Find Out About Your Work of Art! — Teaching Museum Library Patrons to Fish

Find Out About Your Work of Art! —Teaching Museum Library Patrons to FishAuthor(s): Karen A. BuckySource: Art Documentation: Journal of the Art Libraries Society of North America, Vol. 26,No. 2 (Fall 2007), pp. 67-73Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Art Libraries Society of NorthAmericaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27949471 .

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Find Out About Your Work of Art! ? Teaching Museum

Library Patrons to Fish_ Karen A. Bucky

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day?teach a man to fish and

you feed him for a lifetime." - Lao Tzu

The Sterling and Franane Clark Art Institute Library In September of 2006, the Sterling and Francine Clark Art

Institute Library hosted an event that is not uncommon in museum circles: museum members were invited to bring to the museum one "mystery" work of art about which the owners had

questions they had never been able to answer. The event had a

unique twist, however?instead of simply having a curator look at the work and answer questions, members had the opportunity to spend a morning working with a team of Clark librarians and curators and Williamstown Art Conservation Center (WACC) conservators. The focus of the event was to teach participants how to find answers to their questions for themselves, using the Clark's art research library, while at the same time giving them access to professional expertise and guidance.

The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute was founded in 1950 in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Its founder, Robert

Sterling Clark, had strong ties to Williams College, and therefore it is not surprising that the museum's title and mission statement reflect an important commitment to education. In 1962 the muse um's board of trustees outlined a graduate study program, to be

jointly administered by the Clark and Williams College. The first

graduate students were welcomed to the Institute in the fall of 1972. During the intervening ten years, the Institute established the library and built a new building to house administrative

offices, an auditorium, additional gallery space, and classrooms as well as the library.

The library was started in 1964 with the purchase of two

major collections: the art reference library of Dr. W. Rudolf

Juynboll, a professor at Leiden University in Holland, and the

library of the Duveen Brothers art sales firm. The two collections

complemented one another: the Duveen library specialized in Old Masters while the Juynboll collection, begun in the 1920s, concentrated on contemporary books and publications. Over the forty years since its beginning the library has grown rapidly in size and stature; the collection is currently around 250,000 volumes and it grows by about 4,000 volumes a year. The collec tion development mission of the library (in a nutshell) is to collect

materials in all languages on Western art from the Renaissance to the present. A recent grant to the museum's department of Research and Academic Programs (RAP) has resulted in an

expansion of collection development to include contemporary

Asian, Latin American, African, and Australian art.

The Clark library is several types of library rolled into one: it is a museum library, serving museum staff and scholars in residence on RAP fellowships; it is an academic library, serving

Williams College undergraduates and faculty as well as its own

graduate program; and it is open to the public five days a week,

offering its resources and reference services to anyone who walks in the door. It is this last constituency that the "Find Out About Your Work of Art" event principally targeted.

The impetus for the event was a phenomenon that every art reference librarian will recognize: the prevalence, especially in the

summertime, of reference questions that begin with the words "I have a [painting, print, bronze statue, piece of silver...]" and go on to elucidate a mystery to be solved about a work of art.

Typically, patrons first of all want to know about the artist. If the work is unsigned and the artist is not known, the patron

wants to find out who the artist might have been. If the work is

signed or the artist's name is known, the patron wants to know where and when he or she lived, what other works by the artist exist and what they look like, and anything about the artist's life that might explain the circumstances and subject matter of the

mystery work. If the object has a family story connected with it,

patrons want to find out whether the story is true. Often people want to know the possible value of the work, and in connection with this another question may arise: is the work authentic or is it a copy, perhaps even a forgery or a fake? Other questions have to do with the making of the work: what materials were used,

how might an object such as a sculpture or piece of silver have been manufactured, what techniques were used to make a print or a frame or a piece of furniture? Finally, patrons often want to know how to care for their work of art.

At one point, after fielding several such questions over two busy days at the reference desk, it was jokingly mentioned in a weekly library meeting that the library should do an "antiques road show" once a week. Further discussion suggested that the joke could be turned into an event that could benefit the

library as well as the people interested in learning about their works of art. The notion was broached to Senior Curator Richard Rand and Conservator Hugh Glover, and began to take on an

exciting shape. Because the event was to have a library focus, the emphasis

from the beginning was on teaching the participants to find information for themselves rather than the "antiques road show" format of dispensing information. The familiar saying "give a

man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and

Volume 26, Number 2 ? 2007 ? Art Documentation 67



Figure 1. Hugh Glover, Richard Rand, and Kathleen Morris (standing, left to right) examine a photograph that Hugh has taken out of its frame. Photograph by Arthur Evans, courtesy of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute.

you feed him for a lifetime" was adopted as a basic guideline. Curators and conservators also felt strongly that one of the

teaching aspects of the event was to demonstrate their areas of

expertise in such a way that patrons would learn when to seek the help of an expert.

