‘Conditional’ Authenticity and Appraisal Reports Are Making a Murky Industry Even Murkier

‘Conditional’ Authenticity and Appraisal Reports Are Making a Murky Industry Even Murkier

Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in On Balance, the ARTnews newsletter about the art market and beyond. Sign up here to receive it every Wednesday. One might assume that if an art authenticator deems an artwork genuine, or if an art appraiser values a piece for a certain value, you can be fairly certain the work in question is both authentic and worth roughly what the report claims—but in practice, neither conclusion is guaranteed…