What is a Catalogue Raisonné and Why is it Useful?

Catalogue Raisonné Defined

A “catalogue raisonné” is a published compendium of an artist’s complete works or a defined subset of works. Some publications list each work with a title and a basic description of its physical properties, such as medium and dimensions. Other publications contain provenance, exhibition, and bibliographic histories for as many works as possible. Analytical texts and comparative images might also appear in a catalogue raisonné to help clarify the opinions of authors. While the amount of data and scholarly commentary varies among catalogues raisonnés, these publications are of great benefit to scholars, the art market, and anyone interested in learning about a particular artist’s work or art history at large.  

Carefully Preparing Catalogues Raisonnés

Careful reasoning goes into the selection, arrangement, and display of artworks and related data in these publications, as implied by the French title “catalogue raisonné.” (The direct translation of “catalogue raisonné” in English is “reasoned catalog.”) 

In most cases, scholars who approve artworks for inclusion in a catalogue raisonné take several factors into consideration. Historic photographs and exhibition catalogues, dealer’s records, and other archival documents are of great assistance in forming an opinion about whether to include a particular work of art. When such documentation does not exist, scholars may still include a work based on their educated opinions, professional experience, and connoisseurship. They may also choose to exclude particular objects, like an artist’s juvenalia or ephemera, from a catalogue raisonné based on their understanding and interpretation of the artist’s intentions and preferences. Because of this reasoned approach, catalogues raisonnés often acknowledge the authors’ biases and narratives. Readers are encouraged to consider the compendiums as authored publications rather than objective resources.  

For each catalogue raisonné project at the Wildenstein Plattner Institute, we work with scholarly committees who have developed in-depth knowledge about the specific artist under study. These committees review the entire historic dossier our research teams have compiled on each work, and consider the work within the context of the artist’s creative process, materials, and influences. They also physically inspect each work when possible, ensuring that their scholarly opinions correspond to the actual object in question. Even though these publications are a product of such rigorous scholarship, the WPI stresses that a work’s inclusion in a catalogue raisonné is not a guarantee of its authenticity.

The production of a catalogue raisonné requires time, collaboration, and financial resources to support the administrative and logistical needs of the research staff. The pursuit also depends on the cooperation of diverse third-party stakeholders, who often hold important archival information and control access to the works of art themselves. Because of the many steps involved in this endeavor (including research, inspection, permissions, and editing), the entire catalogue raisonné project is a multi-year enterprise. And once the publication is largely assembled, it will continue to need updates and refinements as works change hands and new information about the artist comes to light.

The History of Catalogues Raisonnés and the Art Market

The art market has broadly recognized the value of catalogues raisonnés, which is understandable considering the origins of these publications. 

The first known catalogue raisonné coincided with European connoisseurs’ interest in documenting the physical properties of prized objects in the eighteenth century. Art dealers occasionally published catalogues raisonnés as lists when selling similar objects, such as the “catalogue raisonné” merchandise for sale by the French art dealer Edme-François Gersaint (1694–1750). Gersaint published “Catalogue raisonné de coquilles et autre curiosités naturelles” in 1736 when he offered all of the listed objects for sale in his gallery on the Pont Notre Dame. 

Page from a “catalogue raisonné” of shells and other curiosities of nature, published in 1736 by M. Gersaint, a Parisian art dealer. Connoisseurs were encouraged to see these curious objects for themselves at Gersaint’s gallery on the Pont Nôtre-Dame. Images courtesy of the Wildenstein Plattner Institute, Inc. 

By the nineteenth century, art dealers created and used catalogues raisonnés to influence an artist’s financial success. In her article on the history of catalogues raisonnés, Antoinette Friedenthal describes how the art dealer John Smith, an experienced connoisseur, believed it was his duty to identify authentic works to ensure the integrity of the growing art market. Smith’s vocational calling resulted in his 1836 catalogue raisonné on Rembrandt van Rijn’s paintings, which played a crucial role in the market’s reception of the artist’s work. 

Some dealers claimed they were performing research for a catalogue raisonné when, in fact, they were identifying objects that they could sell. Dealers also referenced catalogues raisonnés in marketing materials as validations by a third-party authority. As Friedenthal concludes, “Rarely does the interaction of market and scholarship become so evident as it does here.” 

This symbiotic relationship came into full view in the late-twentieth century when auction houses made public statements about a work’s planned inclusion in a forthcoming catalogue raisonné to bolster the confidence of potential buyers. Without explicitly stating as much, the market pointed to these publications as de facto guarantees of authenticity. Dealers, auction houses, and sellers interested in influencing the market invested considerable finances into these scholarly cataloging projects. 

Using Catalogues Raisonnés in Scholarly Research

More than just a market tool, the catalogue raisonné is also an indispensable resource for anyone interested in art history, biography, or cultural heritage at large. The most useful of these publications strive to make any biases or constructed narratives clear to their readers, encouraging them to approach the information with a critical eye and to look beyond the provided summary. References to erstwhile exhibition venues, obscure publications, and long-forgotten artworld figures can be the launching point for further scholarly exploration, leading to unexpected discoveries. In this regard, catalogues raisonnés serve as effective tools for orienting independent scholars, curators, and art market professionals in pursuing new information.

Some of the most useful features of these publications are their accountings of an artwork’s ownership history, or provenance. Provenance research has become a hot topic in the field of art history in recent times, thanks to an increased interest in the last 25 years in the restitution of looted art. Detailed provenance listings help researchers track the whereabouts of a particular work after it’s left the artist’s studio, and also place the object within the larger scope of cultural history.

Overcoming the Challenge of Frequent Updates: Digital Catalogues Raisonnés

The information in a catalogue raisonné can directly impact an artwork’s historical significance or market value. Because of its impact, the information must be accurate and verifiable to meet users’ needs — but it’s also subject to change. Works of art will continue to be lent, exhibited, published, bought, sold, lost, and destroyed, and scholars will continue to discover new information that could enhance and discredit the historical understanding of a work’s attribution. Catalogues raisonnés need regular updates with clear explanations of who makes those changes and on what grounds, which is why digital publications offer so much value.

Digital catalogues raisonnés enable scholars and researchers to modify the publication with recent findings and new opinions. Cited archives and publications can be hyperlinked to offer readers access to primary source materials and new perspectives. Readers can even consult the same archives that scholars used to make their determinations, and links to newly digitized archives can be added as they become available. With such capabilities, the online catalogue raisonné can be an ongoing research project that is continually updated and never truly finished.  

The WPI has leveraged the flexibility of digital publications and developed a new approach to creating catalogues raisonnés. The “digital corpus” approach allows researchers to publish sections of a catalogue raisonné as they’re prepared rather than waiting years to release the entire project. You can explore the Tom Wesselmann Digital Corpus to see the approach in action. Our work at the Wildenstein Plattner Institute seeks to demonstrate these dynamic publications’ many possibilities and benefits and how they can open new avenues of art historical inquiry.  

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