Art Recognition
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Artificial Intelligence, Art Authentication |
| Founded | 2019 |
| Founders | Dr. Carina Popovici, Christiane Hoppe-Oehl |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | AI-based art authentication Art forgery detection reports |
| Website | art-recognition.com |
Art Recognition is a Swiss technology company headquartered in Adliswil, within the Zurich metropolitan area, Switzerland. Art Recognition specializes in the application of artificial intelligence (AI) for art authentication and the detection of art forgeries.[1][2]
Overview
[edit]Art Recognition was established in 2019 by Dr. Carina Popovici and Christiane Hoppe-Oehl.[3]
Art Recognition employs a combination of machine learning techniques, computer vision algorithms, and deep neural networks to assess the authenticity of artworks.[4]
The company's technology undergoes a process of data collection, dataset preparation, and training.[5]
Academic partnerships and grants
[edit]Art Recognition has established a relationship with Innosuisse, a Swiss innovation agency,[6] to expand its research and development initiatives.
It has also formed a strategic collaboration with Nils Büttner, an art historian and professor at the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart (ABK Stuttgart).[7][8]
Notable developments
[edit]In May 2024, Art Recognition played a key role in identifying counterfeit artworks, including alleged Monets and Renoirs, being sold on eBay.[9]
Germann Auction in November 2024 became the first auction house to successfully conduct a sale of artwork authenticated entirely by artificial intelligence.[10]
As of January 2025, Art Recognition has appointed art crime expert and Pulitzer Prize finalist Noah Charney as an advisor.[11]
Recognition and debates
[edit]The company was featured on the front page of The Wall Street Journal for its involvement in the authentication case of the Flaget Madonna, believed to have been partly painted by Raphael.[12]
A broadcast by the Swiss public television SRF covered how the algorithm can be used to detect art forgeries with high accuracy.[13]
The technology developed by Art Recognition has been recognized for its role in providing a technology-based art authentication solution, compared to traditional methods..[14]
Controversial cases
[edit]Art Recognition's AI algorithm has been applied to several high-profile and controversial artworks, sparking significant interest and debate in the art world.
- Samson and Delilah at the National Gallery in London: The National Gallery's "Samson and Delilah", traditionally attributed to the artist Rubens, has also been examined using Art Recognition's AI, which has assessed the painting as non-authentic.[15]
- De Brecy Tondo Madonna. A research team from Bradford University and the University of Nottingham initially attributed the painting to Raphael, employing an AI face recognition software,[16] while the AI developed at Art Recognition returned a negative result.[17] The Bradford group's AI was trained on 49 images, whereas Art Recognition employed a larger dataset of over 100 images.
- Lucian Freud Painting Controversy: Featured in The New Yorker, a painting attributed to Lucian Freud became a subject of dispute. Art Recognition's AI analysis played a big role in examining the painting's authenticity.[18]
- Titian at Kunsthaus Zürich: A painting attributed to Titian, housed at Kunsthaus Zürich, has been a topic of debate among art experts. The application of Art Recognition's technology offered a new perspective. Following this debate, Kunsthaus Zürich has announced plans to initiate a comprehensive project aimed at resolving the authenticity questions surrounding the painting.[19]
- Art Recognition has contributed to the authentication debate surrounding The Polish Rider, a painting traditionally attributed to Rembrandt but subject to scholarly debate.[20]
References
[edit]- ^ Charney, Noah. "Is That Painting a Lost Masterpiece or a Fraud? Let's Ask AI". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2025-06-12.
- ^ "AI Companies Are Authenticating Old Master Paintings, But the Art World is Skeptical". Observer. 2023-03-01. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
- ^ "New tools are making it easier to authenticate paintings". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
- ^ Schaerf, Ludovica; Popovici, Carina; Postma, Eric (2023-07-10), Art Authentication with Vision Transformers, arXiv:2307.03039
- ^ "2312.14998 - Synthetic images aid the recognition of human-made art forgeries". www.emergentmind.com. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
- ^ "Innosuisse Discover 2021 - Recognising art forgeries from a photo". InnoSuisse. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
- ^ "Prof. Dr. Nils Büttner – Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Stuttgart" (in German). Retrieved 2025-05-02.
- ^ https://www.kunstgeschichte-ejournal.net/622/
- ^ Alberge, Dalya (2024-05-08). "Fake Monet and Renoir on eBay among 40 counterfeits identified using AI". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-05-02.
- ^ Nelson, George (2024-12-03). "Swiss Auction House Becomes First to Sell Artwork Authenticated Solely by AI". ARTnews.com. Retrieved 2025-05-02.
- ^ Charney, Noah (2025-03-06). "Why the art trade should learn to love forensics". Financial Times. Retrieved 2025-06-12.
- ^ "Is This a Real Raphael Painting? AI Says Yes, But Humans Aren't So Sure". WSJ. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
- ^ "Die Idee - Mit einem Algorithmus Kunstfälschungen erkennen". Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) (in German). 2020-10-23. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
- ^ Müller, André (2020-01-19). "Art Recognition: Carina Popovici legt Kunstfälschern das Handwerk". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in Swiss High German). ISSN 0376-6829. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
- ^ Alberge, Dalya (2021-09-26). "Was famed Samson and Delilah really painted by Rubens? No, says AI". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
- ^ Khomami, Nadia (2023-07-14). "Painting 'undoubtedly' by Raphael to go on display in Bradford". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
- ^ Harris, Gareth (2023-10-24). "A question of attribution: just how useful can AI tools be?". The Art Newspaper.
- ^ Knight, Sam (2022-09-19). "The Case of the Disputed Lucian Freud". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
- ^ Dafoe, Taylor (2023-03-28). "A Zurich Museum Found Out It May Have Acquired a Fake Titian. So Why Did It Buy Another Painting That Looks Just Like It?". Artnet News. Retrieved 2024-02-10.
- ^ https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2024/12/01/can-ai-shed-new-light-on-how-much-of-the-polish-rider-was-painted-by-rembrandt