Preparations and Decisions

The most time-consuming aspect of the preparations was the creation of a bibliography of library resources that patrons could use during the event and take with them afterwards. In the spirit of "teach a man to fish," it was decided that a subject organized, annotated bibliography was indispensable, and it did indeed prove helpful to people who later came back to work on their own.

Another aspect of preparation involved pulling together a team of librarians, curators, and conservators. At the Clark, this

was relatively easy. The curatorial staff was enthusiastic about the idea of a library twist on an "antiques road show"-type event that would allow patrons to bring works of art for curators to examine one day a month. The Williamstown Art Conservation Center is located on the Clark campus; WACC conservators were equally supportive of the project and promised to send two or three experts depending on the objects people brought to the event.

The first event, being a pilot project, was offered to museum members only and was restricted to twenty-five participants. In

spite of limited publicity?the event was listed in the seasonal calendar sent to members and distributed at the museum but was not advertised anywhere else?fifteen people signed up and one person came without a reservation. This turned out to be

ideal, given the number of staff. More people would have meant not enough individual attention during the research part of the

event, and fewer people would have meant a less interesting variety of works to look at and discuss.

When people called to reserve a spot in the event they were asked to give a brief description of the object they planned to

bring. This allowed advance planning for the kinds of expertise that would be needed and the questions that might be asked.

WACC sent over two conservators: Sandra Webber, whose

expertise includes paintings and general examination tech

niques, and Hugh Glover, a furniture conservator who was able

(among other things) to work with frames. In the Clark's cura torial department, Senior Curator Richard Rand, an expert on

paintings and prints, and Director of Exhibitions and Collections Kathleen Morris, an expert on silver and other decorative arts

objects, provided curatorial expertise. Catalog Librarian Valerie Krall and Collections Access and Reference Librarian Karen

Bucky were the librarians on the team.

Setup and Arrangements Setup for the event was relatively simple. An area in the

library's reading room with a large table, a long display counter,

space for up to twenty-five chairs, and large windows provided a gracious, comfortable space with plenty of natural light. A floor easel was brought for displaying works, but was not needed. An area on a nearby computer table was cleared for unframing paintings and prints.

Members of the WACC staff brought 10X loupes and cotton

gloves. Hugh Glover brought soft cloths and tools so that paint ings and prints could be taken out of their frames (and later put

68 Art Documentation ? Volume 26, Number 2 ? 2007



back in again!). This proved to be invaluable, as several of the works were found to have useful information on the back.

A selection of books was arranged on a table in an adjacent area of the reading room. On display were books on the mate

rials, terminology, and techniques of painting, printmaking, drawings, water colors, and photographs; guides to silver and silver hallmarks; a basic biographical dictionary of American

artists; and books on the care and conservation of paintings and

prints and "family treasures" (Appendix A). This area was a

good ice-breaker at the beginning of the event as it provided a central place to gather and look at materials chosen to reflect the interests of the participants, who identified books they wanted to look at later and marked their bibliographies accordingly. After the event some people came back to the display to check specific books again.

As members arrived at the library, they were asked to sign a standard form releasing the Clark from responsibility for

any damage that might occur to the work during the event

(Appendix B). As each person signed in, he or she was given a

copy of the bibliography. Participants displayed their works of art on a long counter

near the large table around which everyone was invited to sit. Works of art were mostly pictures (watercolors, oils, photo graphs, and prints). There was also one Elizabethan manuscript and one group of silver artifacts.

Event Format

The event, held from 9:30 a.m. to noon, had a simple three

part format, flexible enough to accommodate any combination of

people, works, and questions. For the first part of the event, cura tors and conservators chose several pieces to examine in detail

and to demonstrate how they looked for clues about a work.

During the second part of the event, participants were invited to use library resources, print and electronic, to find information about their own work. At the end of the morning, participants gathered again around the long table and had the opportunity to talk to one another about what they had learned.

