Andrew Wyeth was an American painter who lived from 1917 to 2009. He was a realist painter, most famous for his canvas "Christina's World," which depicts a handicapped young woman sitting on a hillside facing a house in the distance. Ever since Andrew Wyeth's death in 2009, Wyeth forgeries have been spotted at auctions and in galleries. If you have your eye on a Wyeth print, or you suspect you already own one, you should have it authenticated by a professional.
Instructions
1. Look at the information that came with your print when you bought it. If you bought the print from a gallery, it should have come with a certificate of authenticity. This certificate is your guarantee that the print is authentic. Your dealer should also be able to tell you exactly where she got the print. If you have no certificate of authenticity, or you didn't pick up the print at a gallery, you'll have to take further steps to authenticate it.
2. Look closely at your print. A print is a copy of an original artwork that an artist made in limited editions. Your print should have a number on it (265/300, for example). The bottom number states how many prints the artist made from this picture, and the top number states what number in this series your specific print is. This limited edition is what gives your print its value. It is the artist's guarantee that he would not print and sell an indefinite number of this picture and thus flood the market, making your copy worthless. Your print, if it is authentic, must also be hand-signed.
3. Borrow a catalog of Andrew Wyeth's work from a library and compare the images in the catalog with your print. You may be able to match your print to an image in the catalog. If not, compare your print with the pictures in the catalog. Andrew Wyeth's work is notable for its soft, muddled colors. If your print looks nothing like the other pictures in the book, it is probably not a Wyeth.
4. Hire a professional art appraiser to authenticate your Wyeth print, if you feel certain that it is genuine and you want to insure it. No insurance company will cover your Wyeth print without a guarantee that it is authentic, even if you make a very good argument in favor of its authenticity. To find an art appraiser who can authenticate your work, ask your insurance company for a recommendation. You can also contact Andrew Wyeth's longtime dealer, Frank E. Fowler (see Resources), to get a recommendation for a competent appraiser.
