What to Ask Before Buying an Original Artwork

The point of asking questions is not to interrogate the seller. It is to make the transaction specific enough that both sides understand the same object, price, paperwork, and delivery obligation. A professional seller should be able to answer plainly, put important terms in writing, and distinguish what they know from what they merely believe.

Ask for the artist’s full name, title, date, medium, dimensions, edition information if applicable, signature location, and whether the frame is included. For a work on paper, confirm whether the dimensions refer to the sheet, image, or framed object. For an edition, ask for the edition number, total edition size, and the status of artist’s proofs.

Request current photographs of the front, back, signature, labels, frame, and any notable condition issue. Stock or installation photographs are useful context but should not replace object-specific images.

Confirm the legal name that will appear on the invoice and whether the seller is the artist, a representative, a gallery, an auction house, or a marketplace intermediary. If payment instructions arrive from a different name or domain, stop and verify them through a known phone number before sending funds.

Ask whether the seller owns the work, is authorized to sell it, or is facilitating a transaction for someone else. That distinction affects who makes representations, who receives payment, and who is responsible if the description is wrong.

An invoice should identify the object and transaction. A certificate may record an artist or seller assertion. Provenance records prior ownership and transfers. None of these terms is interchangeable; see Invoice vs COA vs Provenance. Ask which documents will be delivered, who issued them, and whether copies can be reviewed before payment.

Confirm the total price including tax, buyer’s premium, framing, packing, shipping, insurance, customs, and installation. Put the payment schedule, refund or cancellation terms, transfer of risk, delivery window, and damage-claim procedure in writing. If the seller asks for a wire, independently verify the instructions and beneficiary.

• Object-specific description and current photographs
• Seller’s legal identity and authority to sell
• Itemized total cost and written payment terms
• Invoice and promised supporting documents
• Packing, insurance, delivery, inspection, and claim responsibilities

Proceed when the important answers are specific, consistent, and written down. Pause when basic facts keep changing, object-specific images are unavailable without a reasonable explanation, payment instructions cannot be independently verified, or pressure is used to prevent ordinary review.