American philosopher and writer Ralph Waldo Emerson said “All history is biography.” We place much emphasis on the life of the artist in our research, but balance it with general historical research, provenance research, connoisseurship, and analysis of materials.

The word biography has its origin in two Ancient Greek words: bios (βίόσ) meaning life and graphia (γράφίκοσ) meaning writing or drawing. Many visual artists have both written and drawn , painted or sculpted about their own lives. The letters and autobiographies of artists provide valuable clues about their work and their motivations.

Because we are trained art historians, we tend to search out details beyond the artist’s letters or autobiography. We look in every nook and cranny of the artist’s life; anything could be potentially relevant to uncovering the truth about your painting.

Collectors who take an interest in a work of art usually develop a keen interest in the lives and personalities of their favorites artists. Art Experts will seek out material on all aspects of the artist’s life, many that are not so easy to get at—the history of his reputation, his dealings with gallery owners, his patrons, his training. We bring in our knowledge of the lives of other similar artists for the sake of comparison. We try to give you some perspective on the artist’s life and why he may have created the painting you now own.

But the heart of our study is answering your questions about the work of art you own. We are deeply interested in whether your painting is authentic and correctly attributed. We seriously engage with the material that will help us answer those questions: biographical, technical, linguistic, or whatever else is necessary to crack the case.

Bust of Benvenuto Cellini (Florence 1500-Florence 1571) Ponte Vecchio, Cellini began writing a multi-volume autobiography in 1558. He also wrote a treatise on gold-smithing (Due Trattati) in 1568.