At auction, what you see is what you get. If a detailed catalogue description accompanies a lot, then it’s a case of what you are told you see is what you get, but you also have to make sure that you understand exactly what you are being told. Sound confusing? Well it can be, especially when it comes to pictures because there are conventions about how they are described that indicate whether they are actually by the artist named, someone close to them, like a pupil, or by someone else who has been influenced by them to some degree. The following brief guide to these descriptions puts them in order of importance, from works known to be by the artist themselves graduating to those with the loosest links:
‘Autograph Work’: This means it is undoubtedly entirely from the hand of the artist to whom it is attributed, especially if it has been signed and dated. ‘Attributed to’: in the opinion of the expert consulted, this is wholly or partly by the artist named. “Studio of”, or “Workshop of”: Maybe not by the artist themselves, but certainly from their studio/workshop. “Circle of”: Of the same period of the artist named and evidently influenced by them. “Style of” or “Follower of”: A work executed in the style of the artist, but not by them. “Manner of”: In the style of the artist but painted at a later date. “After”: A later copy. “With signature”, “With date”. “With inscription”: Added later and not by the artist (which would effectively make it a fake.
