What to look for on the back of a painting: an expert guide

1. Who, what, when... and where

First and foremost, you’ll want to know who painted your picture. Artists started signing their works around the 15th century, and while their signatures are most commonly on the front, in more recent times they have been applied to the reverse.

Christie’s specialists can check signatures by looking them up in the artist’s catalogue raisonné and, sometimes, even narrow down the date a work was painted based on the evolution of a signature over time.

The artist will usually also have provided a title or date. And sometimes more besides.

 ‘As well as signing, naming and dating his works on the reverse, the British artist Ben Nicholson (1894-1982) often included his address,’ says Christie’s Modern British and Irish Art specialist Alice Murray. ‘It’s a lovely addition that helps you build the story behind the artwork.’

2. Materials can narrow down a painting’s origins

Artists began switching from working on wooden panels to canvas in the 15th and 16th centuries because it enabled larger paintings. Painting on copper sheets also became fashionable in the 17th century.

Stamps and labels from the suppliers of these materials can contain the names and addresses of their businesses. Reference lists — such as Alexander Katlan’s American Artists’ Materials Suppliers Directory — can be used to track them down, and in turn, narrow down when and where a work was made.

Comparing the date the materials were purchased with the date the artist signed the finished work can even give you an idea of how long it took to complete.

The types of materials used to create a work’s board, cradle or stretcher, along with how it was constructed, also vary over time and between places. 

Soft wood, such as poplar, was used in Italy, while hard wood, for example oak, was used in Britain and the Netherlands. Another clue can be obtained from how the canvas is fixed to the stretcher — staples replaced nails after the 1940s.

3. Labels indicate provenance and exhibition history

When a gallery or museum displays a work of art it often attaches a label to its back that indicates the artist’s name, the picture’s title, and usually a date, inventory number and address.

‘With the advent of the internet it has become much easier to research these labels,’ explains Christie’s auctioneer and Impressionist and Modern Art specialist Veronica Scarpati. ‘For example, the Museum of Modern Art has digitised all of its exhibition catalogues, press releases and lender lists as far back as 1929.’

Other key players to look out for include institutions such as the Royal Academy or the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and dealers like Richard Green, The Fine Art Society or Wildenstein & Co., as seen, top right, on the back of the picture shown above.

Other labels that record a painting’s journey can come from conservators, customs and border controls, or even defunct bureaucratic mechanisms such as the Nazis’ Chamber of Culture, which stamped its double-headed eagle logo on to the back of the art it looted.

4. Inscriptions will also have a story to tell

Private collectors throughout history have added their own names to the back of a work. King Charles I of England (1600-1649), for example, branded his initials ‘CR’ topped with a crown onto the reverse of works in his royal collection.

‘On the back of this landscape [above] by Ivon Hitchens (1893-1979) you have the stamp of his wife, Mollie, as well as a later, handwritten note placing it in the collection of Allen and Beryl Freer,’ explains Alice Murray.

In 2019, Christie’s sold a painting [above] by Sebastiano Conca (1680-1764), which contains an old hand-written note that describes its title, date and the fact it was a bozzetto — or sketch — for painting, as well as providing some provenance — that it was gifted to one D. Domenico Guastaferro in July 1748.

If you decide to add a support to the back of your painting, it might be an idea to use Perspex so that the labels remain visible, or ask a paper conservator to carefully transfer them onto the new board.

5. Inventory numbers reveal a work’s auction history

Since the early 19th century Christie’s has marked the back of pictures with an inventory number. Initially these numbers were stencilled in black ink, while other auction houses used chalk. (Today, rather than stencilling numbers on the back of pictures, it is more common for a sticker with a barcode to be applied.)

‘These numbers correspond to records that tell us when and where something was sold, and sometimes who sold it and what price was paid,’ explains Christie’s librarian and archivist Lynda Macleod. ‘The Christie’s archives in London has details of most of the sales held during the auction house’s 254 years in business.’

‘When cataloguing paintings these stencils allow us not only to piece together provenance, but also to see if the work has been attributed to different artists in the past,’ adds Olivia Ghosh, a specialist in Christie’s Old Masters department.

In 2013, Christie’s sold a portrait by Rembrandt (1606-1669)and his studio which had ‘272ER’ stencilled on the back. ‘That pointed us to a 1928 auction at Christie’s of a collection belonging to Sir George Lindsay Holford,’ Ghosh explains. 

‘From there we traced the painting’s provenance back to his father, Robert Stayner Holford, who was the founder of the Burlington Fine Arts Club and owned three other Rembrandts, all now in museums. Knowing these details can add great value to a painting.’

6. If the painting has been lined, repair work may have been carried out

If the rear of the canvas has traces of glue around the edges, or feels thick and new, the painting may have been lined. This refers to the process of attaching an additional layer of canvas to the original surface in order to repair holes and tears and stabilise the painting.

‘Lining a canvas was, and still is, a common practice for Old Master paintings,’ says Ghosh. ‘In the past it was often done with a heavy hand, but now it can be completed without damaging the paint’s surface.’

‘The Scottish colourist F.C.B. Cadell (1883-1937) left clear instructions regarding how to maintain the condition of his works on their reverse,’ says Alice Murray. ‘On the back of The Avenue, Auchnacraig  [above] are the words “Absorbent ground/NEVER varnish”, because Cadell felt the chalky quality of his paint surface was of utmost importance.’

7. Warped stretchers can be a giveaway that it has been hung in humid conditions

Major cracks in the work might indicate that it has been hung in a hot, dry place, such as above a fireplace, while warped stretchers could suggest it lived in a bathroom. ‘Neither are advisable,’ states Ghosh.

While not venturing so far as to specify where they should be hung, some artists, such as Richard Diebenkorn (1922-1993), helpfully leave notes to indicate their correct orientation. On the back of the work above Diebenkorn has written in pencil ‘TOP’, with an arrow pointing upwards. 

8. On rare occasions, the back of a painting can even reveal another work of art

Every now and again the back of a painting can reveal something that rivals the importance of the work of art on the front, such as a handwritten note by the artist —or even a second picture. 

‘Materials have historically been expensive, so impoverished artists were known to try out different compositions on the same supports,’ Ghosh explains.

In July 2019, adds Ghosh, Christie’s sold an oil on copper painting of Saint Andrew by the Flemish artist Bartholomeus Spranger (1546-1611), the reverse of which revealed a second painting — a copy of Bartolomeo Schedoni’s The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist. ‘Although we don’t know who made the second work, it was painted within a few decades of Spranger’s picture by someone who probably wanted to re-use his valuable copper plate,’ she says.

Veronica Scarpati proffers an example. ‘In February this year Christie’s sold a work by Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) which had a second, signed Pissarro on the reverse,’ she explains. 

‘Christie’s art handlers mounted it in a custom-made support so that both sides could be seen during the auction preview. If it had been hanging on a wall, no one would have had an inkling of what the back was hiding.’