Is That a Caneletto? Kind of.

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Imagine examining an auction catalogue description that read, “Old painting, looks Dutch (or something).” But describe that same picture as being by a “Follower of Rembrandt” or “In the manner of Rembrandt,” and buyer interest is piqued. Maybe it is an unknown Rembrandt, or as close to a Rembrandt as you will ever be able to afford. “An important artist’s name still gets people excited, even if a work might not be by that artist,” Monica Brown, managing director of fine art at Freeman's auction house, told Observer.

At a 2025 Freeman’s sale of Old Masters and 19th-century art, one painting, View of the Bacino with the Bucintoro and Gondolas attributed as “Manner of Canaletto,” fetched $25,600, well above its $4,000-6,000 estimate. Canaletto was a highly esteemed Venetian painter whose c. 1732 canvas Venice, the Return of the Bucintoro on Ascension Day set an auction record for the artist in July of last year at Christie's, earning $43.9 million—but how do you value a picture that merely looks like his work? At that same auction was another painting, The Grand Canal Looking South From the Molo With a View of Santa Maria della Salute, attributed to a “Follower of Canaletto,” which also sold for $25,600. One might guess that the same person bought both pictures, perhaps hoping to arrive at a more exact attribution for a work that, if it turned out to be an actual Canaletto, could also be worth tens of millions of dollars. It would be like buying a scratch ticket at the gas station that turned out to be a winning Mega Millions ticket.

“Manner of…” and “Follower of…” are just some of the auction house designations that have no true art historical meaning but are a form of marketing, according to Richard Wright, partner and CEO of the auction house conglomerate Rago/Wright. “Truthfully, it is a way of saying ‘We really don’t know.'” This terminology of ignorance has its own hierarchy, as explained in Sotheby’s official glossary of terms. Artworks that cannot be fully authenticated are placed on a sliding scale of information and belief:

1 GIOVANNI BELLINI In our opinion a work by the artist. (When the artist’s forename(s) is not known, a series of asterisks, followed by the surname of the artist, whether preceded by an initial or not, indicates that in our opinion the work is by the artist named.

2 ATTRIBUTED TO GIOVANNI BELLINI In our opinion probably a work by the artist but less certainty as to authorship is expressed than in the preceding category.

3 STUDIO OF GIOVANNI BELLINI In our opinion a work by an unknown hand in the studio of the artist which may or may not have been executed under the artist’s direction.

4 CIRCLE OF GIOVANNI BELLINI In our opinion a work by an as yet unidentified but distinct hand, closely associated with the named artist but not necessarily his pupil.

5 STYLE OF…………; FOLLOWER OF GIOVANNI BELLINI In our opinion a work by a painter working in the artist’s style, contemporary or nearly contemporary, but not necessarily his pupil.

6 MANNER OF GIOVANNI BELLINI In our opinion a work in the style of the artist and of a later date.

7 AFTER GIOVANNI BELLINI In our opinion a copy of a known work of the artist.

Only the first designation, “By Giovanni Bellini,” is both art-historical and legal. In the first instance, the attribution is certified by documentation of a particular painting—known as provenance, providing a chain of ownership from the artist’s studio to the consignor in the present day—and/or the opinion of acknowledged experts in the artist’s work, such as academic or independent scholars.

“A consignor brings in a Giacometti, and we send photographs of it and any documentation to Paris to get it authenticated,” Wright explained. Paris here refers to the Fondation Giacometti, based in France, which has an authentication committee that verifies the authenticity of paintings, sculptures, drawings and decorative art objects by the Swiss-born Alberto Giacometti. “Otherwise, we need sales records.”

He added that the auction houses he oversees have research teams who look for experts or, in the event that there aren’t recognized experts, dealers in particular artists’ work for their opinions. Frequently, those opinions are provided free of charge, but sometimes experts require a payment, usually between $150 and $5,000. If a payment is required, “there usually is a negotiation with the consignor over who pays. It usually is the consignor,” although the cost might be split if the work is authenticated as being by the particular artist. “If the piece is authenticated, it usually will sell.”

