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<TD><A HREF="../../index.html"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"> Fine Art</font></A> / <A HREF="../index.html"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">Art Research </font></A> / <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"> Brief Guide to Art Research </font>
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<DIV ALIGN="CENTER"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" ><B>A Brief Guide to Art Research</B></font></DIV>
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<P>This brief guide will provide you with the tricks of art research–the names of standard and less-usual sources and a method for moving smoothly along the trail to learn about an individual artist or style or movement. </P>
<P> </P>
<P>The first step is identification of the artist: name, nationality, and life dates. Our searchable database of over 50,000 artists sold at auction may help provide this basic information. Other resources may be available in your library or on the web. Refer to the bibliographies below for specific information.</P>
<P>You may already have searched for your artist using one or more of the web’s search engines, and you have collected a trove of bookmarked sites. Collectors Highway is in the process of "vetting" reliable sources and will soon produce a list of Internet sources to assist in your search and alleviate bookmark overload. </P>
<P>We welcome your suggestions. E-mail us with your favorite URLs for an artist or a subject at: <A HREF="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</A><FONT COLOR="#0000ff">.</P>
</FONT>
<B><P>Auction Records</P>
</B>
<P>One of the most useful resources for identifying an artist is auction records. Compiled from hundreds of auction houses, the thousands of names in these databases can provide information about known artists as well as many obscure artists. The <I>Leonard’s Index</I> database of art auction prices is the basis for the Collectors Highway listing of artist names. This database covers both famous and lesser known artists and may be a good place to help identify an artist.</P>
<P>Auction catalogs and records are not scholarly works and should not be read as such. Look for variant spellings of names; women artists may be listed under their maiden and/or married surnames or both. Coverage from each publisher varies: one may cover prices over $400; another may restrict coverage geographically.</P>
<P>Note the geographical location of a sale; it may help identify places where the artist has worked or the locale of a cache of papers or work. </P>
<P>To research a work’s value, remember the following caveats: some auctions are retail and some are wholesale; the auction record may be for a minor rather than a major work; auctions are open to manipulation; some price guides may not be based on actual prices, especially those that record a range of prices.</P>
<B><P>General Artist Dictionaries</B> </P>
<P>Dictionaries of world artists can help identify major and minor artists and are another good starting point; however, the major reference sources are not in English and are not yet on the web.</P>
<P>Two basic resources in the field are known by the names of their compilers: Bénézit and Thieme-Becker. Emmanuel Bénézit's French <I>Dictionaries Critique et Documentaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs</I> was published in 1976 (10 volumes) and revised and updated in 1999 (14 volumes). The listings, in French, include information on international artists, life dates, signatures, some sales history, a brief biography, and some facsimiles of artists’ signatures. The information was drawn from exhibition records in major cities, especially Paris. The information is accurate, but not comprehensive for non-European artists.</P>
<P>Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker’s German <I>Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart </I>(37 volumes), was published from 1907 through 1950. The thirty-seven volumes contain material similar to that in Bénézit, but at the end of each entry there is a bibliography from which the data was drawn, with titles in the original language.</P>
<P>Hans Vollmer's <I>Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler des XX Jahrhunderts</I> (1953-1962) lists artists born after 1870 and is a supplement to Thieme & Becker.</P>
<P>The <I>Allgemeines Künstler Lexikon</I>, begun in 1983, is a comprehensive publication of world artists and craftsmen. This painstaking work, which is slowly replacing Thieme-Becker (26 volumes to date), has, so far, only reached the Ds. Completion is not expected until the year 2010.</P>