To start the morning, curators and conservators chose

several pieces that allowed them to address specific questions of identification, attribution, or conservation: what to look for to determine a likely time period and/or place for an unsigned painting, how to find makers' marks on silver, how to look at the frame and back of a painting or print for clues to its history, and how a painting could be remounted and reframed to preserve it. Members were fascinated to see how curators and conservators

brought their expertise to bear on examining a work for clues about its making and provenance. On the one hand, they were able to see how years of professional training and experience gave curators and conservators the ability to see things in a work that the untrained eye could not see, so that some questions?such as those of appraisal and identification or of conservation?can

only be answered by a professional. On the other hand, they also learned how to examine a work for clues that could be used to find further information.

Conservation/Identity Case Histories The first work examined was a framed watercolor, a landscape signed with the name Roscoe. When the frame was removed, a note on the back revealed that it had been painted in north

Wales, a clue that led the owner to definitive biographical

information on the artist and then to an auction sales data

base to find price information on other works sold at auction. Conservator Sandy Webber was able to provide a great deal of conservation advice and information since the painting had sustained some damage from poor framing (it had been framed with glass touching the paint), and it had not been

painted on an acid-free support.

Another owner brought in an unsigned (she thought) water color still life with a rustic hunting theme depicting game birds, a powder horn, and other objects on a wooden table. She had already done a great deal of research on the painting to identify the birds and the objects, trying to determine the time period and place, and she had come up with several

guesses as to who the artist might be. When the frame was taken off to reveal a note on the back stating that the painting

was by "Hardy, Jr." she clapped her hands in delight?it was one of the possible artists she had painstakingly identified.

(Subsequent examination with a loupe revealed the faded

signature on the front, painted on one of the still life's objects.) She, too, was then able to find further biographical and auction sales information for other works by the same artist.

A third participant brought a large unsigned oil painting of a river landscape, hoping to find out who the artist might be and thereby determine the possible value of the painting. Although conservators were able to give advice about

conserving the painting, it was too general in style and subject matter for any definitive guesses about the artist or even the time period, although there was general agreement that it was

probably an American work. This case history is noteworthy because it is so typical?an unsigned painting of a generic subject done in a relatively generic style?a time-consuming, needle-in-a-haystack search that often raises more questions than it answers. In such cases, curators usually advise owners

not to worry about the value of the work but to simply enjoy having it on the wall.

During the second phase of the morning, participants had the opportunity to use the Clark library's computers and collec tions to find answers to their own questions. Armed with the

bibliography of library resources, which included information about how to examine works of art for clues (Appendix C), they worked with librarians and other members of the team to find and use a variety of print and electronic resources.

Patrons who had signed works?or who had discovered who their artists were?used the Allgemeines K?nstlerlexikon1 to find further sources of biographical information in dictionaries and encyclopedias such as Dictionary of Art2, Who Was Who in American Art,3 "Thieme-Becker,"4 and the newly published English-language "B?n?zit."5 They also used the library's online

catalog to find books on their artist, to find out more about the

period and place in which their artist had lived, or to find back

ground information on particular artistic styles or periods (e.g., British folk art). In several cases WorldCat6 was used to find books not held by the Clark library, or books that could be obtained in

(or by) libraries closer to where the patron lived. Another source of information was artist Web sites, available via the Internet.

Patrons who wanted to find out the possible value of their work of art used ArtNet,7 a database of auction sales records

going back to 1985, to find works by the same artist that had sold

Volume 26, Number 2 ? 2007 ? Art Oocumentotion 69



Figure 2. Karen Bucky (standing) and Sandra Webber (sitting) work with

patrons learning how to use ArtNet. Photograph by Arthur Evans, courtesy

of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute.

Figure 3. Valerie Krall showing patron how to use the library's online

catalog. Photograph by Arthur Evans, courtesy of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute.

dit auction. By comparing the size, subject matter, and medium of works sold with the owned work it is possible to estimate roughly what the owned work might be worth in the art market.

Library Case Histories

One woman whose family had emigrated from Europe early in the twentieth century had brought a collection of silver items: a hand mirror, a small box shaped like a lion, several

medals, and a heart-shaped box. She was especially interested in finding out about the lion-shaped box, which had several

makers' marks, and she and Kathleen Morris combed through books on silver and on makers' marks trying to identify the marks. They did not find the marks themselves but they did come up with clues as to where and when the box was manu factured and were able to identify it as a snuffbox. They also found out enough about the mirror to conclude that it was

well-crafted but "quite an ordinary thing."

