Why is provenance in art so important?

Provenance, also can be written as provenience, is vital to the study of art and Art History in general. Provenance acts as a backbone to the study of an artwork by providing basic information
that can be used in the analysis of the work of art. A complete record of an artworks ownership and the background information leading to the artwork's creation is its provenance, it allows the viewer to establish for example whether a work of art is by one artist or another. A paintings relationship to the wider provenance of an artist's artworks can result, if the artist is distinguished, in the artworks inclusion into the Canon of works for that artist or even the a wider Canon of works for a particular genre.