<I><P>Artists of the World</I>, a 10-volume index from K.G. Saur, provides bibliographic references on all the artists that will eventually be covered by the <I>Allgemeines Künstler Lexikon</I>. It lists each artist’s occupation, date and place of birth or first date mentioned, date and place of death or last date mentioned, and biographical resources. </P>
<P>A citation in any of these dictionaries is an indicator that the artist has obtained some degree of recognition. Although it might be important to know that an artist is listed, inclusion in a reference source does not necessarily confer a high value. </P>
<B><P>Artist Indexes and General Indexes</P>
</B>
<P>An index provides brief entries with a complete name, nationality, life dates, and abbreviated notations of books or articles from which the information was compiled. These short listings direct you to longer articles and books about the artist in whom you are interested. Some of these resources are available on the web.</P>
<P>If you know the identity of an artist you are researching and have checked the major dictionaries and indexes, the next step would be more specialized resources.</P>
<B><P>Specialized Artist Dictionaries</P>
</B><P>Specialized and regional artists’ dictionaries (for the most part not on the web) may lead you to your artist from a different direction. If you have not yet identified the artist, the artist may be listed in a reference work catalogued by subject matter or style. Many once-famous artists who have fallen into obscurity may be found in this way. Major libraries with fine arts departments or academic libraries have many of these resources. If you cannot get to the library, sometimes a telephone call or e-mail will do.</P>
<B><P>Monographs and Exhibition Catalogs</P>
</B>
<P>Major artists, movements, and periods are the subjects of books; less prominent names may become the special subject of devoted researchers who publish monographs or articles in scholarly periodicals. Oeuvre catalogues and <I>catalogues raisonnés</I> list or critically organize the output of many artists. Check web sources, including on-line bookstores, for an artist monograph. </P>
<P>Exhibition catalogues are another good source of information. The University of California, Santa Barbara, has over 40,000 exhibition catalogs in its holdings. A web search is available to the public through their Melvyl system: <A HREF="http://www.dbs.cdlib.org/?CSdb=cat">http://www.dbs.cdlib.org/?CSdb=cat</A>(We suggest that you choose the power search option). It is also possible to search for exhibition catalogs (1960 to present) through the Worldwide Books site: <A HREF="http://www.worldwide.com/wwbhist.html">http://www.worldwide.com/wwbhist.html</A></P>
<P>If you are accessing a library’s online public access catalog (OPAC), it is important to know the extent of their electronic database. Many libraries have only indexed their holdings for the past 20 to 40 years, and that rare book you are searching for may be in the old-fashioned card catalog. </P>
<B><P>Periodical Indexes and Abstracts</P>
</B>
<P>Searching popular or scholarly periodicals can sometimes lead to information on less well-known artists as well as more contemporary twentieth century artists. </P>
<P>Useful indexes are The<I> Standard Periodical Directory</I>, Ulrich’s <I>International</I> <I>Periodical Directory</I>, and the <I>New York Times Index. </I>The <I>Times</I> is also available on the web (from 1996) for a small fee. The Lexis-Nexis database is more costly and available only in specialized libraries. If you are searching for information on a specific serial, you need to know the index or abstract service that covers them. </P>
<P>General art indexes are <I>ArtBibliographies Modern; Bibliography of the History of Art</I> (to the 1970s); the <I>Avery Index to Architectural Literature</I> and Wilson <I>Art Index. </I>These indexes are available on the web at most university or academic systems and may also be available in hard copy or a CD-ROM. The <I>Wilson Art Index</I> has surveyed 230 (plus) journals since 1929. Their CD-ROM is in two discs, 1984 to the present, and 1929 through 1983. Refer to the bibliography of Additional Resources for specific web addresses.</P>
<B><P>Additional Resources </P>
</B>
<P>The web can access remote materials from the comfort of your armchair. It is important to know the criteria of each search engine and how to use "and", "not" and "or" to add to the effectiveness of your search. </P>
<P>When using the web’s resources bring the same critical eye that you would to a written source: who authored the site and what are their credentials? The UCLA college library site <A HREF="http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/help/critical/index.htm">http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/help/critical/index.htm</A><FONT COLOR="#0000ff"> </FONT>provides a helpful outline for evaluating Internet resources. Many art information sites are authored by librarians or scholars, but that is not always the case–it is not necessary to have an advanced degree to be knowledgeable. A passionate collector can be the ultimate authority on a given artist or topic. A problem arises when someone technically adept, but without reliable or accurate information, hosts a site. Collectors Highway will attempt to verify the accuracy of information on selected Internet sites.</P>
