Authenticating a Painting: The Biographer’s Method

Every now and then I get a request to verify if a painting is by Laura Wheeler Waring or not. Here’s an email I received recently from the creative director of an auction house in the Netherlands:

Dear Mrs Harris, 

Hopefully you can share your expertise about the following. 

We are an auction house based in The Netherlands. 

Recently, we came across a beautiful luminist painting with the monogram L.W.W. You can find photographs in the attachment. 

Since you are specialised in the work of the artist Laura Wheeler Waring, we are wondering if this could be made by her? 

Is this painting by Laura Wheeler Waring?

Admittedly, I am surprised at my ability to “authenticate” a piece of art. My knowledge of art history, while extensive, stems from my lifelong personal interest in art and independent scholarly pursuits. But according to Christie’s, the renowned auction house, authentication involves three key steps:

1.    The provenance or history of ownership of the artwork;

2.    Visual examination by experts who assess if the style, technique, and signature are consistent with the artist;

3.    Technical analysis of the chemical makeup of an artwork to ensure it matches the artist’s known style and whether the materials were available during the artist’s time of productivity.

Additionally, a Catalogue Raisonné that lists all the known works of an artist may be consulted. To my knowledge, such a document does not yet exist for Laura Wheeler Waring.

As a biographer, I consider myself a specialist in the life of the artist, rather than her work. Years of research have given me a good idea of where she was and what she was working on at certain periods of her life.

However, I have seen enough of Waring’s work—both published and in private collections—to very quickly have an opinion about this one.

1. The technique is wrong. Waring favored more vibrant colors than these. Even when painting portraits of fair-skinned sitters, she often rendered them in brightly colored clothing. And her brush strokes were much smoother. So, at first glance I would say that this image of a pale, dour Nordic, with the paint laid on so heavily, is NOT one of hers.

2. And yes, the signature is off. I’ve never seen Waring use the bottom line of the “L” as an underline to the rest of the letters—W.W.—in her monogram.

   
   

3. But what jumps out at me immediately is the date: October 1918. The date makes the provenance, the technique, and the way the monogram appears irrelevant. Hence, my reply:

No, it isn't a Laura Wheeler Waring.

Hello Ms. van Zadelhoff:

Thank you for your query. I would say no, this is not a Laura Wheeler Waring painting. The signature is off, and most importantly, it is signed October 1918. The signature would be L. Wheeler in 1918. As Laura was not married until several years later, there would be no third "W" to indicate "Waring" at that time.

≈

That’s the biographer’s method.

##

© 2023-2027 Valerie Harris. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Terms of Use.  

Enjoy this content? Don’t miss a post. Subscribe!