Research Resources:
Subject Research Guides:
Art History:
Art Sales And Auction Information Guide
Please note, we are unable to offer appraisals/authentications for artworks or collections.
Current Sales Information
Online auction sources, while not retrospectively deep or offering prices paid at auction, are
a source for activity in the current auction market.
Printed Materials
Mayer, Enrique International Auction Records.
New York: Editions Publisol, 1967 +.
ART REF N8640.I5
Annual listing of international sales by artist name. Divided by medium, and includes artist dates, title of work, size,
and price in the currency of the country of sale as well as in dollars.
Major Sources
Fredericksen, Burton B.
The Index of Paintings Sold in the British Isles During
the Nineteenth Century.
Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 1988+
ART REF ND47.I5 1988
An ongoing project from the Provenance Index of the Getty
Art History Information Project. Includes place, auctioneer,
title/subject, seller, buyer, and indicates the presence of
annotations in the sales catalogues.
Index of Art Sales Catalogs 1981-1985: A Union List from
the SCIPIO Database.
Boston: G.K.Hall, 1987.
ART N7525.I52 1987
Arranged chronologically with a broad subject index. Entries
contain date and place of sale, auction house, title, collectors,
sellers, and libraries holding the catalogue.
Lancour, Harold. American Art Auction Catalogues 1785-1942: A Union
List.
New York: New York Public Library, 1962.
ART Z5939.L252A
Arranged by date of sale, and contains title, auction
house/auctioneer, collector/collection, and location of
catalogues. No access by artists' names. Numbers from the index
are often referred to in provenance lists as "Lancour number."
Lugt, Frits
Repertoire des catalogues de ventes publiques interessant
d'art ou la curiosite....
The Hague: Nijhoff, 1938-1988.
ART Folio N8650.L8
Catalogues listed chronologically; indexed by date of sale,
subdivided by place of sale. No access by individual artists or
works of art. Index numbers often referred to in provenance lists
as "Lugt number."
New York Public Library Research Guide : Auction Sales Indexes
A guide to auction sale indexes, price guides and catalogs, compiled by the New York Public Library. This guide describes
available indexes to auction sales and also lists the Sotheby's and Christie's catalogs available the New York Public
Library.
Library Catalogs of Sale Catalogues
Harvard University Fine Arts Library.
Catalog of Auction Sales Catalogues.
Boston: G.K.Hall, 1971.
ART REF Z5939.H35
Volume 15 is the auction record. Arranged by auction house,
subdivided by date.
Metropolitan Museum of Art. Sales Catalogues.
Boston: G.K.Hall, 1960, vol. 24-25, and Supp. 1962-1977.
ART REF Z881.N6622
Arranged by auction house, subdivided by date of sale.
Annotations are indicated. International in scope and dates from
the mid-19th century.
Bibliotheque Forney.
Catalogues de ventes d'art.
Boston: G.K.Hall, 1972.
ART REF Z5939.P224
Arranged by collectors, place of sale, or date of sale.
International in scope with emphasis on 20th-century French
titles. Annotations indicated.
Other Sales Information
Benezit, Emmanuel.
Dictionnaire critique et documentaire de peintres,
sculpteurs, dessinateurs, et graveurs.
Paris; Librairie Grund, 1976.
ART REF N40.B47 1976
Included, within the biographical dictionary, is a partial
list of important sales of many artist' work under the heading
prix. Includes date and place of sale, title of work and
price paid in the monetary unit of the country in which sold.
Volume 1 contains an adjustment table for the franc from 1901-1973.
Davenport, R.J. Davenport's Art Reference & Price Guide.
Ventura, CA: Davenport's Art Reference, 2003/4-.
ART REF N8670.D384
Davenport's annual compilation collects auction records from outside of the main
auction houses (such as Sotheby's and Christie's) and may therefore include results
for lesser-known artists whose work is sold through lesser known auction houses.
Graves, Algernon. Art Sales From Early in the Eighteenth Century to Early
in the Twentieth Century.
Reprint ed., New York: Burt Franklin, 1970.
ART N8675.G72
English auction sales arranged by artist.
Guide Mayer: The Art Auctions Dictionary.
Paris: Guide Mayer, 1981-1998, 2004-.
ART REF N8640.I5 2005
Mayer's annual guide includes results for thousands of artists whose work is sold through
auction houses worldwide. The text includes auction results for multiple media,
including paintings, sculptures, photographs, prints, drawings, and watercolors.
Guide to Resources that Identify Artists' Signatures
Caplan, H. H. Classified Directory of Artists Signatures Symbols and
Monograms.
Detroit: Gale, 1976.
ART Folio N45.C36 1976b
Castagno, John European Artists: Signatures and Monograpms, 1800-
1990.
Metuchen: Scarecrow, 1990.
ART N45.C38 1990
Castagno, John American Artists: Signatures and Monograms, 1800-1989.
Metuchen: Scarecrow, 1990.
ART N45.C37 1990
Castagno, John Artists' Monograms and Indiscernible Signatures: An
International Directory 1800-1991.
Metuchen: Scarecrow, 1991.
ART REF N45.C374 1991
Nagler, G.K. Die Monogrammisten.
Holland: DeGraaf, 1966.
ART N45.N22
Collectors' Marks
Lugt, Frits Les marques de collections de dessins et
d'estampes....
Amsterdam: LaHeye, 1956.
ART N8380.L81
Microfiche Collections
Christie's Pictorial Archive.
REF N5274.C37C3 1980
An internal reference source for the auction house, covering
sales from 1910 to 1980 and excluding confidential information.
Primarily a picture archive, but occasionally a short
bibliography or description of the work is included. Order
numbers are provided for purchase of photographic reproductions.
Printed artist index.
Knoedler Library on Microfiche. The Sales Catalogues.
Art Library holds the microfiche catalogues for the New York
sales at the American Art Association, American Art Galleries and
Anderson Galleries, 1884-1939. Lugt and Lancour numbers are
provided, when appropriate. Many are annotated with prices and/or
buyers names.
Searching Aids
Many art publications publish information about current
sales/auctions, and those articles may be accessed by using the
appropriate art indexes, i.e.,
Art Index,
ARTBibliographies Modern,
BHA, RILA, RAA.
Suggested subject headings to use in the various indexes:
- Art Index
- ART SALES
- Subheadings under main heading include: SALES AND PRICES; VALUATION OF WORKS OF ART
- Names of auction houses
- RILA/BHA
- ART MARKET
- ART DEALERS
- ART GALLERIES (COMMERCIAL)
- ARTBibliographies Modern
- Repetoire d'art et d'archeologie (RAA)
