Eye Level Blog – Looking Closely at Artist Signatures

This Smithsonian Eye Level blog post features a question and answer concerning artists’ signatures, part of the Ask Joan of Art series. An excerpt:

“Question: When did artists begin to sign their works? I would assume there was no need to sign commissions intended for private use. Is there a certain genre of paintings that tends to include signatures?

Answer: Artists began to sign their work toward the end of the Middle Ages in Europe. It was at this time that the collaborative artistic production of the monastic workshop gradually gave way to individual artistic ambition and accomplishment.

John Wilmerding, in his book Signs of the Artist: Signatures and Self-Expression in American Paintings, writes that an artist’s signature can have a great deal of significance. On a work of art, it establishes originality to a dealer or purchaser, even when an unsigned work has all the stylistic and technical characteristics of that artist’s hand. A buyer instinctively feels more confident if a signature is present, and its absence can often affect the market value.”

Click here to read the complete post. To learn more about the Ask Joan of Art series, and even submit your own question, click here.

Image in the post is Jasper John’s Souvenir, from the Eye Level post.