Assignment 1 – Art Library Specialties

Catalogues Raisonnés

What is a catalogue raisonné:

·         A catalogue raisonné is a scholarly compilation of an artist's body of work — they are critical tools for researching the provenance and attribution of artwork[i]

·         They have long been considered the definitive source for attribution and provenance information on the work of a particular artist[ii]

·         Typically contain:

o   Provenance information for each work – an an unbroken history of ownership from the present owner back to the artist-creator

o   Complete bibliographic references and exhibition histories

o   Physical descriptions

o   Conservation and other technical information

o   May also contain critical essays concerning the artist's life and influences, the artist’s work and its development over his or her lifetime, and any questions of authenticity[iii]

·         Most are arranged chronologically with each work of art numbered for reference[iv]

History:

·         The biographies of artists have been a primary approach to documenting and understanding works of art since the beginnings of art history as a discipline

o   As early as Giorgio Vasari’s The Lives of the Artists in 16^th century Italy[v]

·         When the sales of artworks began growing in the 17^th century, and with the founding of art museums in the 18^th century, the demand for stricter and more precise documentation developed[vi]

o   The development of catalogues raisonnés is closely linked to the growth of auction catalogs[vii]

o   This resulted in an improvement in the accuracy of information and the subsequent creation of catalogues raisonnés[viii]

·         The term “catalogue raisonné” is believed to have originated in Paris in the 1720s[ix]

o   Edme-Francois Gersaint, dealer and friend of the French Rococo artist Watteau, was the pioneer user of the term for catalogs of art collections

§  His first was titled: Catalogue raisonné de coquilles et autres curiosités naturelles[x]

o   In 18th century Paris, catalogues raisonnés were typically catalogs of single collections including many artists – There is a later movement in the history of catalogues raisonnés to begin including the works of a single artist across multiple collections[xi]

Why they are important:

·         An authoritative catalogue raisonné can greatly affect:

o   scholarly opinions about authenticity

o   the market value of a work of art[xii]

·         Distinctive and important elements of a catalogue raisonné:

o   Organizational order

o   Detailed information about the physical and contextual aspects of a work of art

o   Credibility

Primary users:

·         Academic researchers: an essential scholarly tool

·         Dealers and Collectors: source of authoritative provenance and authentication information[xiii]

Important issues:

·         Catalogues raisonnés are essential tools in an art library – however they are costly[xiv]

·         Digitizing catalogues raisonnés and making them available online raises several important issues (see section below)

Catalogues raisonnés and the online world:

·         Advantages of online catalogues raisonnés:

o   Greater accessibility

o   Updatability

o   Enhanced search functionalities

o   More flexible to interact with

§  Full text searching, hyper-linking, automated indexing or tagging[xv]

·         Concerns with online catalogues raisonnés:

o   Preservation – format and software obsolescence

o   Image quality

o   Legal issues – permissions and copyright[xvi]

o   Establishing authority in a digital medium[xvii]

·         The National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. hosts the Gemini G.E.I. (Graphic Editions Limited) Online Catalogue Raisonné

o   The National Gallery of Art claims that their online accessible catalogue raisonné, which was launched in 2011, was the first of its kind[xviii]

o   “The Gemini G.E.L. online catalogue raisonné represents the works published by Gemini G.E.L. from 1966, the year it was established, through 2005. Because numerous works have been published by this thriving, energetic workshop since 2005, the catalogue should be seen as a work in progress, with further images and catalogue entries to be added as they are compiled.”[xix]

o   This is an example of an online catalogue raisonné that documents the body of works of a specific group of artists – in this case, the works produced by Gemini G.E.I.

·         The International Foundation of Art Research provides an online electronic resource for scholars and researchers to aid them in their search of an artist’s body of work

o   They provide their users with a searchable database of published catalogues raisonnés, as well as catalogues in preparation – these two databases can be searched separately or together and are updated regularly[xx]

Bibliography:

Atwater, Emily. “The Changing From of the Catalogue Raisonné: Hurdles of Transitioning from Print to Web.” Art Documentation: Journal of the Art Libraries Society of North America 31 (fall 2012): 186-198.

Currie, Gillian. “The Most Important Resource.” In Art Museum Libraries and Librarianship, edited by Joan M. Benedetti, 211-214. USA: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2007.

Franklin, Jonathan “From Inventory to Virtual Catalog: Notes on the ‘Catalogue Raisonné’.” Art Documentation 22 (2003): 41–45.

Gemini G.E.I. Online Catalogue Raisonné: National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. “Guide.” 2015. http://www.nga.gov/gemini/guide.htm.

Hill, Cheryl. “Useful Publications: Catalogues Raisonnés.” Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 34 (2008): 62-64.

International Foundation of Art Research. “Catalogues Raisonnés.” 1998-2015. https://www.ifar.or g/cat_rais.php.

Montero, Gustavo Grandal. “Catalogues Raisonnes.” Art Resources Online, December 9, 2012. Accessed September 30, 2015. https://artresourcesonline.wordpress.com/2012/12/09/catalogues-raisonnes/.

 Weidman, Jeffery. “Auction Catalogs in Art Museum Libraries.” In Art Museum Libraries and Librarianship, edited by Joan M. Benedetti, 105-113. USA: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2007.

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[i] International Foundation of Art Research, “Catalogues Raisonnés,” 1998-2015, https://www.ifar.org/cat_rais.php.

[ii] Emily Atwater “The Changing From of the Catalogue Raisonné: Hurdles of Transitioning from Print to Web,” Art Documentation: Journal of the Art Libraries Society of North America 31 (fall 2012): 186.

[iii] Cheryl Hill “Useful Publications: Catalogues Raisonnés,” Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 34 (2008): 62.

[iv] Hill, 64.

[v] Hill, 62.

[vi] Jeffery Weidman, “Auction Catalogs in Art Museum Libraries,” In Art Museum Libraries and Librarianship, ed. Joan M. Benedetti (USA: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2007), 106.

[vii] Jonathan Franklin, “From Inventory to Virtual Catalog: Notes on the ‘Catalogue Raisonné’,” Art Documentation 22 (2003): 41.

[viii] Weidman, 106.

[ix] Franklin, 41.

[x] Ibid, 41-42.

[xi] Ibid, 43.

[xii] Hill, 64.

[xiii]Gustavo Grandal Montero, “Catalogues Raisonnes,” Art Resources Online, December 9, 2012, accessed September 30, 2015, https://artresourcesonline.wordpress.com/2012/12/09/catalogues-raisonnes/.

[xiv] Gillian Currie, “The Most Important Resource,” In Art Museum Libraries and Librarianship, ed. Joan M. Benedetti (USA: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2007), 213.

[xv] Montero, “Catalogues Raisonnes.”

[xvi] Ibid.

[xvii] Atwater, 186

[xviii] Curie, 213.

[xix] Gemini G.E.I. Online Catalogue Raisonné: National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. “Guide.” 2015. http://www.nga.gov/gemini/guide.htm.

[xx] “Catalogues Raisonnés,” https://www.ifar.org/cat_rais.php.