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A catalogue raisonné (or critical catalogue) is an annotated listing of the works of an artist or group of artists and can contain all works or a selection of works categorised by different parameters such as medium or period.

A catalogue raisonné is normally produced by the artist or by a committee of family members, experts or academics, collectively known as "producers". The catalogue ordinarily contains a list of characteristics of an artwork such as the title, year of production, dimensions, medium and a description of the work, alongside an image of the work. Some catalogues also include scholarly commentary about each work or, sometimes, commentary about a piece from the artist. This information is relied upon by others to identify works and plays an important role in authentication.

While historically catalogues raisonnés have been produced as physical books, there is a shift towards catalogues existing only in digital form, such as like those of the artists Isamu Noguchi and Roy Lichtenstein.

Depending on the nationality of the artist or the country in which the catalogue's producers are based, other terms may be used which include: "critical catalogue", "complete works", œuvre, catalogo razonado, catalogo ragionato, catalogo generale, opera completa and Werkverzeichnis.

Etymology

The term catalogue raisonné is French, meaning "reasoned catalogue" (i.e. containing arguments for the information given, such as attributions), but is part of the technical terminology of the English-speaking art world. The spelling is never Americanized to "catalog", even in the United States. The French pluralization catalogues raisonnés is used.

Process

The process by which the catalogue raisonné is produced by the artist or an appointed committee of experts known as the catalogue's "producers". The process of creating and updating the catalogue is normally based on the research and investigation of art historians and experts and can take many years to complete. A team of 25 professionals created the three-volume catalogue raisonné of American painter Robert Motherwell over the course of 11 years led by the Dedalus Foundation and published by Yale University Press in 2012.

Once a catalogue raisonné has been created, the producers continues to meet periodically as new works are discovered or submitted to them for their consideration. Members of the public, museums and galleries can all propose work for the consideration of the producers.

For most submissions, the works are ordinarily submitted to the producers alongside historic photographs, exhibition catalogues, dealer’s records, and other archival documentation to evidence the prominence of an artwork. When such documentation doesn't exist, works can be considered using scientific evidence and forensic techniques. Producers are free to define their policies for inclusion and may include works in the catalogue raisonné based on their own educated opinions and professional experience.

The College Art Association and the Catalogue Raisonné Scholars Association have both created protocols and best practice for the creation of Catalogues Raisonnés. However, there is no collective body to decide on the authority of a given catalogue raisonné publisher which can sometime result in more than one catalogue being produced for the same body of work. The work of the artist Amedeo Modigliani is the subject of at least five catalogues raisonnés.

The catalogue raisonné is often described as the "definitive" catalogue of an artists work. However, some producers choose to only certain works in their catalogues. Some producers will not consider juvenile works of an artist or ephemera for inclusion in the catalogue raisonné. Some artists, such as Roy Lichtenstein have some works recognised by their catalogue producers as potentially genuine but are not included in their respective official catalogues due to being unfinished, abandoned or destroyed.

Authentication

The New York Times has described catalogues raisonnés as the "supreme arbiter of the genuine and fake". In the case of deceased artists, the producer of a catalogue raisonné may have considerable power to determine whether a particular work is regarded as authentic or not.

The inclusion of an artwork in the catalogue raisonné can be considered as a mark of authenticity and the inclusion in or exclusion from a respected catalogue can have a considerable effect on the market price of a work, amounting in some cases to large sums of money. Inclusion has been called the difference between "great wealth and the gutter", and auction houses sometimes refuse to handle unlisted works. This has led to some catalogue raisonné producers being the targets of lawsuits, bribes and death threats. For this reason, some catalogues raisonnés producers have decided to not update their catalogues, irrespective of new discoveries, for fear of legal action from sellers and buyers unhappy with a particular decision. In 2012, the Andy Warhol Art Authentication Board was dissolved, citing as the primary reason the substantial legal fees incurred in defense of its authentication activities.

To distance themselves from liability, some institutions like the Wildenstein Institute, who were once responsible for the catalogues raisonnés of impressionists such as Monet, had a stated policy for considering works which was: 'After examination, and based on the opinion of the members of the committee, a recommendation is made in the form of the intention to include or not to include the work under study; a third possibility also exists, that of continuing the examination of the work. Under no circumstance is a recommendation to be considered as a certificate of authenticity or appraisal, and no justification will be provided for said recommendation.'

Some bodies of work have no published catalogue raisonné but organisations exist who are regarded as having the same authority for authentication as the producers of catalogue raisonné. These organisations are usually made up of the descendants of the artist, members of an artists foundation, or other academic bodies.

Controversies

When works are submitted for consideration to the producers of an artist's catalogue raisonné the works are normally returned to the owner once the process has concluded. The Wildenstein Institute, for example, had a policy stating "Whatever the committee's recommendation, the work will be returned upon presentation of the consignment receipt".

However, there has been evidence of some producers of catalogue raisonné refusing to return works or having them destroyed. In 2014, the Chagall Committee deemed a work that was submitted to be a forgery and informed the owner that they intend to destroy the artwork either with the agreement of the owner or through the courts under the legal president of droit moral. The art historian Dr Bendor Grosvenor criticised the decision to destroy the painting. Art dealer and TV Presenter Philip Mould said of the decision "I would now three times or more before sending to Paris. Ugly acts like the one proposed by the Committee can have the effect of damaging the progress of art history."

