Reading the back of a painting

The front of a painting is what the artist decided. The back is what happened to it afterwards. For a story of why that matters, read Turn the painting over. This is the practical version.

1. Set up

• Lay the work face down on a clean, padded table: a folded bedsheet on a dining table will do.
• Good light from the side shows pencil, chalk and dents better than light from above.
• Have a phone camera, a soft pencil and a notebook. Nothing else touches the work.

Do not take the work out of its frame for this. If it has a sealed paper backing, leave it sealed; a framer or conservator can open it later and close it properly.

2. Photograph everything first

Take one photograph of the whole back, then close-ups of every label, stamp, stencil and piece of writing, with a ruler in shot for scale. Photograph the front too, the same day. These pictures are the record. If a label falls off next year, the photograph still has it.

3. The canvas and its stamp

Look for a printed stamp on the canvas naming a supplier and a city. Canvas makers, the old “colourmen”, stamped their goods, and museums use those stamps and labels to help date works, because the designs changed over time. One Winsor & Newton stamp, for example, was common from about 1888 to 1905.

Note the name, the city and the shape of the stamp exactly. Remember what it can prove: the painting is no older than its canvas. It does not prove where the painter lived.

4. The stretcher

• Wood: colour, grain, and whether it looks the same age as the canvas.
• Joints: keys (small wooden wedges in the corners) or fixed corners.
• Fixings: tacks, nails or staples along the edges. Staples began to replace nails in the 1940s.

Damp and rough handling break stretchers, and replacements are common. A new stretcher is a gap in the history, not a fault.

5. Labels and stencils

Write down, word for word:

• gallery and dealer labels, with any stock number;
• exhibition labels, with the title, dates and venue;
• framer’s labels, which give a city and sometimes a year;
• stencilled or chalked numbers and letters on the stretcher, which can be an auction house’s or dealer’s lot or stock marks;
• customs, transport or museum stickers.

Copy spelling mistakes as they are. A title written differently on the back and in a catalogue can be a clue, or a warning.

6. The artist’s hand

Many artists wrote on the back: a title, a date, a place, a dedication, a signature. Some left private marks. Compare the handwriting with signed letters or documented works if you can. A signature on the back in a different hand from the front is a question to ask.

7. Signs of repair

• Lining: a second canvas glued behind the first, often with traces of glue at the edges.
• Patches: small pieces of canvas glued over tears.
• Retouching: not visible from the back, but a patch tells you where to look on the front.

Repair is normal in old paintings. A seller should be able to tell you what was done, by whom, and when.

8. Works on paper

For a framed drawing, print or watercolour, the back is the frame’s backing board. Look for the framer’s label, any writing on the board, and the tape that seals it. Do not open it yourself. When a framer does open it, ask to see the back of the sheet itself, and whether anything was written on the old mount.

9. Keep the record with the work

Put your photographs and notes in one folder, with the invoice and any certificate, and keep a copy away from the house. Whoever owns the work next will need it, and they will not be able to ask you.