Article: How to Read Signatures and Inscriptions on Antique Paintings

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How to Read Signatures and Inscriptions on Antique Paintings

On 21 October 1433, Jan van Eyck wrote on a portrait's frame that he had made it, and gave the day.

For centuries after him, signing stayed the exception.

A heather path landscape, signed at the lower right

In the paint Signed lower right, inside the heather. Heather Path in Bloom, Desvarreux-Larpenteur

A portrait of a young sitter in a wide white collar, signed Grün

In white Signed lower left, in white cursive. Portrait in a Sailor Collar, Jules-Alexandre Grün

A woman knitting in a park, signed oil on canvas

On the back A period pencil note names the painter. Woman Knitting in a Park, Octave Guénard

A signature is a clue, not a verdict. Style, support and provenance decide the rest.

Where to Look for a Signature on an Antique Painting

A cursive signature laid in white paint over the visible canvas weave

2Lower left, in white

Lower right first, then lower left.

A signature at the lower right corner, worked into the paint surface of a heather landscape

1Lower right, in the paint

Then everywhere elsea step · a ledge, a rock · the page of a painted book · the edge of a table · a scrap of painted paper · the blade of an oar

What a Signature, a Monogram or a Date Tells You

Signature S. Lépine in dark brown at the lower left of the turquoise bank

Full signatureSignedThe strongest claim, when it matches documented examples of the hand.S. Lépine, lower leftABMonogramInitialsNarrows the field. With style, school and date, it can settle it.

Close view of the signature F. Chaigneau 1862 in dark paint

Date1862Tells you when, which is half of any attribution.F. Chaigneau, 1862 Name Simone Duval-Wenta and the words Varaville, Calvados painted in red on the back

Name Simone Duval-Wenta and the words Varaville, Calvados painted in red on the back

InscriptionReverseSitters' names, titles, Salon labels, color merchants' stamps. They can place and date a canvas.Name and place, painted on the back

Why So Many Antique Paintings Are Unsigned


Before the 19th centurySigning was the exception.	From the 19th centuryStandard practice.

A workshop's output was the master's product whether or not he wrote his name. That is why Old Master attribution rests on style, technique and provenance.

The Signature That Is Not by the Artist

Cracks with the paintApplied at the time, aged with the painting.Sits on topCrisp over the craquelure. Added later.

Seen on a canvas here

A pastoral landscape with a donkey, sheep and a woman lifting a lamb, circa 1800, the lower left of the path boxed and the rock numbered

12 Pastoral with a donkey and sheep, about 1800.

1

The cornerThe name sits on the path, lower left, in dark paint.

2

The rockFine cracks run down the rock face, and across the whole canvas.

3

The lettersEnlarged, the same cracks run straight through every letter. The name Ommeganck in dark paint on the path, the cracks of the paint running straight through the letters

The name Ommeganck in dark paint on the path, the cracks of the paint running straight through the letters

The name went onto the canvas early and aged with it. Early is not the same as by his hand, so this picture is catalogued as bearing a signature, in the manner of Ommeganck.

A later attributionA past owner or dealer added the name he believed, or hoped, was right.

A strengthened signatureA genuine but faded signature, retraced by a restorer. The claim may be true, the evidence is overwritten.

A fraudulent signatureA famous name added to an honest period painting. The painting is old, the name is the lie.

How to Check a Signature Before You Buy

1Light itA flashlight held low from one side, across the whole surface.2Turn it overPhotograph every label, stamp and inscription.3Magnify itA loupe on the signature, ultraviolet light if you can.4Write it downLetter by letter, including what you cannot read.

Signed paintings for sale

Signed heather path landscape by James Desvarreux, a sand track climbing between banks of flowering heather toward blue hills, late 19th century oil in a period gilt frame

James Desvarreux-LarpenteurHeather Path in Bloom $2,700See the painting

Jules-Alexandre Grün portrait of a young sitter in a wide white collar, signed oil on canvas in a gilt frame with black frieze

Jules-Alexandre GrünPortrait in a Sailor Collar $1,900See the painting

A woman knitting alone in a park, signed oil on canvas by Octave Guenard, late 19th century, in a carved gilt frame

Octave GuénardWoman Knitting in a Park, 1800s $2,700See the painting

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Keep reading More in Learning to LookRelined, Restored, Craquelure, Understanding Condition Related guideReading Attribution on an Antique Painting Related guidePeriod Copies After the Old Masters Every guide, by subject

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