Artist Archives: Roles, Legal Gaps, and the Cy Twombly Foundation Case

Artist archives, traditionally established posthumously, are increasingly set up by living artists. According to the Italian Association of Artist Archives (AitArt), these dynamic cultural entities collect and catalog documentation to promote an artist's work and authenticate production transparently. They may issue certificates of authenticity or influence the market by including or excluding works from catalogues raisonnés. Legally, Italy lacks a unified regulatory framework for artist archives, relying instead on the civil code, cultural heritage code, or copyright law depending on context. A notable case involved the Cy Twombly Foundation and a private donor who sought inclusion of three works in the foundation's catalogue raisonné for auction sale. The foundation refused, the auction house declined the sale, and the donor sued. In a July 6, 2018 ruling, the Rome Tribunal established that authenticity judgments are protected as free speech, meaning foundations have no obligation to authenticate works, nor do heirs or their entities hold exclusive authentication rights. To address these complexities, AitArt offers a multidisciplinary training course for archive curators, covering cataloging, restoration, contracts, and authenticity, aiming to promote best practices in archive management.