The Andy Warhol Art Authentication Board, Inc. was a private corporation that certified the authenticity of works by the artist,

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

, from 1995 to early 2012.

History

The organization was created in 1995 in association with The

Foundation for the Visual Arts. The Board, based in New York City, consisted of six members, including art historians, curators and those who personally knew Warhol and his work. They met three times a year to examine works and made determinations only of authenticity, not market value. Appraisals took one month and ''

ARTnews ''ARTnews'' is an American visual-arts magazine, based in New York City. It covers art from ancient to contemporary times. ARTnews is the oldest and most widely distributed art magazine in the world. It has a readership of 180,000 in 124 countr ...

'' reported that around 10 to 20% of submitted works were 'considered questionable.' The Board did not share its methodology, citing privacy concerns. Board members included American art curator

David Whitney David Whitney (1939 – June 12, 2005) was an American art curator, collector, gallerist and critic. He led a very private life and was not well known outside the art world, even though he participated naked in the 1965 Claes Oldenburg happenin ...

and designer Jed Johnson. The Board sometimes received criticism for its operating methods and what was perceived as arbitrariness in judging whether or not a work was an authentic Warhol. Works deemed inauthentic that were covered prominently in the press include 'Brillo Boxes' produced after Warhol's death and a 1964 silkscreen self-portrait that had earlier been authenticated by Warhol's business manager.

Dissolution

In October 2011, the Andy Warhol Foundation Board of Directors dissolved the Authentication Board. Speaking to ''

The New York Observer ''The New York Observer'' was a weekly newspaper printed from 1987 to 2016, when it ceased print publication and became the online-only newspaper ''Observer''. The media site focuses on culture, real estate, media, politics and the entertainmen ...

'', Warhol Foundation President

Joel Wachs Joel Wachs (, ; born March 1, 1939) is an American former politician and lawyer. He is the president of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts in New York City. He was a member of the Los Angeles City Council for 30 years, where he was k ...

explained the reasons for the decision, saying the Authentication Board was subjected to legal action '10 or so times' in its 15 years of operation. While it 'won every single one of those lawsuits, ..the process was extraordinarily expensive, costing us at least $10 million defending ourselves. Eventually, we decided that we wanted our money to go to artists and not to lawyers'. The Foundation continues to support development of the Warhol catalogues raisonnés, which encompass judgements about the authenticity of individual works. Wachs explains that the catalogue project is primarily scholarly and not explicitly connected to the art market. The editors review works submitted for possible inclusion, but do not render judgement outside the context of the catalogues themselves.

References

External links

''My Andy Warhol,'' Joe Simon site
{{Warhol Andy Warhol