Hello there.  Coincidentally, the value of maintaining our collection of print auction catalogs here at NGA was re-affirmed by a recent reference request – a patron was looking for information about sales from a small auction house and they suggested he try us here at NGA.  In other words, they, like many auction houses, apparently, do not actually keep their own catalogs.  Happily we have them and he is a happy patron! Of course, with space considerations, we have had to make some tough decisions to deaccession some items that were outside the scope of the museum’s collection, but before taking those final decisions we tried to make sure that we offered them to other libraries locally.   As I am quite new in this position, I have so many questions about developing these collections, including, of course, the likelihood of auction houses issuing more catalogs in digital-only format.  I would love to discuss further with anyone who shares this interest. 

 

Charlotte DonVito

Auction Catalog Librarian

National Gallery of Art

Washington, DC

(202) 789-3040

 

Mailing address: 2000 B South Club Drive, Landover, MD 20785