What Do You Call That Paper on the Back of a Work of Art?
What to expect for on the dorsum of a painting — an expert guide
From its auction and exhibition history and provenance to notes from the artist on which way is 'Up', the details found on the 'verso' tin significantly raise a painting'southward value
one. Who, what, when... and where
Outset and foremost, you'll want to know who painted your movie. Artists started signing their works around the 15th century, and while their signatures are most commonly on the front, in more recent times they have been applied to the contrary.
Christie's specialists can check signatures by looking them up in the artist's catalogue raisonné and, sometimes, fifty-fifty narrow down the date a work was painted based on the evolution of a signature over time.
Nicholson's accost in Cornwall has been added bottom left of the dorsum of the flick
The artist will usually also have provided a title or engagement. And sometimes more likewise.
'Likewise as signing, naming and dating his works on the reverse, the British artist Ben Nicholson (1894-1982) often included his address,' says Christie'southward Modernistic British and Irish gaelic Fine art specialist Alice Murray. 'It's a lovely add-on that helps you build the story backside the artwork.'
2. Materials tin narrow downwards a painting's origins
Artists began switching from working on wooden panels to canvas in the 15th and 16th centuries considering it enabled larger paintings. Painting on copper sheets also became stylish in the 17th century.
Stamps and labels from the suppliers of these materials tin can contain the names and addresses of their businesses. Reference lists — such equally Alexander Katlan's American Artists' Materials Suppliers Directory — tin can exist used to track them down, and in turn, narrow downward when and where a work was fabricated.
The reverse of a 16th-century oil painting console showing the brand of the city of Antwerp — a pair of hands above a castle. The mark dates from 1617, when new regulations drawn up by the Antwerp Joiners' Order stated 'every joiner is from now on obliged to punch his marker on frames and panels fabricated by him, on hurting of a fine of three guilders'
Comparing the date the materials were purchased with the engagement the artist signed the finished work can even give you an idea of how long information technology took to complete.
The types of materials used to create a work's board, cradle or stretcher, along with how information technology was synthetic, also vary over time and between places.
Soft wood, such as poplar, was used in Italia, while hard woods, for example oak, was used in Great britain and holland. Another clue can exist obtained from how the sail is fixed to the stretcher — staples replaced nails after the 1940s.
3. Labels point provenance and exhibition history
When a gallery or museum displays a work of fine art it often attaches a label to its back that indicates the artist's proper name, the pic's title, and normally a appointment, inventory number and address.
'With the advent of the internet it has get much easier to research these labels,' explains Impressionist and Modern Art specialist Veronica Scarpati. 'For example, the Museum of Mod Art has digitised all of its exhibition catalogues, press releases and lender lists as far dorsum as 1929.'
The dorsum of Pietro's painting with stencils, stickers and labels, including those of London dealer Thomas Agnew & Sons and New York gallery Wildenstein & Co.
Other central players to look out for include institutions such as the Purple Academy or the Metropolitan Museum of Fine art, and dealers like Richard Green, The Fine Art Gild or Wildenstein & Co., equally seen, top right, on the back of the flick shown to a higher place.
Other labels that record a painting's journey can come from conservators, customs and border controls, or even defunct bureaucratic mechanisms such equally the Nazis' Chamber of Culture, which stamped its double-headed eagle logo on to the dorsum of the art information technology looted.
four. Inscriptions volition as well have a story to tell
Private collectors throughout history accept added their own names to the back of a work. King Charles I of England (1600-1649), for case, branded his initials 'CR' topped with a crown onto the reverse of works in his purple collection.
Ivon Hitchens (1893-1979), Hills and Darkening Sky: Rain over the Downs. Oil on canvas. 12½ x 18½ in (31.7 x 47 cm). Sold for £32,500 on 23 January 2020 at Christie's in London. Artwork: © The Estate of Ivon Hitchens. All rights reserved, DACS 2020
Allen Freer'south handwritten provenance is on the bottom of the stretcher for Hills and Darkening Heaven
'On the dorsum of this landscape [to a higher place] by Ivon Hitchens (1893-1979) you accept the stamp of his wife, Mollie, as well every bit a after, handwritten note placing it in the collection of Allen and Beryl Freer,' explains Alice Murray.