<P>Other valuable resources are the "vertical files" or "ephemera files" on local and national artists. Maintained by many libraries and historical institutions, with clippings sent in by volunteers, these files may hold obituary notices, newspaper clippings, unpublished letters, or invitations to gallery openings. </P>
<P>If you know an artist’s hometown or the specific regional area in which he or she worked, check with the local library, museum, or historical society. The librarians will be able to tell you if a vertical or ephemera file exists for the artist, or possibly a cache of letters in the rare-books section of the library. Copies of these resources are usually available for a fee.</P>
<P>The ephemera archives of the New York public library (up to 1987-89) and the Museum of Modern Art, (1986) are available in microfiche; recent additions to their files must be obtained directly from the library. Many libraries will fax or mail copies of their files for a fee. The New York public library <A HREF="http://www.nypl.org/express">http://www.nypl.org/express</A> or by telephone, 1-800-456-6975, offers a research service for a fee ranging from $75 - $125 an hour. </P>
<P>The Archives of American Art, a bureau of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., documents the history of the visual arts in America by collecting and preserving original documents such as photographs, oral histories, artists' personal papers, letters, diaries, sketches, photographs, exhibition material, financial information, writings, and lectures, as well as the records of arts organizations and institutions, critics, dealers, collectors, and scholars. </P>
<P>An index of the holdings of the Archives is available on the web </P>
<P><A HREF="http://artarchives.si.edu/">http://artarchives.si.edu/</A><FONT COLOR="#0000ff">.</P>
</FONT>
<B><P>Images</P>
</B>
<P>Each citation from the on-line catalog provides a general description of collection contents, provenance, a historical note, information on restrictions and finding aids, and microfilm reel numbers. Regional offices, located in New York City, Boston (at Boston Public Library), Detroit, San Francisco (at the DeYoung Museum Library), and San Marino, California, are depositories for microfilm of the Archives' records. Inter-library loans are available through the Detroit office.</P>
<P>Other services available on the web are <I>The Inventory of American Painting Executed Before 1914</I> and <I>The Inventory of American Sculpture</I>, projects of the National Museum of American Art (NMAA)in Washington, D.C. This database contains information on over 30,000 painters, 10,000 sculptors, 270,000 paintings and 75,000 sculptures. The URL is <A HREF="http://www.siris.si.edu/">http://www.siris.si.edu,</A> or they can be reached by phone, Monday to Friday, 1-5 P.M. EST at 202 357-2941. There are only a few images on the site due to copyright laws.</P>
<P>A listing of URLs for basic research is provided under the bibliographical heading Internet Resources.</P>
<P>One of the exciting aspects of the Internet is the prospect of seeing pictures on-line. The New York Public Library and the Library of Congress are rich with images. </P>
<P>Museums, the best sources for images, are indexed by Artcyclopedia.com which maintains 75-80,000 museum images. AMICO, an annual service by subscription to institutional libraries, indexes images from member museums. </P>
<P>Modern or contemporary images are primarily on the web at commercial sites due to copyright restrictions. </P>
<P>Researching an artist is much like detective work and to be successful requires diligence, perseverance, and creativity.</P>
<B><U><FONT SIZE=4 COLOR="#0000ff"><P ALIGN="CENTER">Selected Bibliographies</P>
</B></U></FONT><FONT SIZE=4><P ALIGN="CENTER"></P><DIR>
<DIR>
</FONT><U><FONT COLOR="#0000ff"><P>General Artist Dictionaries</P>
<P>Artist Indexes and General Indexes</P>
<P>Specialized Artist Dictionaries and Directories</P>
<P>Internet Resources</P>
<P>Periodical Indexes</P>
<P>Art Encyclopedias</P>
<P>General Art Reference</P>
<P>Auction Records Bibliography</P>
<P>Art History Textbooks</P>
<P>Painting Bibliography</P>
<P>Sculpture Bibliography</P>
<P>Drawing Bibliography</P>
<P>Print Bibliography</P>
<P>Photography Bibliography</P>
<P>Iconography and Symbolism</P>
<P>Conservation and Restoration</P>
<P>Leisure Reading</P>
</DIR>
</DIR>
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