Without full attribution, a work represents a gamble for the auction house, the consignor and the buyer alike. According to Wright, a work properly attributed to Giacometti might sell for $100,000, while one that is only “Attributed to” the artist might be estimated at $2,000-3,000.

Marianne Berandi, director of European art at Heritage Auctions, told Observer that the cost to the consignor is usually less if the experts contacted are willing to offer opinions based on photographs of an artwork. However, “many artists’ foundations, particularly those in France, want to see the original, which requires shipping the work” abroad, adding significantly to the cost of authentication.

Claiming that a given artwork is “by” a specific artist is ultimately a legal matter—a guarantee—as the Uniform Commercial Code in all 50 states requires that items have to be what the seller claims them to be, or the seller—in this case, the auction house, although it could be an art gallery—is obligated to take them back and refund the money paid. Artworks that are “Attributed to…” or “Studio of…” or “Circle of…” or anything else have no similar protection.

Auction houses deal regularly with artworks whose consignors claim are by well-known artists, and in many instances, these consignors are given unwelcome news. At that same Freeman’s sale, a consignor claimed the painting A Capriccio With Figures Gathered Around the Obelisk of Augustus, a View of the Pantheon, the Statue of Marcus Aurelius and the Temple of Sybil, Tivoli was by Giovanni Paolo Panini, and “we showed it to some specialists who said it was by Panini and others who said they couldn’t be sure but might be ‘School of Panini,'” Brown said. “It wasn’t definitive, so we attributed it to ‘Giovanni Paolo Panini and Studio.'” The painting sold for $76,700, well under the $100,000-150,000 estimate—the art market’s way of saying “Maybe, maybe not.”

Informing consignors that their works are not provably by the artists they claim can be fraught. “Some consignors take back their works, perhaps to try their luck at some other auction house,” she said. “However, if the estimate doesn’t change on the basis of the attribution, the consignors usually are satisfied and let us sell it.”

Then there are artworks that are only partially by the artist. John Constable, Berandi said, painted numerous portraits throughout his career and had a studio of apprentice artists helping him. “You wouldn’t expect Constable to paint every square inch of those portraits, but you can recognize some areas that clearly look like the hand of Constable.” In those instances, the artwork would be attributed to “John Constable and Studio.”

Buyers of artworks with uncertain attributions vary in their motivations. Some winning bidders are dealers in particular artists, or treasure-hunting collectors, willing to do some research to prove the art is authentic. “Some buyers appear to have more information than we have,” Wright said. “They’re not just buying a lottery ticket.” He pointed to a work in a 2021 sale at Rago Auctions identified as being by an “Unknown Artist” titled Infanta Margarita Teresa of Spain. It resembled paintings by Diego Velázquez and was estimated at $2,000-3,000 but sold for $27,500. Perhaps in the future, it will show up at a major auction house as a Velázquez with a multi-million-dollar estimate. Similarly, someone took a gamble on a painting of feathered creatures at Freeman’s November 4 sale that was untitled and attributed to a “Follower of Melchior de Hondecoeter (1636-1695) | Attributed to Philips van Kouwenberg (1671-1729),” when it fetched $89,400 against an estimate of $15,000-20,000.

Part of the job of Old Masters dealers is to find misattributed or underpriced works by well-known artists, doing in artworks what hedge fund traders do in securities. One of the most notable examples of a misattribution took place in 2006 when Sotheby's London sold a painting titled The Cardsharps, labeled in the catalogue as being by a follower of Italian baroque artist Caravaggio, for £42,000; it was later reattributed as a genuine Caravaggio, triggering a lawsuit. The auction house had consulted Caravaggio experts who claimed that the consigned painting was a copy of another on display at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. The consignor claimed that the auction house had been negligent, but in early 2015, London’s High Court decided that Sotheby’s had “reasonably come to the view that the quality of the painting was not sufficiently high to indicate that it might be by Caravaggio.”

But some buyers simply like the look of a certain artwork, believing it would suit their home’s overall décor or fit nicely in an existing art collection. Berandi said that interior decorators frequently “snap up” works in the “Manner of…” and “Style of…” categories that suit their clients’ tastes. If the bidding price isn’t all that high, there is no real harm in buying it and “you can get a lot of painting for your money.”

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