Another patron had brought a framed "D?rer style" print. Using The Illustrated Bartsch* she and Richard Rand were able to find a picture of the print, thereby discovering the title, artist, date, and much more information. Because Bartsch

is a source often used by auction houses to establish and describe provenance, having a Bartsch number for the print made it possible to research it very precisely using ArtNet. Conservators thought the print might be a restrike from an old plate (Sandy thought she could see a plate mark) but cura tors were of the mind that it was more likely a reproduction. This could only have been determined by taking the print out of the frame, which the patron did not want to do.

A third patron brought an unsigned oil of a young woman

wearing a laurel wreath that Richard thought might be a

copy of a Sibyl by Domenichino. After looking through many books on Domenichino and browsing the Italian collection to find similar works, they finally came to the conclusion that the

painting was a good eighteenth-century copy of an unidenti fied sixteenth-century work.

One young man brought a photograph of a portrait painted by Thomas Dewing, inscribed by Dewing to his (the patron's) great-aunt. He used a catalogue raisonn? of Dewing's work

to find the original painting and learn who the sitter was. He was also able to use books on photographic processes to find out that the photograph was an albumen print, which in turn enabled conservators to advise him how to conserve the photograph.

Contrary to the team's expectations, the library investiga tion phase of the morning turned out to be a high point of the event. Members were so excited about the information they were able to find, and so enjoyed the process of learning how to use the library, that it was not easy to get them to stop!

During the last half hour of the morning the group re-convened at the long table for "show and tell"; several partici pants described what they had found and what they now knew about their work of art that they had not known before. Members told one another about using the library's online catalog to find cata

logues raisonn?s, recommended biographical sources, explained Bartsch, and waxed enthusiastic about ArtNet. The conversation as the event broke up was exuberant. "I've had this painting on the

wall for thirty-six years and today I found out about the artist!" one man exclaimed. "And now I know how to find out about the other painting I wanted to bring in and couldn't!"

Notes

1. Allgemeines K?nstlerlexikon: Bio-Bibliographischer Index

A-Z/The Artists of the World: Bio-Bibliographical Index A-Z (Munich: Saur, 1999-2000).

2. Jane Turner, ed., Dictionary of Art (New York: Grove, 1996). 3. Peter Hastings Falk, ed., Who Was Who in American Art,

1564r-1975:400 Years of Artists in America (Madison, CT: Sound View Press, 1999).

4. Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker, Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden K?nstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart; unter

Mitwirkung von 300 Fachgelehrten des In- und Auslandes (Leipzig: Seemann, 1907-50).

5. Emmanuel B?n?zit, IDictionary of Artists (Paris: Grund, 2006). 6. WorldCat [electronic resource] (Dublin, OH: OCLC, 1979- ). 7. ArtNet Auctions: Online Database of Auction Results

[electronic resource] (New York: ArtNet Worldwide, [1993?]- ). 8. Walter L. Strauss, ed., The Illustrated Bartsch (New York:

Abaris Books, 1978-).




Appendix A

Annotated Bibliography of Books for Display Baldwin, Gordon. Looking at Photographs: A Guide to Technical Terms.

Malibu, CA: J. Paul Getty Museum; London: British Museum

Publications, 1991.

Provides concise explanations of the terms most frequently used by curators, collectors, and historians to discuss and

describe photographs, especially those terms "likely to appear on descriptive labels in exhibitions or in catalogue entries."

Carr, Dawson W., and Mark Leonard. Looking at Paintings: A

Guide to Technical Terms. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum in association with British Museum Press, 1992.

Provides definitions of, and illustrates, terms commonly used to describe paintings, including styles, techniques, textures, and perspective.

Divis, Jan. Silver Marks of the World. London: Hamlyn, 1976.

Marks are arranged according to the objects /subjects they depict. Information for each mark includes the town and

country where the hallmark was used, the date when it was

employed, and, where possible, the purity the mark guaran tees. Also included are marks stamped by control bodies (i.e.,

municipalities, state institutions, or guilds) and marks that are important in determining the country and place of origin of an item. Emphasis is on antique silver; most of the recent marks are from the 1930s.

Ellis, Margaret Holben. The Care of Prints and Drawings. Nashville, TN: AASLH Press, 1987.

