Painter tags work with own DNA to stop fakes

Australian painter Pro Hart has become the first artist to mark his work with his DNA. Other artists are expected to follow his lead, to authenticate their works beyond doubt.

Hart, a 73-year-old former silver miner who lives and paints in the outback town of Broken Hill, is determined to stem the flood of fakes on the market. His paintings sell for five-figure sums and he has been targeted by forgers.

During a trip to Sydney, he demonstrated the DNA marker technique by taking a swab from inside his cheek. 'I have had to do this because of the copying,' he said. 'There must be hundreds out there. I've done a lot of painting in Britain so I wouldn't be surprised if someone is copying them over there, too.'

Owners of up to 50 of Hart's works attended a three-day 'DNA clinic' at the gallery last week. For £50 each, their paintings were authenticated and DNA-encrypted. This involves pulling apart DNA strands and finding segments unique to the donor. These are blended with paint and applied in an invisible film at a point on the canvas known only to the person applying it. The painting looks no different but is indelibly marked.

DNA Technologies, the company behind the procedure, made its name at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, using a similar system to root out counterfeit footwear.

If a painting needs to be authenticated in court, the person who applied the DNA mark can do so in a matter of seconds using electronic lasers. Hart has encrypted about 1,500 of his works so far.