Disclaimer. Collectalia is not a legal, tax or insurance advice site. The information on this page is general and based on French legislation in force as of 09/11/2026: it may change, does not necessarily apply outside France and does not take your situation into account. Always have it checked by a notary, a lawyer, an accountant or your insurer before acting on it.
Key points
- A useful painting inventory describes each painting precisely enough to recognise it without seeing it.
- The back of the painting matters as much as the front: labels, stamps and inscriptions tell its provenance.
- A painting valuation needs preparing: photos, dimensions, provenance and documents, gathered in one place.
Managing a painting collection: what to keep track of
Managing a painting collection means knowing at any moment what you own, where each painting is, what it is worth and where it comes from. Beyond a few canvases, memory is no longer enough. The information to track is always the same.
- The identity of the work: artist, title, date, technique and support.
- The evidence: invoice, certificate, provenance, exhibitions and publications.
- The condition: craquelure, lifting, yellowed varnish, past restorations.
- The location: room, wall, storage, loan or restoration under way.
- The value: purchase price, then successive dated valuations.
What a painting record contains
| Field | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Artist, title, date of creation, series | Identify the work and place it within the painter’s output. |
| Technique (oil, acrylic, mixed media) and support (canvas, panel, paper) | Tell two similar works apart; adapt conservation. |
| Dimensions without and with frame, weight | Describe the work as experts do; prepare transport. |
| Signature and inscriptions (position, text) | A key element of authentication and valuation. |
| Framing | Keep a record of the frame, sometimes old and precious in its own right. |
| Provenance, exhibitions, publications | Trace the history of the painting: it is the first thing the expert asks for. |
| Certificate, invoices, valuations | Prove origin and ownership. |
| Condition, condition reports | Document the painting before a loan, transport or restoration. |
| Location and movements | Know where it is, and since when. |
Before a loan or a move, a dated condition report protects both the lender and the borrower.
Painting valuation and an artist’s market rating
A painter’s market rating is not the price of your painting. It summarises the results of sales of comparable works: same period, same technique, similar size and subject. Two canvases by the same artist can be worth very different sums depending on their quality, condition and provenance. For a reliable painting valuation, contact an expert or an auction house with a complete file. Our guide preparing the valuation of a painting details the photos and documents to gather.
Keep each valuation with its date and author. The history is more telling than a single figure, rewritten at each update.
Value and insurance
After a theft, a fire or water damage, it is up to you to prove what you owned. The best evidence is simple: sharp photos of the front, the back and the details, invoice, certificate and a recent valuation. At every policy renewal, compare the insured value with the latest valuation: an underinsured painting is poorly compensated.
Succession
In an estate, a collector’s painting is not treated like an ordinary piece of furniture: works of art and collectors’ items are excluded from the 5% flat-rate allowance for furnishings, and their value cannot be lower than the estimate in a theft or fire insurance policy in force at the time of death, unless proven otherwise. A purely decorative painting may, however, count as ordinary household furnishings (meuble meublant). A documented inventory helps the notary (notaire) to decide and spares the heirs from reconstructing the collection from memory. Also note your wishes: who should receive which painting, whom to contact to have it valued.
For a painter or their rights holders, the next step is the catalogue raisonné of the work.
Photos from your phone and sharing
Photograph each painting in daylight, without flash, squarely from the front to avoid distortion. Add the back, the signature, the labels and details of the condition. To show a few works to an expert or a buyer, prefer a password-protected, time-limited link to sending photos by messaging app. The general guide to the art inventory covers the other fields.
With Collectalia
Collectalia keeps the inventory of your paintings online: one record per work with artist, technique, support, dimensions with and without frame, signature, framing, provenance, exhibitions and publications, photos taken from your phone by scanning a QR code, certificates and invoices, condition reports, successive valuations and location. Insurance policies with a reminder before renewal, a Succession module, private showrooms shared through a protected link and free read-only access for the family. Free trial.
Disclaimer. Collectalia is not a legal, tax or insurance advice site. The information on this page is general and based on French legislation in force as of 09/11/2026: it may change, does not necessarily apply outside France and does not take your situation into account. Always have it checked by a notary, a lawyer, an accountant or your insurer before acting on it.