Gives practical advice to collectors and curators respon sible for the care of prints and drawings. Includes chapters on the characteristics and care of parchment and paper, the media of prints and drawings, matting, hinging and framing, storage and environment, and basic conservation proce dures. All sections include references. Appendix I is a source

of supplies.

Falk, Peter Hastings, editor. Who Was Who in American Art, 1564r 1975:400 Years of Artists in America. Madison, CT: Sound View

Press, 1999.

The best first place to check for basic information on an artist who worked in America. Covers 50,000+ painters,

printmakers, sculptors, photographers, decorative and

applied artists, as well as critics and historians who worked in the U.S. Entries contain basic information on schooling,

teaching, selective exhibition history, collections that own the artist's work, commentary on important figures, and biblio

graphic citations.

Gascoigne, Bamber. How to Identify Prints: A Complete Guide to Manual and Mechanical Processes from Woodcut to Ink Jet. London: Thames & Hudson, 2004.

Part 1 describes the three types of prints, including "images not really prints but called prints" (e.g., screen print, Xerox and laser, and inkjet). Part 2 describes and illustrates visual evidence that can be used to identify and clarify areas of

confusion, identify details based on historical development of genres and techniques, and draw conclusions based on details of technical processes. Part 3 defines terminology for families of prints, lays out a "Sherlock Holmes approach" to print identification, and includes a glossary-index that references numbered sections of the book and defines technical terms.

Goldman, Paul. Looking at Drawings: A Guide to Technical Terms. London: British Museum Publications, 1979.

Provides definitions of terms commonly used to describe and discuss drawings. Illustrations provide examples of specific

media, techniques, and marks.

Griffiths, Anthony. Prints and Printmaking: Introduction to the

History and Techniques. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1996.

Intended as a guide for the general reader wishing to under stand the main categories and processes of printmaking, as well as how and by whom each method was used.

Western art only. Sections include relief printing processes (woodcut, linocut, wood-engraving, metalcut and relief

etching), intaglio printing processes (engraving, etching, drypoint, crayon manner and stipple, mezzotint, aquatint, and soft-ground etching), lithography, screen printing, color printing, and photomechanical reproduction processes (relief printing, intaglio printing, surface printing, and color printing).

Heisinger, Kathryn B., and George H. Marcus. Antiquespeak: A

Guide to the Styles, Techniques, and Materials of the Decorative

Arts, from the Renaissance to Art Deco. New York: Abbeville

Press, 1997.

Brief essays discuss European and American styles, mate

rials, types of objects, specialized areas of collecting (e.g., export wares), and processes related to acquiring and caring for antiques. Essays that define styles (e.g., Tudor) include sections on Who (principal artists, architects, designers, etc.),

When, Where (countries or continents where a style was

centered), and What (the origins, nature, and implications of the style).

Heritage Preservation. Caring for Your Family Treasures: A Concise Guide to Caring for Your Cherished Belongings. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2000.

A concise guide to caring for objects of value, including objects on paper, photographs and albums, home movies,

paintings, fabrics, clocks and watches, furniture, ceramics and

glass, silver, musical instruments, military mementos, and

toys. Also has information on security and insurance, finding

professional help, and finding books and other resources for further information.

Holland, Margaret. Phaidon Guide to Silver. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1983.

Intended to "give an understanding of the essential qualities of silver and to enable the reader to recognize the style and

period of those pieces that are likely to be seen in the average saleroom, shop, or museum." Deals largely with silver of

the Western world. Gives definitions and descriptions, illus

trated with examples, of early European silver, ecclesiastical

plate, wine vessels, table silver (for the dinner table and the tea table), flatware, lighting, bedroom articles, social articles, decorative silver, and small collectibles. Includes an illus trated glossary of technical terms and motifs, an illustrated discussion of silver marks, and brief bibliography.

Laurie, A. P. The Painter's Methods and Materials: Traditional

Techniques and Materials for Practicing Artists; Oil, Watercolor, Tempera. New York: Dover Publications, 1960.

Intended for the craftsman painter; deals with methods and the properties of materials rather than chemical description or manufacture. Includes chapters on wood panels and paper,




priming panels and canvas, pigments used in painting, how to paint oil pictures, how to paint in tempera, fresco painting, and the preservation and cleaning of pictures. Keep in mind the publication date?methods of preservation and cleaning

may have changed significantly.

Nicolaus, Knut. The Restauration of Paintings. Cologne: K?nemann, 1998.

