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The Art Authentication Credential:

The Authentic, the Questionable and the Fraudulent

Introduction

The authentication of a work of fine art usually takes place under the purview of an art expert. The individual may specialize in scientific analysis, provenance or document support, and/or connoisseurship. Scientific analysis looks at the materials or medium of a work. Provenance traces out the documentation supporting the work's authorship. Connoisseurship ties the work under assessment with historical periods, style, content, and culture to make sure that there is corroboration between the work and the details surrounding the work. Traditionally, experts passing judgments on art have a degree in art history, or a letter designation. Thomas Hoving, Bernard Berenson, Brian Peterson hold degrees in art history. The American Society of Appraisers provides an ASA to individuals satisfying the requirements of the designation. Art credentialization usually provides expert status to individuals holding the credential. The lack of a credential places the assessor in a position whereby any assessments provided will possibly be looked upon as having no greater weight than the person selling frankfurters from the stand. The importance of holding a credential has created a market for fake credentials to the point that credential mills have grown significantly at home and abroad. Some foreign countries report that there are 600,000 more degrees floating around than have been issued by universities.

What exactly is an art credential?

There are four levels of a degree or art credential. A level one credential is a degree from an accredited university. Harvard, College of New Jersey, University of Miami, University of California, etc. provide such degrees. Accreditation of these universities is carried out by accrediting agencies – institutions which determine whether a particular college or university provides education that is sound and uniform. There are six accrediting agencies in the US:

• The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
• The New England Association of Schools and Colleges
• The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
• The Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges
• The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
• The Western Association of Schools and Colleges

A level two college credential is from a college seeking accreditation from one of the above agencies – the process of accreditation has been started but has not yet resulted in official recognition A level three degree is a degree from a college which is neither accredited, nor seeking accreditation. A level four degree is a degree provided by individuals or organizations (not accredited) for a given amount of money. In point, a level four degree is a degree which has no educational substance since the individual possessing it did nothing to achieve it except to pay for it. Level four degrees are diploma mill degrees, or fake credentials.

The American Society of Appraisal credential is provided through course work, and a two-year internship in the field of art usually in a gallery. The internship consists of authentication, financial appraisals, report writing and so on. The credential must be applied for and is provided by the American Society of Appraisers. Without the internship, the credential will not be provided.

The Authentic Credential

Accredited college degrees, and ASA designations confer expert status in the field of art authentication. Such credentials and designations are commonly used in art authentication activities and appraisals for value. The legal system, insurance companies, and the IRS accept such credentials in determining value and authentication of fine art.

Accredited college degrees confer increasing expertness in the movement from the Bachelors, to Masters, and ultimately to the Doctorate status. The ASA credential is a focused credential in that the ASA organization conferring the designation requires a specialization. The holder does not hold a general designation but a particular one. One may become a specialist in American Folk or in African Art but not a specialist in all art.

In art authentication controversies such as the 1998 Calder case, the court made it clear that it would no longer accept the traditional view that because one is a considered expert in one field of art one is an expert in all fields of art.

The Questionable

Questionable credentials or designations are those from level three or four colleges or agencies not legitimized in providing such documents. Unaccredited colleges or diploma mills have no regulatory agency watching over them to insure quality education and as such bestow a question mark on the credential conferred. There are also situations in which a genuine agency confers the status of membership to an individual such as the ASA conferring "Connoisseur" to a given applicant simply because he or she has applied. In the case of Okeefe and the IRS, Eugene Thaw, a respected art collector, and gallery owner was listed as a former AAP member or an ADAA member. Such designations are no more than organizational memberships. They are presented unintentionally, but easily lead the reader to infer that they represent some type of credential or designation. Mere membership in an organization does not confer expertness. In the Okeefe case the court noted that not only were the AAP members not addressing the issues of the case but did not provide an "…objective analysis collaborating such testimony." More importantly, the court ruled in favor of the IRS costing the Okeefe estate millions of dollars in additional taxes.

The "Experience" Credential

The art authentication system at times recognizes that experience may confer expert status on a given individual. Similar to the Okeefe AAP status some individuals find themselves being recognized as being an art expert because they were involved in but not the authenticator in an authentication or appraisal, or recommended by other members in the field. Expertness conferred solely by experience is a dangerous road to take in authentication processing. Paul Biro a self-proclaimed expert apparently possessing no legitimate credential except "experience" in fingerprint analysis took on an authentication case involving a Pollock painting. The outcome of this experience credential was that the process costs $50000 unnecessarily, the report provided after numerous requests went unanswered was no better than that provided in a high school class for sophomores, the fingerprint connecting Pollock to the work is spurious, and the work was almost handed over to two known art felons. The work is now a controversy and of questionable value.

