Art Transaction and Provenance Checklist: A Practical Checklist

Summary. Twelve sequences covering diligence, transactions, moral rights, protection, and claims.

1. Provenance research

Obtain the written provenance, with names, places, and dates for each transfer.
Photograph the back and edges — labels, stencils, stamps, inventory numbers, frame hardware.
Search and save dated results: stolen art registries · looted art databases · auction records · catalogue raisonné · exhibition catalogues · dealer stockbooks in archives · wartime restitution records · probate records for "by descent" claims.
Identify gaps requiring resolution, not explanation:
- 1933–1945 anywhere in Europe
- Pre-1970 documentation or export permit for antiquities
- Long periods of unnamed "private collection"
Flag the stop-sign phrases: "old European collection" · "acquired in the 1970s" without documents · "by descent" with no record · "legally exported" without the permit · provenance beginning with the current dealer.
Ask the seller in writing about every gap; keep the answer.
Escalate to a professional researcher for: high value · wartime European connection · archaeological or ethnographic material · physical evidence inconsistent with the story · anything intended for institutional donation.
Keep the whole file — it is what makes you a documented good faith purchaser.

2. Buyer diligence beyond provenance

Condition report by an independent conservator.
Technical analysis at significant value — pigments, support, imaging.
Export and import documentation obtained and verified.
Confirm no consignment, lien, joint ownership, estate interest, or pending claim.
Confirm who the seller is: principal or agent, and whether receiving compensation from the other side.

3. The bill of sale

Title warranty — free of liens, claims, encumbrances; full authority to sell.
Authenticity warranty — attribution stated exactly, with a remedy.
Provenance representation, with disclosure of gaps.
Condition and restoration disclosure — restoration, overpainting, relining, replaced parts, prior damage.
Import/export legality representation, with documents delivered.
Remedy and period — rescission and refund, with a realistic time limit. (90 days is not a warranty on an Old Master.)
Risk of loss and when it passes; shipping and insurance responsibility; taxes.
Copyright — state expressly that it is not conveyed (or that it is).

4. Before bidding at auction

Read the conditions of sale — they are the contract.
Note: the estimate is not a warranty; the reserve is confidential and the house may bid to it for the seller.
Read the authenticity warranty: scope (heading attribution only, not "attributed to" or "circle of"), duration, original buyer only, and remedy limited to the purchase price.
Note "as is" condition terms — the condition report is an opinion.
Ask in writing: the full provenance with names · what "restoration" means in extent and location · prior offerings and results · whether the house or a third party has a financial interest.
Inspect in person or send a specialist.
Set a maximum including buyer's premium, taxes, and shipping.

5. Consignment (artist or owner to dealer)

Written consignment agreement, signed before delivery.
Works individually identified, with images and dimensions.
Term; minimum price and discount authority; commission.
Payment within a stated number of days of the gallery being paid.
Insurance amount and proof; consignor named or covered.
Risk of loss in transit, storage, and display.
Reproduction rights limited to promotion (a license, not a transfer).
Return of unsold works; who pays transport.
Express statement that works and proceeds are held in trust and not commingled.
Keep: the signed agreement · a dated inventory with images · signed delivery receipts.

6. If a gallery fails

Notify the receiver or trustee in writing immediately, asserting the statutory trust.
Identify the works specifically — title, medium, dimensions, date, inventory number.
Produce the agreement, inventory, and delivery receipts.
Trace proceeds of any works already sold.
File a protective claim in the insolvency proceeding while asserting the works are not estate property.

7. Artists

Confirm copyright stays with you unless assigned in a signed writing; say so in the bill of sale.
Read any moral rights waiver — it must identify the work and the specific uses.
For commissions and site-specific work, address before installation: removability · relocation · alteration · destruction · waiver scope · maintenance and conservation approval · attribution · what happens on sale, renovation, or demolition of the building.
Maintain an inventory: title, date, medium, dimensions, edition, images, exhibition history, disposition.
Comply with edition disclosure statutes: edition size, prior editions, plate destroyed, artist signature.
Register copyrights in significant works.

8. Building owners and developers

Inventory every work on the property before any renovation or demolition.
Assess recognized stature: critical review · exhibition · publication · awards · expert opinion.
Determine whether the work can be removed without destruction or modification.
If it cannot: locate any signed pre-installation consent. Without one, you are exposed.
If it can: make and document a diligent, good faith attempt to notify the artist, in writing.
Honor the 90-day removal period.
Where stature is likely and removal impossible, negotiate a waiver before touching anything.
Note statutory damages accrue per work.

9. Protecting a collection

Agreed value fine art policy, not a homeowner's rider.
Confirm transit and exhibition coverage.
Confirm the policy covers loss in value after damage, not only restoration cost.
Professional fine art shippers; custom crating; climate control.
Signed condition reports with photographs at every handoff.
Read the storage receipt liability limit; insure independently.
Written conservation treatment proposal before any work; approve changes in advance.
Security: inventory reconciliation · dual custody for moves · access logs · periodic independent audit.
Maintain an off-site inventory: images, dimensions, condition, provenance, purchase records, appraisals.

10. Loans

Works identified individually with images and an agreed condition report attached.
Period, and terms if the exhibition travels.
Insurance — who, how much, on what basis, and nail to nail.
Risk of loss at each stage; government indemnity where applicable.
Packing, shipping, courier requirements.
Installation environment: light, temperature, humidity, security.
Photography and reproduction rights — scope and duration (a copyright question).
Credit line, exactly as the lender requires.
No conservation without written permission; immediate notice of damage.
Return date, destination, and signed condition report on return.
For international loans: confirm immunity from seizure is in place before shipping.

11. Claims

If told your work may be stolen or looted

Do not sell, move abroad, or ignore.
Preserve the entire acquisition file — invoice, correspondence, provenance provided, diligence done, searches run.
Get counsel before responding.
Understand the timing rules: demand and refusal (New York) · discovery with reasonable diligence (elsewhere) · laches in both.
Consider negotiated resolution — return, purchase, shared arrangement, restitution with loan back.

If you are the claimant

Demand in writing, immediately and specifically.
Document every search, inquiry, and registry filing over the years — diligence defeats laches.
Register the loss with law enforcement and the stolen art registries.
Check whether the federal statute for 1933–1945 losses applies (six years from actual discovery).
If the holder is a foreign institution, get advice on sovereign immunity and, critically, on choice of law.

If the work is a forgery

Locate the warranty — scope, duration, and who may invoke it.
Obtain the supporting expert opinions the warranty requires.
Evaluate: breach of warranty · fraud · mutual mistake · negligent misrepresentation.
Check limitations and any discovery rule.
Do not alter the work.
Assess residual value as a period copy or work by a follower.

12. Estates and gifts

Secure and insure immediately; homeowner coverage may not respond.
Photograph and inventory everything, including the backs.
Obtain qualified appraisals; note estate tax and insurance valuations differ.
Research provenance before selling anything.
Plan liquidity for estate tax.
Ask institutions before providing for a gift — unwanted gifts are declined.
For charitable gifts: qualified appraisal · related use · partial-interest requirements.
For an artist's estate: who authenticates · who controls reproduction · whether a foundation fits · how the inventory is released to market over time.