Catalogue Raisonné Lists and Databases from the French Ministry of Culture
December 14 2023
Picture: ifar.org
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The French Ministry of Culture has put together a new and very interesting list of artist catalogue raisonnés, both online and databases (via. ifar.org) for printed versions. It seems to be a very useful tool (particularly the database search linked above), as it allows one to search via artist and period with relative ease.
Of course, the Old Master world is still getting used to the idea of online catalogue raisonnés, with the Richard Wilson, Francis Towne and Lucas Cranach online projects being a good example of what is possible (not to mentioned Neil Jeffares's Pastels & Pastellists). I am aware of several ongoing catalogue projects which will be online-only, which will be painful for those of us who love to have such beautiful and scholarly tomes weighing down our bookshelves at home. Questions regarding exactly who controls such websites, and how data can be added (or removed or lost), is likely to cause a prolonged teething period for the art world. This is particularly the case for the art market, who particularly rely on the authority of such projects past and present.