Credential Fraud and its Manifestations

Credential fraud consists of an individual intentionally providing or obtaining a fake credential so as to secure a particular benefit. Shin Jeong-ah former art professor of Dongguk University and curator of Sungkok Museum in Korea was found to have a bogus doctorate from Yale and two degrees from the University of Kansas. She alleged that she received her degree with the help of a PhD from Yale who has not been located. She is now claiming that a mental disease made her do it. The prevalence of credential fraud is significant in that it affects the art world, the mass media, corporations, and federal and state governments. Luz Senquiz, the owner and operator of Latin American Community Services in Camden, New Jersey, provided counseling services to various individuals in her community. For these services she received more than $94,000 as reimbursed monies from the Medicaid Program monitored by the State of New Jersey, Division of Criminal Justice. The right to receive such monies was based on her application which stated that she possessed both a PhD in Counseling and a Masters degree. Upon investigation and with the help of special agent Alexis Halten of the F.B.I., it was determined that the PhD was from a diploma mill requiring no study and having no accreditation. The owner of La Salle University in Louisiana, the diploma mill, James Kirk pled guilty to mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering for operating the university. As to her Masters degree, it was found that although she did attend La Salle in Pennsylvania, an accredited institution, she never finished her thesis and thus never received her degree. Further, it was noted that many others under her supervision did not have the required credentials. Luz Senquiz pled guilty, was convicted, and is serving a one-year probation due to her cooperation with the fraud prosecutor in another case, (2005, Erik Daab, Office of Attorney General NJ).

John Gray, the author of 14 best selling books, expert on relationships, popular speaker, syndicated columnist, and profiled in Forbes, People, Time, Newsweek and USA Today magazines is a Certified Family Therapist. He is also a Better Life Relationship Coach for AOL. According to his biography, John holds a Doctorate from Columbia Pacific University. In December 1999 the Marin County Superior Court of California ordered Columbia Pacific to cease operations in the state. On February 21, 2000 the California Court System denied any further appeals and demanded penalties be paid to the state and no further Columbia operations to take place in California. It also ordered Columbia to notify all students from 1977 to the present that they had a right to a refund of all monies spent on their "degrees". Further, all monies were to be returned in 30 days, and a status report was to be provided to the state. In point, the diploma mill was to be closed down for good. It has since opened up in another state, and John Gray continues on with his advice.(Press release,2000)

Laura Callahan, after working for the Clinton Administration, was hired in 2003 as the Department of Homeland Security Deputy Chief Information Officer. She required that anyone addressing her must use the prefix "Doctor" before her name since she held a Doctorate from Hamilton University. She was noted to suffer from a lack of respect for her fellow workers and her colleagues. She ultimately pushed the envelope too far one day when one of her computer specialists decided to challenge her degree by asking where the university was located. She went on to provide the location of Evanston, Wyoming to Robert Wainwright who was familiar with the area from his college days. What he remembered was that there was no Hamilton University at the location but a Motel 6.

He went on the Internet and sure enough the university was the Motel 6. He notified his investigation unit which found that Callahan's credentials BA, MA, and PhD were from a diploma mill. Hamilton’s accreditation agency was even a fake set up by Hamilton to confer legitimacy to Hamilton's degrees. It was later noted that Callahan's degrees supposedly earned in 1993,1995, and 2000 were backdated and that Callahan actually obtained all her degrees within a one-year period in 2000, (2005, Sperry).

Scope of Credential Fraud

John Bear argues that credential fraud is a billion dollar a year business. He states that over the last few years, diploma mills have grown ten times faster in one year than they have in any previous year. Five years ago there were only about 150 diploma mills, today Bear writes that there are about 600. Recent data notes that the money value of the fraud might be understated. An undercover operation by the Government Accountability Office revealed that 463 senior members of the federal government had degrees from diploma mills or unaccredited colleges. The information was supplied by diploma mills or unaccredited colleges. The investigation noted that the data supplied, identifying credential problems, was seriously understated because many governmental agencies and level three and four colleges failed to provide data to the investigators. A recent investigation of corporate owners and executives found that they have also added a significant amount of fluff to their résumés. The ease of securing such degrees was reported on in an investigation by NBC news. Reporter Kyle Anderson noted that all he had to do was to click his mouse a few times pay $350 and in a few days he was not only the graduate of a college but was now a Ph.D! The international flavor of the fraud is that whereas in the United States one must buy a degree online or over the phone, in China and India they are sold on the streets like DVDs and CDs. In China a degree could be purchased for 250 yuan or $32. A recent investigation revealed that there are currently more than 600,000 holders of Chinese degrees than those listed in the Chinese universities. A similar problem exists in India.

Types of Credential Fraud

Research notes that there are five types of credential fraud:

1. Altered - here something on the credential has been manipulated. The name or date was whited out and changed to another, additional data was added, a seal was installed, etc.
2. A credential exists but from a school that does not.
3. A document is supplied by a given university or college but it was created for mass consumption by someone in the school. The document exists but it does not represent anything the individual actually accomplished.
4. Diploma mill degrees purchased from individuals or companies which supply degrees for money.
5. Foreign degrees which are creative translations of the work completed. Here an individual supposedly graduated with a college degree but in reality the credential was equal to a high school diploma. Or the grades listed in the transcript as "A" were translated from the foreign country value to an American value. A "B" in certain countries like China is assumed to equal an "A".

