Comments on: Dating your art: How important is it?

By: Daniel C. Boyer

Daniel C. Boyer — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 17:26:00 +0000

A number of my paintings and drawings have dates, with dates since the turn of the millenium sometimes being dated, e.g. “2010 the distant future” (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZzAgrSvGbGQ/S7Wohbf0PbI/AAAAAAAAGAc/tJmoUMxVrz4/s1600/132+Daniel+C+Boyer+1.jpg) or the (rather elaborately rendered) “2006 the distant future” (http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3837/2026/1600/boyer3.jpg).

By: Judy Fischer Walton

Judy Fischer Walton — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:42:17 +0000

A very easy way to keep track of the dates…..Give the painting a number which is …the day, the month, medium, year and record on the back of the painting and on the page made for the painting. i.e. 0129P10 equals…January 29 Pastel 2010. I just finished catalogueing my paintings and make a page the day I start a painting, then add info as time goes by such as exhibition dates, and places.

By: Mary Palmer

Mary Palmer — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:27:04 +0000

From a recent talk by a regional gallery owner: Do Not date the front of your paintings. If you want to date the painting, do it on the back only.

The reason for this was because when potential collectors come into the gallery they are sometimes swayed by whether or not a painting was a more recent painting or an old one.The thought is that it might not be as valuable to them as a collector if it was old and had not yet sold and that more recent works could be purchased before the price might go up.

Responses?

I do personally keep track of the actual date in my inventory program.

By: DAvid M. Kessler

DAvid M. Kessler — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 20:49:09 +0000

I agree with Jennifer. Clients and galleries often don not want the date on the front of the painting for the very reasons she submitted. I use an inventory numbering system for all of my paintings that tells the year followed by the chronological number of the painting, ie: 09-64. I put this number on the back of my canvases (or paper) in two places along with my name and a copyright symbol. The number corresponds to my computerized inventory system.

By: Fabrizio Van Marciano

Fabrizio Van Marciano — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 03:00:47 +0000

I’ve always dated my work with the COA on the reverse, I do feel it is of great importance and something that you have spent many hours or days creating deserves a born on date. Thanks for sharing.

By: Greatest Hits (Posts) of 2009 — Art Biz Blog

Greatest Hits (Posts) of 2009 — Art Biz Blog — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 11:02:19 +0000

[...] Dating Your Art: How Important is It? Dating your artwork is critical if you’re interested in high-end galleries and museums. [...]

By: Chris Collins

Chris Collins — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 03:55:09 +0000

I tend to like artists that are mysterious. Something about signing and dating your art in the lower right hand corner every time rubs me the wrong way. I try and incorporate any signatures or dates into the art itself. I would think that an art historian would have a field day with a piece of art that doesn’t have the exact date plastered in the corner. When I die I want people to see how my art has evolved by looking at the art itself. Maybe I’m just lazy, but I rarely date my work, and if I do it is only the year. @susannpc I like that you use a symbol for each year. Very cute. Also, does the “npc” in your alias stand for “non player character”? If so, you are awesome.

By: susannpc

susannpc — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:03:38 +0000

I find dating my work has been problematic. Sometimes new work is more a protype and the series that develops from the protype pieces may span a year or more. I sign my name to my work and use a symbol for the year. (I chose a new symbol every year) I usually work in clay so I also have a letter mark for the clay body and sometimes I number the pieces with a permanent marker. So if a gallery owner or customer inquires about the year I am happy to tell them.

By: jennifer phillips

jennifer phillips — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 03:53:19 +0000

I used to date my work on the front until an instructor of mine advised not to. He suggested that often a piece can get overlooked as being “old” inventory. I did actually experience this feeling from a client who purchased a piece from me recently. After delivering it to her home, she took a closer look at the signature and date… it was from 2004, and she gasped! While this shouldn’t have mattered, I think it made her feel jipped a little that it wasn’t a current piece – though I creatively sold her on the idea of it being a piece that I had held onto for my personal collection in my home, which was actually true, it was one of my favorites. Now a days, as a compromise, I choose not to date the actual work, but instead keep a thurough record of when I started and completed each piece. Then when someone purchases a piece of art from me, I provide them with a Provenance form and certificate of title. These paperworks alow me to provide them with dates and other histories about the work they have aquired.

By: Kathleen Fisher

Kathleen Fisher — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 20:07:21 +0000

Thanks so much for this tip. I’d never thought of this, although I do post my images on my blog as soon as they’re completed … so I just need to go through my blog to create a proper inventory. Chada, I know what you mean about exhibition calls that insist work has been completed within the last two years … it’s really frustrating when you have the perfect, yet older, piece. However, I totally agree with curators doing this because it stops artists from simply delving into their archives and throwing any old thing in. I was in a show a couple of years ago that specifically asked artists to create pieces to a theme … and it was really obvious who had simply dipped into their archives for pieces that were “close enough”. As a fellow exhibitor, I felt ripped off because these “almost there” works weakened the show. It was like their creators wanted to be profilic exhibitors, but didn’t want to actually do the ground work (um … which is why we’re artists in the first place).