You are the primary source of your work's history. Tagging at the point of creation is the strongest provenance any artwork can have.
One record per piece — and one per impression in an edition — with title, date, medium, dimensions and edition number.
Add process photos, studio images, materials used, signature and verso photography, and an artist statement or short video.
Fix a secure NFC chip (such as NTAG 424 DNA) to the stretcher bar, backing board or plinth with reversible, acid-free adhesive.
Link a QR code on the paper certificate to the same identity, so the paper can always be checked against the live record.
Record the sale and hand ownership of the record to the collector, keeping their personal details private.
Future sales, loans and exhibitions are appended to the record, giving you visibility of where your work travels.
What to record
Toolkit
Practical checklist
Go deeper: choosing NFC chips, QR vs NFC, Digital Product Passports and the provenance glossary.
Other journeys: Galleries & auction houses, Collectors & estates, Clubs, athletes & authenticators, Luxury brands & makers.
Resale royalties for artists on qualifying secondary sales
Last verified:
416 bytes user memory, AES-128, Secure Unique NFC (SUN) messages; TagTamper variant
Last verified:
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SmartLinks connects physical objects to a living digital record — one identity per item, readable by QR or NFC, with ownership history, documents and media that travel with it.
Questions
Where artist resale rights apply (for example the UK and EU Artist's Resale Right), a record of each transfer makes it much easier to identify qualifying resales. The tag does not collect royalties itself, but it provides the evidence trail.
Yes. Retro-tagging unsold or archived work now, while you can still personally attest to it, creates the strongest possible record.
No. NFC chips are thin enough to hide on the back of a work or inside a plinth. Only the QR code, if you choose to use one, is visible — usually on the certificate or a label.