"This book is not an instruction manual for the interested

layman; rather, it is intended to show how complicated and sensitive conservation and restoration work on paintings

really is." Chapters on wooden supports, textile supports, the

paint layer, and varnish. Lavishly illustrated. An interesting and informative guide to the art of conservation.

Rainwater, Dorothy T., and Martin and Collette Fuller. Encyclopedia of American Silver Manufacturers. Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 2004.

A premier reference source for maker's marks on American

silver and for manufacturers of American silver. Aims to

record "as much historical and maker's mark information

as possible," both for posterity and for the use of collec tors, appraisers, and historians. Alphabetical entries for

manufacturers include information about the company and

photographs or line drawings of marks.

Stout, George L. The Care of Pictures. New York: Dover Publications, 1975.

"Addressed not to the person who practices conservation as

a profession but rather to the person who... is responsible for

the safe keeping of pictures." Includes chapters on surface blemishes, defects in paint or drawing, weakness and damage of the ground, flaws in the support, and how to house, handle, and move pictures.

Appendix

Text of Release Form

The undersigned, for his or her personal satisfaction and not for use or

guidance in any commercial transaction or litiga

tion, in process or potential, requests a preliminary examination

of the object(s) described hereon, which he/she has brought to the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. The undersigned understands that the examination cannot be as thorough as that

given to the works of art in which this Museum would have an actual or prospective interest and is being performed without

compensation solely as a courtesy to the owner. Nevertheless,

in consideration of the services rendered by this Museum, the

undersigned agrees: (1) that the Museum need not insure the

object(s); (2) that he/she will remove said object(s) from the Museum premises immediately after the opinion is given; (3) that the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, its Trustees, officers, employees and agents assume no liability or responsi bility for loss of or injury or damage to said object(s) while on the

premises (including the grounds); (5) to assume all risk of error and (6) to make no claim against the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, its Trustees, officers, employees and agents harm less in the event of any suit or action based on the opinion or its communication to another.

Appendix C

Excerpt from "Finding Out About Your Work of Art: Bibliography of Sources in the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute Library"

Identifying a Work of Art: What to Look For

I. Gathering Evidence: Looking at the Object

Start with the evidence provided by the object itself. Gather as much information as you can by thoroughly examining the front, back, and all sides (including the inside, if applicable) of the piece. Look first for a signature and a date. If the signa ture is illegible, copy it and see what possible letters the artist's name starts with?if you can identify the first three letters you have a good start. Write down all possible variations if any letters are ambiguous.

Look for any marks that might have been part of the creating or manufacturing process: signatures; monograms; hallmarks; stamps; inscriptions on the back, stretchers, frame, or base;

foundry markings. If it is a painting, look at the stretchers; were

they manufactured commercially? If so, this will give an indica tion of the age of the work. If a sculpture is cast bronze, look for

foundry marks, copyright date, edition number, and where the

foundry is located. Look also for markings that would give clues about the history of the object: gallery labels, exhibition labels, auction labels, or owners' stamps.

With paintings and works on paper, always examine the back of the object. There is often a great deal of information?

inscriptions, labels, dealer numbers, collector's marks?on the

stretcher or the back of a canvas or sheet of paper. With sculp ture, look underneath and (if it is hollow cast) inside the object for inscriptions or signs of its age.

Take photos or make drawings of these marks exactly as they look?no detail is too small to dismiss. Make notes on exactly where the marks appear.

Determine what the object is made of and what materials/

techniques the artist used, as specifically as possible. If the object is a painting, is it oil, acrylic, watercolor, tempera, or other

material? Is a work on paper an original or is it a multiple? (Look for an edition number, e.g., 3/50). If the work is a print, is it an engraving, etching, wood cut, aquatint, serigraph, silkscreen,

lithograph, something else? If it is a sculpture, is it bronze, plaster, wood, marble, stone, mixed media, other? Many of the books listed in this bibliography include descriptions and illustrations that will help you to identify the materials and techniques used to create a work of art.

Look at a print or drawing under strong magnification, or a 10X loop. If there is color, do you see uneven pooling of color? This might indicate an engraving, hand-colored with watercolor s. Can you see how the artist achieved halftones (gray areas)? Is there cross-hatching or do you see an overall stipple effect? Study the differences between etchings, engravings, and other kinds of prints to become familiar with what characterizes the different techniques.

Additionally, try to determine what type of surface the art is created on. If it is a painting, is it on stretched canvas or linen, a

panel, a board, a piece of paper, or a piece of paper mounted on a canvas? Is it a collage? There are many possibilities.

