Art registry founder hopes to deter crime, prevent fraud

Art Business News, Jan, 2004 by Laura Meyers

SPECIAL REPORT--When the Twin Towers collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001, the $10 million archive of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and 40,000 Jacques Lowe negatives from the JFK presidency were destroyed along with it. These collections were know to exist, but 60 percent of the valuable in corporate collections that were obliterated in the Towers' collapse were not documented off-site at all.

In the wake of this high-profile disaster, a fledgling registry for fine art and art collectibles has developed a new approach for recording paintings, sculptures, prints and other art works on an online, interactive database.

Although the company, Phoenix-based Fine Art Registry (FAR), is not the first venture to promote authentication markers of one sort or another, founder Teri Franks said her system is the first that is affordable, interactive, online and within the reach of any collector, artist or art dealer. "I tried to make FAR inexpensive, and standardized, so anyone can use it," said Franks.

The general concept is simple. "If I can microchip my dogs, why can't I do the same thing for art?" she said. "There needs to be a standard in this industry, and that's what I'm trying to establish."

Specifically, Franks is marketing both a patent-pending technology with "covert security" and an online system of tracking art and collectibles. FAR's "tamper-evident" registration tags, sold for $2.20 per object registered, are made of an acid-free, polypropylene holographic material and are designed to be permanently affixed to the art work. Each tag has a unique number, which is registered in the FAR database with a description of the object and information about when and how it was acquired or created.

"The system can be used at any time," explained Franks. "An artist can register works they make. But you can put tags on old objects as well as new ones. I have now registered my own art collection."

Once registered, an art object begins to acquire provenance--a history of ownership. Franks hopes FAR will be a "deterrent" to art crimes such as forgery, counterfeiting, theft and copyright violation, as well as provide some measure of proof of ownership in the case of loss from theft or disaster.

In addition to the losses of Sept. 11th, Franks was also inspired to develop the registry by less-disastrous scenarios. "Every time I watch 'Antiques Road Show,' I am struck by the question they always ask," she said. "How did you come to acquire it? Provenance is really important. With this system, if a piece is sold, the new owner only has to pay a small fee to re-register it," eventually creating a history of the chain of ownership.

Though new, the FAR registry is gaining acceptance among artists and collectors. For example, contemporary artist and art collector Lorna Wallace has registered works she creates and other artists' works she has acquired during the past decade.

"As a collector, I found out early on the importance of provenance of each painting, and I found the lack of provenance very frustrating in some cases," the Chandler, Ariz., artist explained. "When I started painting, I really wanted to be able to permanently document every painting I did."

With FAR, Wallace has attached the ID tags over her secondary signature, which she places on the reverse side of each canvas. (She also signs the painting itself.) "I physically tag each painting, and I register it in the database. Each time I sell a painting, I put that in the database, too."

Wallace said registration may help prevent fraud against popular living artists. If an artist has registered each work he or she has created, it's less likely someone else could market a near-perfect imitation. "Most contemporary artists don't think long-term, and they don't prepare for it. Just think, if Picasso had had the opportunity to do this, there wouldn't be so many fakes and forgeries."

Brenda Simonson-Mohl, an art appraiser in Carrolton, Texas, and owner of Signet Art, agreed that forgery is a common problem for contemporary artists. "I've talked to artists who get copied a lot," said Simonson-Mohl. "If an artist is careful and registered everything he did, keeping good records and a registration number, a system like this could be valuable." However, she added, "the value of provenance, in art historical terms, is unproven for 50 to 100 years. Registration would not by itself add value. If there is a question of authorship--if it's an unsigned painting, but it was registered as 'such and such' 50 years ago--that [registration] could help."

And though it's true that provenance is important to keep track of, "even perfect provenance from the day an art work was created doesn't establish value," said D. Pierre McLenaghan, an appraiser in Chicago.

Moreover, if a system is not vetted, McLenaghan said, "the act of registering is not going to help in the case of loss. Who will verify the facts given previously by the owner? Can you prove you owned it? Do you have other documentation?"

The FAR Web site (www.fineartregistry.com) claims that "works registered with Fine Art Registry will make the filing of a police report and/or [insurance] claim a snap." Franks added, "You just hand the FAR IDs to the insurance company." But Tom Pratt, owner of Thomson & Pratt Insurance Associates, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based fine arts insurance specialist, said that registration alone is not likely to yield an insurance pay-out after a loss.