Cataloguing and Research of Auction Catalogues Using the Example of International Projects

Abstract

Auction catalogues contain important information — attributes describing various objects that may be relevant to the work of art historians and librarians. They indicate the author, name, size, technique, time of creation, cost, provenance, information about the former owners, abstract essays by experts. However, the catalogue prepared for a certain auction has its own specifics, which does not allow using it as a regular reference guide. The article examines the history of identifying and studying the features of cataloguing auction catalogues in the historical aspect. The study of auction catalogues and the first experiences of their cataloguing date back to the 1950s and 1960s. At present, it becomes possible to create specialized consolidated electronic catalogues that combine bibliographic records of several libraries, which conduct analytical recording of auction catalogues, archival documents, inventory books of art dealers, periodicals and other evidence describing cases of public sales. In total, six major projects were revealed, conditionally divided into two groups. The first group includes electronic catalogues, which accumulate information from auction catalogues of the international art market. The second group presents projects dedicated to the research of catalogues of the national art markets of Great Britain, Germany and France. The tasks of all six projects include the creation of consolidated electronic catalogues, ensuring retrieval of information of auction catalogues that will allow finding factual information necessary for art historians and librarians. In turn, this can speed up the process of studying individual items, track their provenance and movement between owners, as well as take a new approach to the study of both international and national art markets at different historical stages.