Below are definitions of types of resources you may encounter in databases like HoyaSearch, BHA, and ARTbibliographies Modern, including reasons why you might consider using them.
Catalogue raisonné
- Contains a complete listing of an artist's work or a complete listing of an artist's work in a particular medium, in a specific genre, during a certain time period, and so on.
- Usually each listing includes an illustration of the work.
- Title, dimensions, media, current location, dates for the work's exhibition history, provenance of the artwork.
- Bibliography.
Consult a catalogue raisonné when:
- You wish to discover what artworks by a certain artist exist or have existed in the past.
- You need to find an illustration of a work of art, particularly if the work is in a private collection.
- You need to determine who owns a work, or who owned it during a specified time period.
- You wish to discover where and when an artwork has been exhibited.
- You would like to find citations that reference a particular artwork.
Exhibition catalogue
- Checklists of artworks included in an exhibition or scholarly books or pamphlets that, in addition to the exhibition checklist, provide essays on the theme of the exhibition and a selection of images.
- May include information about the exhibited artworks: artist, title of work, dimensions, media, current owner and/or location, dates, exhibition history, provenance, a bibliography of publications that mention the object, information about the condition of the artwork, and a listing of donors to the exhibition.
- May also have essays in varying lengths about individual works included in the exhibition.
Consult an exhibition catalogue when:
- You wish to read scholarly essays on an artist or an artwork or a theme.
- You need to find an illustration of a work of art, particularly if the work is in a private collection.
- You would like to find citations that reference a particular artwork or artist or theme.
Museum catalog (or collection catalog)
- Often a simple checklist or inventory of artworks.
- May include images, narrative information about artists and artworks, and possibly the following information about the artworks themselves: artist, title, dimensions, media, dates, exhibition history, provenance, bibliographic citations, and information about the condition of the work.
- Some catalogs will address a collection as a whole, and others may focus on specific time periods, nationalities, art movements, or themes. Also, some are scholarly publications, and others are meant for a more general audience. Museum or collection catalogs may provide you with information about the history of the collection and its collectors.
Consult a museum or collection catalog when:
- You would like to read narrative information about a specific artwork owned by a museum (or collector).
- You need to find an illustration of an artwork that you know is in a particular museum or collection.
- You wish to discover where and when an artwork has been exhibited.
- You would like to find citations that reference a particular artwork.
- You wish to learn about the history of a collection.
Auction (or sales) catalog
- Document the sale of a given artwork on a specific date.
- Citations for them sometimes appear in library catalogs, bibliographies, or art-related databases.
- Often contain such high-quality illustrations that you may be able to examine artists' signatures or other artist marks.
- Georgetown University Library does not actively collect auction catalogs; however, you will find them in the collections of local museum libraries, like the National Gallery of Art and Smithsonian Institution Libraries.
- Several commercial databases, such as ArtNet and ArtPrice.com, provide art prices, data, and market information, but these require a paid subscription. The Library does not provide access.
Consult an auction catalog when:
- You would like to determine the relative monetary value of an artist's work (at the time of the sale).
- You wish to find an illustration of an artwork that is privately owned.
- You would like to track the provenance of an object (if the buyers' and sellers' names are included in the auction record).
Monograph
A monograph is a book on a single subject. For the history of art, you will find monographs about artists, individual artworks, movements, time periods, and themes. In databases like BHA, you may encounter citations for particular types of monographs called festschriften - a book of essays written in honor of a scholar. Essays in a festschrift usually focus on subject matter of particular interest to the honored scholar; they are excellent resources for essays on well-defined topics.
Consult an monograph when:
- You are beginning your research and would like to explore what scholarship is already available on your topic.
- You would like to expand your own bibliography by examining what sources an author used in his/her research.
- You are simply interested in learning more about an artist, artwork, movement, period, or theme.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License. | Details of our policy