Signatures are also commonly used to keep a record of time, place and medium, as much as they are a signifier of a completed work. ‘Ben Nicholson recorded a wealth of information on the back of his boards,’ says Rachel Hidderley, Christie’s Senior Director of Modern British and Irish Art. ‘He not only signed, titled and dated his work, but sometimes even listed the colours he used, or the address of where he would be sending the work on to.’
#4
A signature is a signature is a signature
The writer of a signature is a signatory or signer. Similar to a handwritten signature, a signature work describes the work as readily identifying its creator. A signature may be confused with an autograph, which is chiefly an artistic signature. This can lead to confusion when people have both an autograph and signature and as such some people in the public eye keep their signatures private whilst fully publishing their autograph.
#5
A signature will almost always increase that artwork’s monetary worth.
You might have some doing before your signatures start carrying weight, however, but once it does, you will be glad you signed your earlier artworks.
A signature claims the ownership of the work and it proves you were the one who created it. Believe it or not, a signature is often the most unique element on the canvas and history has shown that forgers have a lot of trouble replicating them.
#6
Cryptographic signatures will change everything
The signature on a painting or other work of art has always been an important item in the assessment of art. In combination with latest network technology, using cryptographic signatures, we are able to tokenise anything of value and create immutable records for the benefit of the signer.
#7
Beware of your private keys!
Remixed from:
7 important things to know about artist signatures
https://www.christies.com/features/7-things-to-know-about-artist-signatures-8365-1.aspx
The (Un)Importance of Artist Signatures
https://www.widewalls.ch/artist-signatures/
The Artist in the Renaissance
http://arthistoryresources.net/renaissance-art-theory-2012/renaissance-artist.html
Signed, Sealed, Delivered: A Look at Artists’ Signatures in the Courtauld Gallery
http://blog.courtauld.ac.uk/gallery/2014/09/25/signed-sealed-delivered/
JavaScript is turned off.
Please enable JavaScript to view this site properly.