PMA LibGuides: Provenance Research: Home

Researching Provenance

This guide will introduce you to the basic tools and many types of resources that will help you get started in your quest to learn the story of an a work of art.

The term “provenance” refers to the origins and history of something. In the art world, it typically encompasses the history of ownership and in essence, the life of the artwork. This “life story” of the object is fundamental to determine its authenticity and value. It also informs how the work is interpreted by curators and other scholars. The provenance of an object also enriches our understanding of an artwork; what makes it significant in addition to its visual appeal.

Museum Provenance Resources

Many museums have provenance research projects and follow practices established by organizations such as the American Alliance of Museums, largely in response, but not limited to the misappropriation of objects during World War II.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art Provenance Research Page

Frick Archives Directory for the History of Collecting in America

Getty Project for the Study of Collecting and Provenance

The Getty’s robust site includes the Getty Provenance Index Databases
Also see The Getty Provenance Index Additional Databases

Metropolitan Museum of Art Provenance Research

Metropolitan Museum of Art Selected Museum Provenance Research Projects in the US and Abroad

Smithsonian Institution-Provenance in the World War II Era

Other General Sources

Online

Print Sources

Feigenbaum, Gail, and Inga Reist, eds. Provenance: An Alternative History of Art (Los Angeles: Getty Publications, 2013). MAIN N399.P76 2013
Nicholas, Lynn H. The Rape of Europa: the Fate of Europe's Treasures in the Third Reich and the Second World War (New York: Knopf, 1994). MAIN N8795 .N52
Yeide, Nancy H. The AAM Guide to Provenance Research (Washington, D.C.: American Association of Museums, c2001). REF N3999 .Y45 2001

Genealogical Resources

Ancestry Library Edition is available in the PMA Library and through OpenAthens login remotely
FindaGrave.com

Auction and Sales Results Sources

Auction sales resources are a great starting point for researching an object or the proliferation of an artist's work, and are readily available through the A-Z Databases: Auction Resources and Online Catalog.

Online

Art Sales Catalogues Online (Lugt Repertoire Online)
Blouin Art Sales Index

Print (sales catalogues, and some periodicals such as Art News )

Annuaire des ventes de tableaux, dessins, aquarelles, pastels, gouaches, miniatures; guide du marchand, de l'amateur (Paris L.-Maurice Lang 1919–1923). REF N8675 .L26a
Mayer, E. International Auction Records: Engravings, Drawings, Watercolors, Paintings, Sculpture (New York, N.Y.: Editions Publisol, 1967– ) REF N8675 .M28i

Artist and Collector's Marks Resources

Online

Frits Lugt Les Marques de Collections: Dessins-Estamps,

Castagno, John. European Artists: Signatures and Monograms,1800-1990, Including Selected Artists from Other Parts of the World (Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, c1990). Ready Reference N45 .C376
Falk, Peter H., Dictionary of Signatures & Monograms of American Artists : from the Colonial Period to the Mid 20th Century, (Madison, Conn.: Sound View Press, 1988). Ready Reference N45 .F34

Early Literature on Collections

Shinn, Earl, ed. The Art Treasures of America: Being the Choicest Works of Art in the Public and Private Collections of North America (Philadelphia: George Barrie, ©1879) MAINF ND1242 .S5 1880 4 vols.)
Waagen, Gustav Friedrich. Treasures of Art in Great Britain: being an Account of the Chief Collections of Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures, Illuminated Mss. (London: J. Murray, 1854). JC N1020 .W2