An artificial intelligence authenticates a painting by Auguste Renoir

This is a great innovation in the world of art history: artificial intelligence now makes it possible to authenticate paintings on which doubt remains.

As reported by

, this technology was used by Sotheby's to establish the authorship of the work

 to Renoir.

The painting has therefore been valued at between 115,000 and 173,000 euros.

An uncertainty remained about the portrait, even if the subject strongly resembled one of the painter's favorite models.

To find out for sure, Sotheby's called on the Swiss company Art Recognition, which relies on artificial intelligence.

A tool has analyzed more than 200 authentic paintings by the Impressionist artist, compared to works from the same movement and the same period.

Based on these assessments, Art Recognition concluded that there was an 80.58% chance that

 was indeed painted by Auguste Renoir.

Computer says there is a 80.58% probability painting is a real Renoir https://t.co/xgP5A6gA71

— The Guardian (@guardian) November 19, 2022

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Controversy in the art world

However, the use of artificial intelligence in this context is not unanimous.

An art historian, presenter of BBC Four's

, explained why he was against it: "Technology is particularly weak in its inability to take into account the condition of a painting".

And to add: "If a human art appraiser offered to give a 'certificate of authenticity' costing thousands of dollars, based on nothing more than an iPhone photo and a partial knowledge of the artwork of an artist, we would make fun of him.

»

Art Recognition defended itself by pleading the significant help provided by artificial intelligence, in addition to the expertise of real experts in the art world.

"We understand that connoisseurs may feel threatened by this technology, but we're not trying to push them aside," the director said.

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