Hi everyone:
Laura Morris makes a very valid point. I’ve been researching provenance for a catalogue raisonné and have found that the provenance in auction catalogues is often incorrect, although it can be a good starting point. The best way to confirm provenance is to directly contact previous owners and/or their family members in addition to any dealers who may have sold the work. Dealer, gallery, artist, or collector archives are also a great resource if those papers are publicly available. Another way to learn about previous owners is to check collection credit lines or exhibition records when you know a work was exhibited. These often indicate who owned a work during that time frame and then you can track backwards/forwards from there. Provenance research can take some time and often requires a bit of sleuthing.
Best,
Caroline
___________________
Caroline Gabrielli
The Catalogue Raisonné of the Drawings of Jasper Johns
The Menil Collection
1133 Broadway, Suite #731
New York, NY 10010
jasperjohnsdrawings.menil.org
From: Laura Morris <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Reply-To: Laura Morris <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Date: Wednesday, October 22, 2014 at 10:27 AM
To: "[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>" <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Subject: Re: [ARLIS-L] Provenance Research
Hi everyone,
One thing that's important to bear in mind is that the provenance information listed in auction catalogs (which is the source of artnet's data) very often contains errors and omissions. When I'm asked by an auction house to confirm provenance data based on our archives, the information and corrections I provide are often ignored. The people cataloging these works are very rarely trained researchers or scholars.
Without seeing the actual documentation upon which claims of past ownership are based, I take everything listed in auction catalogs with a grain of salt!
-Laura
--
Laura Morris
Archivist
Joan Mitchell Foundation
Education & Research Center
137 West 25th Street, 2nd floor
New York, NY 10001
tel: 212.255.0033
fax: 212.255.0043
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
http://www.joanmitchellfoundation.org/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mail submissions to [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> For information about joining ARLIS/NA see: http://www.arlisna.org/membership/join-arlisna Send administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc) to [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance: http://lsv.arlisna.org Questions may be addressed to list owner (Judy Dyki) at: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mail submissions to [log in to unmask] For information about joining ARLIS/NA see: http://www.arlisna.org/membership/join-arlisna Send administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc) to [log in to unmask] ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance: http://lsv.arlisna.org Questions may be addressed to list owner (Judy Dyki) at: [log in to unmask]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|