The back of Conca'due south painting features a handwritten inscription indicating that is was gift to 1 D. Domenico Guastaferro
In 2019, Christie's sold a painting [above] by Sebastiano Conca (1680-1764), which contains an onetime paw-written note that describes its championship, date and the fact it was a bozzetto — or sketch — for painting, too as providing some provenance — that it was gifted to ane D. Domenico Guastaferro in July 1748.
If you decide to add a support to the back of your painting, it might be an idea to use Perspex then that the labels remain visible, or enquire a paper conservator to carefully transfer them onto the new board.
v. Inventory numbers reveal a work's auction history
Since the early on 19th century Christie's has marked the dorsum of pictures with an inventory number. Initially these numbers were stencilled in black ink, while other auction houses used chalk. (Today, rather than stencilling numbers on the back of pictures, it is more common for a sticker with a barcode to be practical.)
'These numbers correspond to records that tell u.s.a. when and where something was sold, and sometimes who sold it and what price was paid,' explains Christie's librarian and archivist Lynda Macleod. 'The Christie's archives in London has details of most of the sales held during the sale firm's 254 years in business.'
'When cataloguing paintings these stencils allow us not only to piece together provenance, merely also to encounter if the piece of work has been attributed to different artists in the past,' adds Olivia Ghosh, a specialist in Christie'south Old Masters department.
The reverse of Rembrandt's Human being with a Sword showing its auction stencils, and in the center, an 1898 Amsterdam exhibition label
In 2013, Christie's sold a portrait by Rembrandt (1606-1669)and his studio which had '272ER' stencilled on the back. 'That pointed us to a 1928 sale at Christie'south of a collection belonging to Sir George Lindsay Holford,' Ghosh explains.
'From there nosotros traced the painting'due south provenance back to his father, Robert Stayner Holford, who was the founder of the Burlington Fine Arts Club and owned three other Rembrandts, all now in museums. Knowing these details tin can add great value to a painting.'
half dozen. If the painting has been lined, repair work may have been carried out
If the rear of the canvas has traces of glue effectually the edges, or feels thick and new, the painting may have been lined. This refers to the procedure of attaching an additional layer of canvass to the original surface in lodge to repair holes and tears and stabilise the painting.
'Lining a canvas was, and still is, a common practice for Old Primary paintings,' says Ghosh. 'In the by it was frequently washed with a heavy mitt, only at present information technology can exist completed without damaging the pigment's surface.'
F.C.B. Cadell left clear instructions on the back of his works about how to care for them in the future
'The Scottish colourist F.C.B. Cadell (1883-1937) left clear instructions regarding how to maintain the condition of his works on their reverse,' says Alice Murray. 'On the back of The Avenue, Auchnacraig [to a higher place] are the words "Absorbent footing/NEVER varnish", because Cadell felt the chalky quality of his paint surface was of utmost importance.'
7. Warped stretchers can be a giveaway that it has been hung in boiling conditions
Major cracks in the work might indicate that it has been hung in a hot, dry place, such as above a fireplace, while warped stretchers could suggest it lived in a bathroom. 'Neither are appropriate,' states Ghosh.
The reverse of Diebenkorn's painting helpfully explains which way upwards it should exist hung
While non venturing so far every bit to specify where they should be hung, some artists, such every bit Richard Diebenkorn (1922-1993), helpfully leave notes to indicate their right orientation. On the back of the work in a higher place Diebenkorn has written in pencil 'Elevation', with an arrow pointing upwards.
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eight. On rare occasions, the dorsum of a painting can fifty-fifty reveal some other work of art
Every now and again the back of a painting can reveal something that rivals the importance of the piece of work of art on the front, such equally a handwritten note by the artist —or even a 2d picture.
'Materials accept historically been expensive, so impoverished artists were known to effort out unlike compositions on the aforementioned supports,' Ghosh explains.
Set into the back of Pissarro's 1878 scene of farmyard birds is some other work entirely, depicting two women washing laundry
Veronica Scarpati proffers an example. 'In Feb this twelvemonth Christie'south sold a work past Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) which had a second, signed Pissarro on the opposite,' she explains.
'Christie's art handlers mounted it in a custom-made support so that both sides could be seen during the sale preview. If it had been hanging on a wall, no 1 would accept had an clue of what the dorsum was hiding.'
Source: https://www.christies.com/features/8-things-you-can-learn-from-the-back-of-a-painting-10293-1.aspx
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