The reality of more than one body creating competing catalogue raisonné can sometimes lead to rivalries that can led to anomalous listings. During the process of authenticating a waterscape by Pierre-Auguste Renoir currently on display at Picton Castle, two of the artist's competing catalogue producers, the Wildenstein Institute and Bernheim-Jeune, reached different conclusions about the painting's authenticity. It is reported that Guy-Patrice Dauberville of Bernheim-Jeune said of the matter " would be thrilled to turn down." A journalist at the time said the rivalry between the two is "now out in the open" and described it as "ugly".

In 2013 Christian Parisot, the president of the Modigliani Institute, responsible for the Catalogue of Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani, was arrested for knowingly issuing certificates of authenticity to forged artworks.

Examples

Explanatory notes

1. As seen in the CRSA homepage, catalogueraisonne.org.
2. Wildenstein Index Number

References

1. ^ Reynolds, Graham. The Early Paintings and Drawings of John Constable, (London: Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art and Yale University Press, 1996) ISBN 9780300063370
2. ^ "What is a Catalogue Raisonné and Why is it Useful? – Wildenstein Plattner Institute". Retrieved 13 October 2024.
3. ^ "Catalogue Raisonné, Critical Catalogue". Wildenstein Institute. Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
4. ^ "What is a Catalogue Raisonné?". news.masterworksfineart.com. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
5. ^ Mullin, Sheppard (15 December 2011). "Cherchez les Catalogues Raisonnés". Art Law Blog. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
6. ^ "What is a Catalogue Raisonné?". The New York Public Library. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
7. ^ "Catalogue raisonné", Online Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
8. "Car-Caz". ArtLex.com. 13 July 2007. Archived from the original on 13 July 2007. Retrieved 26 November 2018. Although 'catalogue raisonné' was originally a French term, English speakers have used it for a long time.
9. FAQ, placing the Catalogue Raisonné in context with other types of art catalogues: "What Is a Catalogue?". ArtHistory.About.com. Archived from the original on 9 September 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2008.
10. Roeder, Oliver (17 August 2017). "One Art Lover's Crusade To Catalog The World". FiveThirtyEight. Such a catalog can itself represent the life's work of the scholar who compiles it. It took Jacob-Baart de la Faille 11 years to complete van Gogh's catalog. Monet's catalog was published over a span of 18 years by a French billionaire. And it took 46 years for all of Picasso's catalog to be released, while its publisher sold his car and apartment to finance the project.
11. ^ Flam, J.; Rogers, K.; and Clifford, T. (2012). "Robert Motherwell Paintings and Collages: A Catalogue Raisonné 1941–1991". Archived from the original on 29 September 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300149159.
12. Boroff and Kazakina (2013). A $40,000-an-Hour Fee, Lawsuits Rock Artist Foundations", BusinessWeek.com.
13. "Guidelines". Catalogue Raisonné Scholars Association. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
14. project, modigliani. "The modigliani Project". The modigliani Project. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
15. ^ Harris, Gareth (2013). ""Modigliani Institute president arrested", The Art Newspaper". Archived from the original on 4 April 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
16. ^ Cohen, Patricia (19 June 2012). "In Art, Freedom of Expression Doesn't Extend to 'Is It Real?'", New York Times.
17. ^ "Various Other Works | Abandoned Works (ABND)". Roy Lichtenstein: A Catalogue Raisonné. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
18. ^ Cohen, Patricia (2 February 2014). "A Modigliani? Who Says So?", New York Times.
19. ^ Alberge, Dalya (1 February 2014). "The man whose 'real Chagall' could now be burnt as a fake, Guardian.com (2014/02/01).
20. ^ Mould, Philip (2 February 2014). "Burning fake paintings could damage art history". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
21. (2014). "Mon Dieu - le feu! (ctd.)", Art History News.
22. "Fake or Fortune?", Misplaced Pages, 9 October 2024, retrieved 13 October 2024
23. "Art Expert Arrested On Suspicion Of Forgery". HuffPost. 14 January 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
24. "Andy Warhol Print Guide | Warhol Catalogue Raisonne". Andipa Editions. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
25. "Modigliani: Catalogo generale Ambrogio Ceroni". www.modigliani1909.com (in Italian). Retrieved 13 October 2024.
26. "Catalogues raisonnés – Institut Restellini". Retrieved 13 October 2024.

Further reading

• Art Books: A Basic Bibliography of Monographs on Artists (Garland Reference Library of the Humanities) by W. Freitag; Publisher: Routledge; Second Edition (April 1, 1997)
• Judging the Authenticity of Prints by The Masters: A Primer for Collectors by David Rudd Cycleback

External links

• The Catalogue Raisonné Scholars Association
• The International Foundation for Art Research's database of catalogues raisonnés
• Authentication in Art 2014 Guidelines on Catalogues Raisonnés

• Art history
• Monographs
• Books by type
• Museum books