Attribution on a Work of Art,the Author,Identity and the Self in the Courtroom: the Case of Thwaytes v. Sotheby’s

Abstract

The UK High Court case of Thwaytes v. Sotheby’s related to the attribution on a work of art alleged to be by Caravaggio. This article, consequent to a contextualization into the background and facts of the case, will argue that the case of Thwaytes not only provides a highly useful pedagogical prism through which to learn the minutiae of the authentication process of artworks and the problems that arise through that process – it also leads to the opportunity to examine in more depth the nature of the author, identity, the self, and the work of art itself. In so doing, it will specifically draw upon the work of Jacques Derrida.