Trust, But Verify

Today, more than ever, the story behind an artwork is as important as the art itself. 

Art theft is at an all-time high in this digital age of easy duplication and distribution of imagery. As an artist, I go to extremes to prove my creations are authentic.

In my 2012 post, “ART PROVENANCE,” I asked, “What do you know about the art on your walls?” Ten years later, the big question is, “What do you know about your NFTs?“

One of the things that I love most about non-fungible tokens is that everything is transparent: who created it, who owns it, what it sold for, and everything.

But just because all the information is available doesn’t necessarily mean the work is authentic. Bogus NFTs are created daily using pirated art stolen from the artists who created the original artworks.

The essential questions asked in my post from ten years ago included, “Who created the art?“, “When was it created?“, sometimes “Where was it created?“, and hopefully, “How was it created?“

The answers to those questions are just as relevant today, maybe even more so. They all tell the story of the artwork’s provenance.

Over these past twenty-five years, I’ve enjoyed sharing my original artwork and processes through the ADCook.com website. Since its initial launch in 1996, I have documented my paintings as they were created by adding them to the online gallery and sharing their story through posts, videos, the articles archive, and social media.