Make notes on whatever information you have on the object's history: when and where you got it, what you know about its

prior ownership, any information provided by previous owners or dealers. Make note of the source of each piece of information. Don't assume that anecdotes passed along by former collectors and family history about the object are necessarily factual, but collect them nevertheless.




Make additional notes about the condition of the work. Condition affects value. For sale or legal purposes the condi tion of a work of art must be determined by a professional.

However, you can look for discoloration along the mat edge, which is caused by non-archival matting materials and creates a

dark yellow-orange to brown acid burn where the mat meets the

paper. Additionally, older pieces are often framed with corru

gated cardboard, which also burns the paper and creates staining that can cause striated dark burn marks. On an oil painting the varnish is often yellowed and discolored. Many paintings have an overall pattern of small hairline cracks called craquelure. If

any of the paint is lifting or cupping, the paint is unstable and should be looked at by a professional conservator. Make notes of

tears, missing paint, discoloration, and staining.

IL Finding Information: Researching Artists, Marks, and Similar Objects

If you have an attribution for the object, start by researching that artist or factory to see if the object seems to look like other

objects by the same artist or manufacturer. If you do find similar

works, compile a list (with images) of similar objects. Look for

compelling similarities of style, subject, materials, and dates.

Many decorative arts objects have similar shapes and

designs and in these cases you are looking for more than just general similarities. Do some reverse comparison. For example,

you think your silver vase looks like one made by Paul Storr, and

you learn through researching Paul Storr that all of his silver is marked with London hallmarks. Does your piece have London hallmarks? If so, those marks should correspond to ones that Storr would have used, and you can use a reference book on

marks to compare them.

With paintings and prints bear in mind that it has been a common practice for several centuries for artists and amateurs to

copy esteemed Old Masters. Sometimes a painting looks old but is in fact a later copy of an old picture. It is also true that there have been amateur "Sunday painters" (and draftsmen) since at least the eighteenth century. Not every work of art?even a work of art with a signature?was made by an established artist for whom information is available.

Beginning with the Allgemeines K?nstlerlexikon, check

biographical resources in the library's reference section to find information about the artist and if possible to see where the artist's works are collected. Check the library's catalog to find books pertaining to the artist and cross-reference the information about the artist and how it pertains to your work of art.

Check auction sales databases such as ArtNet to find images of other works by your artist and compare them with the work

you have. If you have only the first three letters of the artist's

name, you can search ArtNet to try to find a name that is close to the name on your artwork. Look to see if any works you find in this way are in the same material and style as your art object.

If you do not have an attribution, if you don't know who the artist is or exactly where the work is from, look for the artwork

by the general type or category of work (e.g., nineteenth-century European paintings, American Art Deco bronzes, etc.). Browse

through encyclopedias, dictionaries, and histories on the type of

object you are looking for, or search the database called ArtFact

by keywords, and look for things that are similar in shape, materials, style, and /or pattern. This will help you narrow

down the field of possibilities. Again, look for compelling simi

larities, and keep track of what you find so you can go back and check it again. Be aware that this kind of searching requires

much time and hard work and patience, not to mention a certain

amount of luck.

If the object has marks on it, look for reference books on marks of the type of material you have: silver, porcelain, gold, glass, etc. Some categories of items are marked in standard

ways (particularly British silver), others are marked according to the caprice of the maker. Tracking down marks can be time

consuming, but it is one of the best ways to identify objects. Many objects, however, are unmarked.

III. Assessing Value: Finding Auction Sale Prices or Finding an Appraiser

Once you know what the object is and/or who the artist is,

you can search for similar objects or works by the same artist

through auction results databases. Look for items of similar

style, date, material, and condition. These can give you a ball

park sense of value.

There are many factors that contribute to valuation that must be determined by a professional. If you are seeking a value

conclusion, a formal appraisal should be prepared by a profes sional appraiser. The American Society of Appraisers can be used to find appraisers of gems and jewelry, fine arts, rare books,

antiques, and decorative arts. Appraisals are legal documents

that conclude a valuation for insurance, damage or loss, estate

taxation, and distribution of property or for charitable contribu tions and donations.

GOOD LUCK AND HAPPY SLEUTHING!

Karen Bucky, Collections Access and Reference Librarian,

Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA,

[email protected]




Documents

Find Out About Your Work of Art! — Teaching Museum Library Patrons to Fish