Terms of service
Purchasing an artwork from the GUIGNARD KYOTO COLLECTION
Choice of object:
After a request from the interested party, the choice of the object will be confirmed by the collector Silvain GUIGNARD by e-mail.
Purchase of the object:
The object will be blocked on the website immediately, for a maximum of 14 days. If payment has not been made by the end of this period, the property will be made available again for other interested parties.
Payment:
The invoice e-mail also lists the transport, insurance and packaging costs. For purchases in Switzerland, there is the option of picking up the artwork at 5000 Aarau, Ziegelrain 12. The modalities for handing over the property (within Switzerland) can be easily arranged with email contact.
Payment of the due amount in CHF, EUR or US dollars to the indicated UBS account:
CHF CH84 0023 1231 2211 77M1 Z
Mail delivery
Customers abroad must pay the import duty themselves upon receipt of the artwork.
When scroll paintings are sent by registered mail, the designation is "Poster in used wooden box". No details are given of art, as there are usually no Japanese official certificates. All objects from the GUIGNARD KYOTO COLLECTION were correctly exported from Japan as "household goods" when they finally were moved in 2022 and imported into Switzerland in accordance with the regulations.
Damage
If, on arrival, the item is damaged due to improper handling during transport, the damaged parts must be photographed immediately upon unpacking and the local post office notified. At the same time, evidence of the damage must be sent to the seller.
If the object is lost during transport, the seller is liable, i.e. the buyer is reimbursed 100% of the purchase price.
Authenticity Problem
In the art trade there is the problem of authenticity worldwide: is a work of art genuine or is it a forgery. In Asia - in China even more than in Japan - there is a tradition of painting "in the style of", which is absolutely morally correct. This is how a painter expresses his admiration for a master and proves his skill at being able to imitate him in a deceptively similar way.
This attitude is based on the specifically Asian master-disciple relationship. The student is not expected to have an individual nuance in his work - the adept should study exactly how his master paints. Only at a very advanced level of copying ability can the young painter go his own way. The largest painting institution in Japan, the Kanō School, which shaped Japanese painting from the 16th to the early 20th century and had produced countless talented painters, was based on a strict model system: masters created standard motifs that were copied exactly in huge studios, often without a recognizable individual touch.
With such an understanding of art, such a reticence towards artistic individuality - the art credo in Europe since the Renaissance - the problem of authenticity is fundamentally different than in the West. That's not to say there aren't any counterfeits in Japan, but the threshold from adoringly enthusiastic imitation to amoral counterfeiting is different. As a rule of thumb, the more famous a painter, the greater the risk of encountering a forgery
How do the art dealers in Kyoto react to this problem:
1. Material check 2. Sitilist criteria 3. Check of signature and seals.
- "Material check" is very rarely performed. It is based on experience (assessment of the age of paper/silk, wood and paint used). Scientifically conducted checks are very expensive and time consuming. They are rarely carried out and then only for very valuable objects (over 10.000 CHF). Connoisseurs who have had a lot to do with art for a long time trust their good instincts.
- Stylistic criteria. "The most important test tool is the eye" - that is the conviction of dealers and connoisseurs. A picture must convince as an original based on a long experience of art viewing. This criterion is the least scientific-sounding means of detecting a forgery; but usually it is the most reliable.
- Verification of signatures and seals is the most common way of securing oneself. But it's not perfect: seals have always been amazingly easy to carve, and it doesn't take a skilled calligrapher too long to copy a signature that looks deceptively similar to the original.
The reference literature used in the GUIGNARD KYOTO COLLECTION is:
- a) "Meikanweb" a modern, quite reliable website for seals and signatures.
- b) "Shoga kantei shishin" 書畫鑑定指針31 volumes, ed. YOSHIOKA Hanrei, Tokyo, 1983.
- c) "Dainihon shogameike daikan" 大日本書画名家大鑑 1300 pages, ed. ARAKI Nori, Tokyo, 1991.
- d) "Nihon shoga rakkan inpu shusei日本書画落款印譜集成 1100 pages, SUGIHARA, EBISUYAMA, Tokyo, 1997.
Non-Japanese often ask for a certificate in art shops, which dealers find insulting. First, there is very little expert authentication, and proof of provenance is scarce (like the English the Japanese love anonymity when dealing with art). The most common certificates of authenticity are from painters of the early 20th century. It is not uncommon for relatives of the artist to sign such a document, as this also entails financial gain for the witness. Only very few artists have certification offices that can be taken seriously - such as from MUNAKATA Shikō.
In this situation, when purchasing an item from this website the rules are as following:
The buyer has the right to present the object to a designated expert and to request a certificate of authenticity. If the specialist (e.g. art historian) can clearly prove that an acquired art object is a forgery, the purchaser may return the object and will be reimbursed the full purchase price and expenses (up to the amount of 1000 CHF) for the certificate. This offer will no longer apply after a period of one year.