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| A catalogue from a 2013 auction at Christies. |
WHAT ARE THEY?
Essentially auction catalogues are a book that will list the items or
‘lots’ that are being sold at any given auction. While they were originally
quite a bare-boned item, today they are printed on glossy paper, and full with
beautiful, high quality photographs of the items being sold.
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| An annotated catalogue 1798 London art auction. |
WHY ARE THEY IMPORTANT?
Auction catalogues help researchers in a number of different
ways:
- Provenance: Auction catalogues help to trace the ownership of art. Sometimes these catalogues serve as the only record as a piece transfers from one private buyer to another. Additionally auction catalogues have become tremendously important in helping to prove the provenance of Jewish art that was looted by the Nazi’s. [5]
- Value: This can be useful during appraising process in trying to determine the price range an item might sell for, or what an artist’s body work is generally worth. Additionally these prices might be used for insurance purposes. [8]
- Authenticity
- Trends in Artistic Taste [4]
- Exhibition History
- Artist Biographical Information: This is especially important for relatively unknown artists, as an entry in an auction catalogue might be the only record of their existence. [8]
RESEARCHER BEWARE
There is a common remark said about auctions, ‘Buyer
Beware’, and something similar can be said about auction catalogues. A
researcher should to be careful of the information found in them for a variety
of reasons. For example, some catalogues will list the ‘hammer price’ (the
actual price of the sale) while others list the price with the buyer’s premium
(the percentage the auction house adds to the price of the sale) added in.[2] Additionally, there is always the chance that the lots described in the catalogues where misidentified by the auction house. A great example of this is the 1767
Jullienne Sales Catalogue. This auction was a highly prestigious event at the
time, drawing in bidders from all over the world, including Catherine the
Great. However it has become apparent that several lots were misattributed or
misidentified, including a Tintoretto painting that was sold as an original
work, but actually turned out to be a copy.
AUCTION CATALOGUES & INDEXES
While auction catalogues are extremely important to a
variety of researchers, finding which auction
catalogue holds the information needed can be rather difficult. In order to
help solve this issue, indexes of auction catalogues started to emerge.
Frederik Johannes “Frits” Lugt was the first person to create such an index. In 1938, he published the first of four volumes entitled, “Répertoire des Catalogues de Ventes Publiques Intéressant l'art ou la Curiosité” (roughly translates to: Repertory of Catalogues of Public Sale Concerned with Art or Object of Art), which was essentially one highly elaborate finding aid for auction catalogues that where published between 1600 and 1925. Between the four volumes over 100,000 auction catalogues from auction houses in North America and Europe where listed. [7]
Frederik Johannes “Frits” Lugt was the first person to create such an index. In 1938, he published the first of four volumes entitled, “Répertoire des Catalogues de Ventes Publiques Intéressant l'art ou la Curiosité” (roughly translates to: Repertory of Catalogues of Public Sale Concerned with Art or Object of Art), which was essentially one highly elaborate finding aid for auction catalogues that where published between 1600 and 1925. Between the four volumes over 100,000 auction catalogues from auction houses in North America and Europe where listed. [7]
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| Frits Lugt, Self-portrait, 1901 Fondation Custodia / Collection Frits Lugt, Paris [7] |
Lugt arranged the catalogues in chronological order, as well as providing the dates of the sale and the name and location of the auction house, the type of auction (paintings, prints, objects of art), number of lots at the auction, auctioneer, pricing, and the library where the catalogue might be found. Each catalogue was also given an identification number, which is still in use today and often referred to as the “Lugt number.”
Lugt’s Répertoire is now itself considered a highly collectible item. They
were limited edition runs, with approximately only 300 created of each volume, and very few remain in existence today.
The introductions to volumes 1-3 are available
online.
INDEXES TODAY
As technology continued to evolve, so did the indexes. These indexes went from physical books, such
as Lugt’s, to searchable CD-ROMS, to online searchable databases. While all these
are great resources, they do have their limitations, something that researchers
should certainly be aware of.
Once again, some indexes list a ‘hammer price’, while others include the buyer’s premium in the listed price. Some indexes only list lots that sold above a certain price, while others only list the items sold, instead of including ones that were either withdrawn before the auction, or bought-in lots (items that failed to sell because the reserve price on the lot was not met).