Earmarks of Fraudulent Credentials

The Federal Trade Commission has stated that there are various telltales of bogus degrees:

1. Degrees which are out of sequence or missing steps: Receiving a Masters degree before a Bachelors, or receiving a Masters without a Bachelors.
2. "Quickie" degrees: it usually takes four to five years to secure a Bachelors, one to two years to complete a Masters, and two to four years to complete a Doctorate. Any degrees completed in days or months are specious.
3. Degrees obtained from locations remote from the degree holder's home or work address: a person presents a degree from Alaska reportedly earned while he was working in California should be examined. Note however that many accredited schools have distance learning formats and required attendances for a certain period of time. It would not be unusual for a person in a distance learning environment to spend two weeks a year of full time required attendance, enabling them to work in California and secure their degrees in Alaska in this fashion.
4. Sound alike names: La Salle University in Pennsylvania is an accredited school. La Salle in Louisiana is a diploma mill.

In addition to the FTC telltales, others notes that one should also look for:

1. Line obliteration: documents have lines where text is found and gaps in those lines or missing lines might indicate that the document was changed.
2. Documents which normally have pictures or logos on them have a blank space.
3. Incompatible face types in a single document such as font sizes, or print categories, i.e. Romanesque.
4. Spacing irregularities: lines/words are all over the place or there is not enough space for text.
5. The document's language is poor in terms of spelling, and grammar.
6. The credential paper and ink are of a poor quality.
7. The seals appear questionable and the signatures are outdated.
8. The dating of the credential is inconsistent with the period. Some countries are so involved with upheavals that their education systems shut down during periods of change. These periods produce no credentials.
9. Credits don't match degree requirements or hours and grades don't match courses. 4 credits for a course which meets one half hour a week for 13 weeks is a rarity.
10. Unusually high grades from a school which usually delivers low grades.
11. Return addresses of school does not match known address.
12. Credential dates do not match school's accreditation or incorporation/inception date.
13. Credential programs do not match programs provided by school at the time.
14. Credential is from a known diploma mill or unaccredited school.

Preventing the questionable or fraudulent art credential from entering the authentication process

If you are contemplating hiring an expert to authenticate or appraise a piece of art in your collection or a piece you plan to buy or sell, you would be wise to ask for and verify the credentials of the expert you plan to hire. Without this step you may at best waste the money you spend to hire the expert and at worst cast grave doubt on the authenticity or value of a piece which may in fact be genuine and valuable.

Here are some measures you can take to make sure that you are not dealing with someone who has false credentials.

1. Check the credential against the list of diploma mills or unaccredited schools.
2. Transcripts should be sent from the school, not from the degree holder.
3. Accept only original degrees with seals and signatures
4. Check accrediting agency against list of approved agencies.
5. Check program requirements with credits completed. Keep in mind that while only one course to complete a program is highly suspicious, the completion of 36 credits for a major with one course missing is not unusual. School administrators may have allowed a substituted course.
6. Tie the history of the school programs with the date of the credential. Up until 1975 Brooklyn College had a graduate program in Philosophy. After 1975 the program was dropped. Merely because a program existed does not mean it existed during the degree holder's period.
7. Check name changes.
8. Request credential holder to supply biography/resume. Check document against credential.
9. Request that the credential holder state how the degree was earned. Check for timing discrepancies as they relate to other activities taking place at the time the degree was earned. It is possible to work full time and earn a degree at night; it is not possible to work full time during the day and earn a degree during the same work hours.
10. Foreign credentials must be tied to the country's issuing agent. Credentials do not always come from a university. The ministry of education in some countries signs off credentials.
11. Research the internet to see if the college supplying the degree is clean. It is quick and relatively easy to ascertain if a college has problems. Usually within the first few search pages, data will be found about degree-granting entities that are in trouble.
12. Ask the credential holder to name some fellow students and teachers as references. Ask about any awards, or activities the holder was involved in.
13. Write to the school if the credential is questionable, indicating specifically what problems exist with the credential.
14. Ask about how tuition was paid. Loans can be ascertained and provide evidence of attendance. If the social security number is provided and the holder approves a credit report search, the credit reporting agency would have data on payments made.
15. Check the initialization of the credential to determine its exact designation, AAP, ADAA, and so on . Does the B.S. mean Bachelor of Science or Bull S...?
16. Check the meaning of "member of".

The goal of the above is to gather data to support the credential. If the data received provides evidence that the degree is questionable, deny the credential and do not hire the person or turn to them for expertise. If the college has no record of attendance, or of supplying the degree, there is no reason to accept it.

Sound art assessment is grounded in and moves forward by the expert possessing the proper credential. Questionable credentials waste time, have costly outcomes, and lead to faulty evaluations which ultimately tag the art as controversial. Controversial art authentication as we all know forces the work to be placed in the basement until its proper status is established.

— by Dr. John Daab CFE, CFC, AFC, RI  |  May 23, 2008  |  Print Version - PDF

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