Transcription
Hello dear readers and subscribers. In today's video, we're going to talk about another crucial career tool to professionalize your art business and your art practice: the certificate of authenticity.
A certificate of authenticity, also referred to as a COA, is a document provided by the artist or the gallery representing an artist, declaring and certifying that the artwork in question is an authentic creation and an official part of the artist's oeuvre, including all relevant metadata such as the title of the artwork, the year, the media that are being used, and the dimensions, etc.
In this video, we're going to show you how you can create your certificate of authenticity in just eight simple steps, including our very own Kai certificate of authenticity template, so you can create your COAs in just seconds, very efficiently, and above all, professionally.
Sooner or later, you'll need to have a COA for your artwork. A certificate of authenticity is often requested by a collector in case of a sale, as it is a mark of assurance for collectors and can also be beneficial for the resale value of the artwork if your career with Skyrocket. On the other hand, it gives you, as the artist, complete control over every single creation you make, if you declare it as a part of your oeuvre or not. For instance, to differentiate sketches, studies, or perhaps commissions from your personal, official artistic oeuvre. And to conclude, it is also a great sign towards galleries and also institutions that you take care of this aspect of being an artist professionally. Hence, this video.
The great thing about creating a certificate of authenticity is that it is, in fact, very, very simple. All you need is one good template, and then you're good for the rest of your life. Here with Kai, we offer at the most modest price. But throughout this video, we're going to talk about all the different steps, the eight steps, how you could create your own. So let's get started with step one: the COA heading. Generally speaking, at the top of the COA, the heading consists of the name of the document, stating "Certificate of Authenticity." Make sure this is clearly visible and use a large or bold font to distinguish the header from the body of the document.
Step two: Insert an image of the artwork. This step is sadly often forgotten by artists or other online guides on how to create your certificate of authenticity, but it is important to include an image of the artwork in question so there can be no confusion whatsoever about the designated artwork for which the COA was created.
Step three: Include all relevant metadata and information. Make sure to enter the required metadata and COA, starting with the artist's name and surname. Next, we have the title of the artwork. Write down the year in which the artwork was created. Then write down the medium and surface. Document all mediums you have used. Later, this can be important, for instance, for conservatory purposes, future catalog raisonnés, or institutional exhibitions. You can write down the artwork's dimensions in the following line or section, and please write down all X, Y, and Z dimensions. To conclude the primary metadata, write down if the artwork is unique or part of an edition, and in case of the latter, make sure to specify the edition, and optionally, you could also specify where and how an artwork is signed.
Step four: Notes and additional information. You can include a section with notes, remarks, or additional information, but only do this if this is relevant or necessary. For instance, writing the meaning of an artwork or an interpretation of it is not relevant from the perspective of a COA, whereas additional instructions, for instance, on how to frame it, how to install it, how to conserve the artwork, these things are relevant for a COA.
Up next, step five, we have the authenticity statement. Make sure to include a statement in which you formally declare that your artwork is an official part of your oeuvre. Feel free to copy and paste the authenticity statement from our Kai template: "I, the artist, hereby declare and certify that the artwork in question is an authentic creation and an official part of my artistic oeuvre."
Step six: Date, place, name, and signature. To make the document official, we need to write down when, by whom, and where the document was created, followed by a signature by hand. Of course, you can only complete this step after printing it, but you have to make sure that this part is mentioned in your template so there is a designated place in the document to sign it.
Step seven: Print, sign, and use. Having completed the six steps above, it is now time to print your document, sign it to make it official, and to use it. There are different ways you can use it, but the most important thing is that it drives well with the collector. You can sign and laminate it and hand it over to a collector. You could simply print it and send it by post in an envelope, or when there is a solid back side or base, something which I very much like to do, you can print the COA directly onto white sticker paper to peel and paste it directly on the back side of the artwork. I'll include a link in the description and in the pinned comment where you can find such paper.
And to conclude, step eight: Design, efficiency, and consistency. When it comes to the overall design of a COA, all too often, and especially when reviewing the templates available on the worldwide web, people tend to design it in an obsolete fashion to make it look more authentic, as if the certificate is of an old master painting. However, for contemporary art, this is of course unnecessary and makes it even a bit unauthentic. Use a simple and clean design that is in line with the tone of the art world, using a white backdrop and a small black or dark gray font.
Now that you have designed your COA, make sure to save it as a template to reuse it efficiently in the future, or simply opt to go for the Kai template and also to avoid making any mistakes or making it more complicated or time-consuming than it should be.
Now, it is entirely up to you. You can either create your own COA template using these eight steps, or navigate to contemporaryartissue.com, go to Career Tools, where you can find, by the way, an overview of all the different tools, templates, spreadsheets that we offer to empower artists to professionalize their art practice.
Thank you so much for tuning in today. Feel free to watch our video on how to use Instagram to become a successful artist next. Support us on Patreon and please consider subscribing to stay posted for more contemporary art.
[Music]
Bye.