Ai Weiwei

With Ai Weiwei, the market's structure is unusual: most of his unique works are held by museums and institutions, so editions are the realistic way for private collectors to own his work. When a unique piece does come to market, provenance and studio documentation are decisive, since his practice is conceptual and often collaborative. His editions are the accessible and unusually broad tier: sculptural multiples, photographs and prints, all produced under close studio oversight in tightly controlled numbers, hand-signed, dated and numbered and accompanied by a stamped, numbered, dated certificate of authenticity. Because these come through reputable publishers rather than one workshop, the publisher is itself a provenance anchor: recent examples include the "Grass Mud Horse" lithographs with JRP|Editions in editions of 99 and signed etchings through CIRCA. Value tracks edition size, medium and how directly the imagery connects to his central themes: the urns, zodiac heads, sunflower seeds and surveillance motifs. At Singulart, we work with specialist galleries that carry out the authentication process, so every Ai Weiwei work, unique or editioned, is sold with its provenance and edition detail and a certificate of authenticity.