Wise to Art

In art as well as in business, a signature has particular importance. The signature is a seal signalling veracity of agreement. By apposing his signature, the signatory assumes responsibility. Whatever the context, a signature presumes, in one way or other, an accomplishment. The signature comes after the final touch. Something unfinished is not signed.

For any maker, the moment of signature is decisive, sometimes difficult. In art maybe more than in other areas. One can understand that some artists abstain from signing a work that is felt as unachieved. Some, not lucid about their dissatisfaction, spend years adding to or modifying before finally making up their mind. The signature has thus tremendous importance for a work of art, not only in assigning authorship, but more poignantly in that of announcing achievement. A signature is the artist’s spontaneous fiat, given after satisfaction.

Take thus an unsigned work, to all appearances finished; is there reason to think that the artist wasn’t happy with his act? This is an altogether valid presumption; exception made for authors that deliberately don’t sign and of course for artwork of trivial or sketchy nature. An elaborate but unsigned work not only raises questions about its attribution or the maker’s idea of its state of achievement, but also on the author’s judgement of the result of his act.

Independently of the certainty or the uncertainty about an attribution, a work not signed is a work whose value will weigh lighter on the market.