Verified as of 27 September 2026. If anything has changed, let me know and I will update it with the date of the change.
When provenance is discussed, people tend to think of antique paintings, looting, and restitution. However, the provenance of a work begins the day the artist completes it, and almost no one documents it then, when it is easiest. Fifty years from now, someone will want to know if a piece is yours, when it was made, where it has been, and to whom it was transferred. What you do not leave in writing will have to be reconstructed later using scattered documents, testimonies, or assumptions.
This guide proposes a simple system for documenting work from the studio. It is not legal advice.
What provenance is and why it matters
Provenance is the documented history of the ownership, possession, or custody of a work. It may include its creation, sales, donations, inheritances, deposits, loans, and other relevant changes. It should not be confused with attribution, although solid provenance can help support it.
Gaps do not in themselves prove that a problem exists. They do, however, call for investigation and may complicate a sale, loan, insurance, donation, or inclusion in a collection. Documenting your own work also allows you to link the physical piece with its files, contracts, and movements.
Intellectual property arises solely from the act of creation. Registration is not required. However, the existence of the right and its proof are distinct matters: retaining documentation contemporary to the creation can prove decisive should a conflict arise.
The inventory
The foundation is a stable record for each work. This may be managed in a database, a spreadsheet, or a filing system, provided it allows for information to be exported and copies to be preserved. It must include, at a minimum:
- Unique identifier. A number or code that is neither reused nor changed even if the title, owner, or location varies.
- Identification. Current and previous titles, start and completion dates if they differ, technique, materials, support, dimensions, edition, and copy number where applicable.
- Images. Front, back, sides, signature, inscriptions, labels, markings, and details that allow the piece to be recognised.
- Authorship and process. Sketches, studies, working files, versions, and relationship to series or projects.
- Condition and conservation. Damage, restorations, component replacement, assembly instructions, and conservation requirements.
- Exhibitions and loans. Institution, venue, dates, exhibition title, curatorship, contract, insurance, and catalogue.
- Publications. Books, articles, catalogues, and pages where it appears reproduced.
- Ownership, possession, and location. Distinguish who is the owner, who physically holds the work, and where it is located.
- Transfers. Sale, donation, inheritance, or other operation, with date, parties, intermediaries, price where it must be retained, and supporting documentation.
- Rights and restrictions. Licences granted, image rights, reproduction conditions, reservation of rights, and personal data that should not be made public.
The standards of the International Council of Museums and its CIDOC committee emphasise stable identification, collection documentation, identification photography, and movement registration. It is not necessary to replicate a complete museum system, but it is essential to apply its core principle: every piece of data must be linkable to the work and to the source that verifies it.
The master artwork record: annotated template develops these fields and offers a complete workbook in ODS format, with separate sheets for the general record, restricted data, and gallery deposits. You can also download the CSV exports of the master record, the restricted data, and the gallery deposit.
Use the inventory number as a link between all sheets and documents. Separate personal, financial, and location data from information you can share. The deposit sheet records movements but does not replace the agreement with the gallery.
Marking without damage
The identifier must accompany the work, but it should not be written directly onto it in an arbitrary manner. The procedure depends on the material, technique, and condition. An inappropriate mark may alter the piece or be lost. For delicate supports, consult a conservation professional and also use labels, packaging, and photographic records linked to the same code.
Certificate, invoice and contract
The certificate of authenticity is not a general legal requirement, nor does it replace an inventory. It can make identification and later sales easier if it includes:
- artist's name;
- inventory identifier;
- title, year, medium, support and dimensions;
- image of the work;
- edition and copy number, if applicable;
- date of issue, signature and contact details;
- reference to annexes or instructions when the work is variable, digital or installation-based.
Keep a copy and record to whom it was delivered. The invoice serves as proof of an economic transaction, but it does not always contain sufficient information to identify the work. The contract may specify the transfer of the copy, payment terms, delivery, commissions and exploitation rights. Selling the physical piece does not in itself imply the assignment of reproduction or public communication rights.
The process as documentation
Retain sketches, photographs of work in progress, intermediate versions, source files and relevant communications. For digital work or work created using artificial intelligence tools, also record the input materials, selection and editing decisions, versions and software used where significant.
There is no single, automatic proof of authorship. The value lies in the coherent set of documents: dated files, correspondence, invoices, exhibitions, testimonials, records and the relationship with the physical piece.
Technical tools
C2PA-based content credentials can verifiably record certain claims regarding the origin and modifications of a digital file. A valid credential indicates that the content and the declared history have not been altered since signing, but it does not guarantee that all claims are true, nor does it prove the authorship of the work on its own.
Timestamps and distributed ledgers can verify that certain data or digital fingerprints existed at a specific moment. They do not replace process documentation, the identification of the person who created the record, or the legal analysis of authorship. Use them as an additional layer, not as a definitive certificate.
The Intellectual Property Registry
Registration is voluntary. Rights exist from the moment of creation, even if the work is not registered. Under Article 145.3 of the Intellectual Property Act, it is presumed, unless proven otherwise, that the registered rights exist and belong to their holder in the manner determined by the entry.
Registration does not make the Registry an absolute expert assessment of authorship, nor does it prevent another person from providing evidence to the contrary. It may be useful for works of particular relevance, contracts or situations where you anticipate a dispute.
Privacy, access and preservation
An inventory contains data that should not be published indiscriminately: addresses, prices, contacts, contracts, locations and collector details. Separate the complete internal record from the public record. Record the source of each piece of data and any access restrictions.
Maintain at least three copies: the working copy, another physically separate copy, and an external or remote copy. Verify that the copies open and periodically export the data to common formats. Include instructions on who will hold the archive and who will be able to update it when you are unable to do so.
Minimum list for each work
- Assign a unique identifier.
- Complete the master record and separate confidential data.
- Photograph the work and its markings.
- Describe the state of preservation.
- Link sketches, source files and process documentation.
- Keep the invoice, contract, certificate and delivery receipts.
- Record every exhibition, loan, deposit, change of location and transfer.
- Preserve the source and date of each piece of data.
- Update backup copies.
On the open conversation
This guide proposes a practical system based on collection documentation and studio practice. Certificates, technical credentials and catalogues raisonnés may assist, but none replaces a coherent documentary chain. If you work in conservation, collection management or artist archives and notice an error or a possible improvement, the guide remains open.