Technology can play a crucial role in identifying a forged artwor -even the one good enough to deceive the experts.

Of course, such incidents keep coming to the fore. In March 2006, as many as six contemporary Indian artworks at a leading international auction house were withdrawn for doubts over their authenticity.  The works withdrawn on the auction day itself included two watercolors by M. F. Husain, three F. N. Souza works and a Ganesh Pyne tempera.

Shireen Gandhy of the Chemould Prescott Road gallery mentioned in an article (DNA India) in September 2008, expressing shock over the news of artist Subodh Gupta’s paintings being forged. She emphasized: “If there is a sense of an artist-dealer relationship, where the art gallery would protect the artwork it sells, the menace of fakes can be controlled. The art galleries could then be responsible as to which collections the works ends up being in.

“The more scientific way is to employ ultra-violet rays for ascertaining when the colors were applied on the canvas. It is of great help especially when one deals with the old masters’ works. The test of paper is not fool-proof as older paper (or canvas) could be availed of, but the age of color application can well be tested in special laboratories. This is an expensive and not wholly foolproof method.”

An interesting article by Stephane Fitch in the recent Forbes issue elaborates on these technologies like Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy.

We shall discuss it in brief in the next article.