Once again, some indexes list a ‘hammer price’, while others include the buyer’s premium in the listed price. Some indexes only list lots that sold above a certain price, while others only list the items sold, instead of including ones that were either withdrawn before the auction, or bought-in lots (items that failed to sell because the reserve price on the lot was not met).
- Covers all fine art medium
- Also publishes a hard copy & CD-ROM version (yearly editions)
- Records date back to 1987
- Images of lots aren’t published due to copyright restrictions.
- Artist’s biography, signature mark and/or references to catalogue raisonné are often included
- Includes withdrawn and bought-in lots
- Records date back to the 1920s
- Covers auction houses from around the world
- Lists the hammer price
- Includes exhibition and provenance history
- Has minimum prices (ex. $400 for oil paintings & $3,000 for prints)
- Can search by artist name or style
- Images of lots aren’t published due to copyright restrictions.
- Some information available for free
-- Gabrius
- Records date back to 1985
- Has image of auction catalogues and lots sold
- Lists the hammer price
- More user-friendly
- Has an enhanced version that can preform a statically analysis of the data
- Minimum prices ($750 for art sold in 20th century & $2,000 for earlier)
There are several drawbacks to these online indexes, the
first of which being that the majority are paid subscriptions. While an institution might be able to afford the subscriptions, it could be a little steep for an individual. Another issue is that the majority of these
online collections don’t go back beyond the mid 1900s.
However the libraries where these catalogues are housed have started to build their own databases. One example of this is SCIPIO (Sales Catalogue Index Project Input Online). [1] This online database, which pools the resources of multiple library and museum auction catalogue holdings, has over 300,000 auction catalogues, mostly from North American and European auction houses, covering art, art objects and rare books from the 16th century to the present. This database can be accessed for free through participating libraries museums, and institutions. [3]
RESOURCES
However the libraries where these catalogues are housed have started to build their own databases. One example of this is SCIPIO (Sales Catalogue Index Project Input Online). [1] This online database, which pools the resources of multiple library and museum auction catalogue holdings, has over 300,000 auction catalogues, mostly from North American and European auction houses, covering art, art objects and rare books from the 16th century to the present. This database can be accessed for free through participating libraries museums, and institutions. [3]
RESOURCES
[1] Downey,
Kay. "Not My Father's Auction Catalog Database! SCIPIO, 1980 to
2003." Art Libraries
Journal 29, no. 2 (April 2004): 17-22.
[2] Graven,
Angela. "Web-Based Auction Resources: The Sites and How Art Libraries Use
Them." Art
Documentation: Bulletin Of The Art Libraries Society Of
North America 22, no. 2 (Fall 2003): 26-
30.
[3] Hauser, Erika and Deborah
Vincelli. “Online Tools for Auction Research – Guide.” Thomas J
Watson Library: The
Libraries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2009.
http://libmma.org/portal/online-tools-for-auction-research-guide/
[4] Hugenholtz,
Liesbeth. "Historical Art Sales Catalogues: The Migration of a Primary
Source into an
Online Research Tool." Visual Resources Association
Bulletin 31, no. 3 (April 15, 2005): 56-58.
[5] Kempe,
Deborah. "Sold! The unique research role of auction sale catalogs." Art
Libraries Journal 29,
no. 2 (April 2004): 4-9.
[6] Kopp,
Edouard, and Jennifer Tonkovich. "The Judgment of a Connoisseur: P.-J.
Marietta's
Annotations to the 1767 Jullienne Sale Catalogue: Part I (Paintings)."
The Burlington Magazine,
151, no. 1281 (Dec 2009): 821-824.
[7] Lugt’s
Répertoire
Online. “Frits Lugt (1884-1970).” Koninklijke Brill NV / RKD. 2015.
http://lugt.idcpublishers.info/content/aboutlugt.php
[8] Robinson,
Lee. "Auction catalogs and indexes as reference tools." Art
Documentation: Bulletin Of
The Art Libraries Society Of North America 18,
no. 1 (Spring1999 1999): 24-28.
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