Graphics is a type of the visual arts created on paper or cardboard, using a wide range of techniques: graphite, lead, or Italian pencil, charcoal, colored pencil, watercolor, ink, pen, pastel, tempera, gouache, and various forms of printmaking (printed graphics, gravures).
Graphic works may be colorful or monochrome, and may vary from fully finished artworks to sketches, live-studies, illustrations or notebook drawings.

Expertise focuses on verifying the authenticity of a work of art, it’s creator, date and artistic quality. The process is based on the analysis of its technological and stylistic characteristics.
Evaluation, on the other hand, determines the currently recommended price of the artwork. This forecast is based on demand and supply trends, as well as sales data of similar works of art across different platforms of the antiques market.

Yes. However, if you do not know—or cannot even suggest—a possible author (for example, based on family provenance), then the process is no longer considered simple expertise but an attribution.
In attribution, the expert conducts a wholesome study of the piece and examines various versions of the authorship. It is indeed rare to conclusively prove authorship without an initial reference point.
Nevertheless, even in such cases the expert can provide a conclusion regarding the period of creation, the artistic quality of execution, and the work’s connection to a particular artistic tradition or school.

There are no official ownership registries or special title documents for artworks in Russian Federation.
In disputed situations, contracts of purchase or gifting, inheritance documents may serve as proof of ownership. In some cases, photographs of the interiors where the artworks are displayed can also be accepted as supporting evidence of possession.

No. These are related fields, but not identical. Art history education provides a theoretical, scholarly foundation, but it does not give practical skills or direct knowledge of materials of all the painters, their habits or access to the database of the works. An art historian may be a connoisseur of art, a museum employee, a curator, or an author of articles and monographs. Such colleagues may have refined taste and encyclopedic knowledge — yet still lack the modern methodological approach required for scientific authentication. This often leads, unfortunately, to errors and the issuance of incompetent documents. The same applies to artists: even mastery in creating artworks, or experience in copying great masters, does not make an artist an expert in authenticity.

Experts divide into specializations because it is impossible for one person to remember and know in detail the characteristics and stylistic nuances of all artists at once. Each expert spends years building a reference database, examining hundreds of works in museums and private collections, studying biographies, literature, letters, and memoirs of artists within specific period.
There is no official document listing all experts and their research fields. Instead, the art market itself builds reputations over time, shaping trust in particular specialists.
Even though no legal regulation requires authentication for art purchases, in practice, all financially significant transactions are usually supported by proper documentation from reputable, field-specific experts.

In theory, yes. Some labs do offer testing of paper or pigments used in water-based paints. However, in practice the usefulness of such analysis is very limited.
At present, it is technically impossible to accurately determine the aging of these materials: the margin of error for known methods (effective in other fields) is more than 50 years, even with an ideal sample of sufficient size. Moreover, many modern watercolor or tempera pigments are just indistinguishable from those used in the 19th and 20th centuries, due to their organic nature.

Unfortunately, no. Chemical analysis can only provide an approximate timeframe of creation. Current scientific methods cannot determine the exact year of a painting's production.
The composition of the paint layer and the features of its aging may suggest a general period (half a century, a third, a quarter, or often you can read phrases such as "created not earlier than…" in chemical analysis papers). However, at any given time there were always many active artists: some world-famous, others remembered only in art school reference books. Moreover, copying major masterpieces has always been a standard part of artistic training.
Determining whether a specific work was created by the master or a student — especially if it is antique — can only be done by an art expert.

Expertise is both a research and comparative process. The timeframe depends on many factors: how much reference material is available on the artist’s work, which research methods are applicable to this examined piece of art, whether similar items' photographs need to be requested from the museums, is an archive research required, whether the piece has a verifiable exhibition history or provenance.
Another factor is the expert’s overall workload: at any given time, more than ten works may in process of examination, each requiring attention and full involvement.
On average, most works are authenticated within three working weeks.

Expertise of artworks relies on humanities-based sciences, which is continually enriched by new technical and analytical methods. Roughly every 5−10 years, our understanding of an artist’s methods can change significantly — thanks to monographic exhibitions, re-evaluations of museum paintings using new technologies, and publications of memoirs or correspondence.
Auctions also regularly bring previously unknown works from private collections into the spotlight, sometimes reshaping established views of an artist’s legacy.
As a result, expertise has shifted from "sacred connoisseurship" towards evidence-based academic discussion. Documents issued more than 10 years ago are generally no longer accepted on the market, even though no formal expiration date is stated.
Such works typically undergo the full research cycle again, and the new conclusion may even contradict earlier findings. In practice, duplicate expertises are only obtainable within three years of the original issue date, otherwise the authentication process must be repeated.

These matters are regulated by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the Customs Service.
Only certain objects may be exported, and only with properly issued documentation. Upon import, most works of art must be declared at customs control.
It is advisable to take care of all necessary paperwork for import/export in advance, ideally with the assistance of specialized organizations.

If inherited artworks are not disputed between heirs and are not tied to copyright issues or the biography of a contemporary artist, they do not need to be listed as part of the estate or burdened with additional documentation.
First, determine your intentions regarding the inherited property: If you wish to keep it, you may simply use the works to decorate your interiors.
If you intend to sell, it is strongly recommended to conduct both an expertise and an appraisal before proceeding with the sale.
Often, with the best intentions, heirs try to donate inherited artworks to museums, motivated by the idea that more people will be able to see them. Unfortunately, in most cases, such donations end up in long-term storage, never becoming part of major museum exhibitions.

Since the Phoenicians invented money, everything has been forged. One of the most common misconceptions is the belief that "second-tier" artists were never forged, and even if so, definitely not during their lifetime.
In reality, first-tier masters have always been prime targets for forgers, but mid-level names are also routinely falsified. Roughly statistics show that the authorship of more than 60% of all works submitted for examination is not authentic— this includes either deliberate forgeries or sincere misattributions.
Consistently among the most forged are the Russian avant-garde artists, as well as the most in-demand 19th-early 20th century masters: Aivazovsky, Levitan, Shishkin, Polenov, Korovin, Serov, Benois, Somov, and others.

To begin collecting art, it is important to have both the financial means and the desire to immerse yourself in this field. It is not necessary to study the entire history of art. What matters is finding the authors, styles and traditions that truly interest or move you, as well as the kinds of works you would like to see in your future collection. Understanding your own aesthetic preferences is the key first step in starting a collection.
For more details, see the article «Tips for the Beginning Collector».