Catalogue Raisonne – The Marathon of Documenting Masterworks
It is not my wish to immediately appear off-subject but, in Honore de Balzac’s great masterpiece Le Chef d’eouvre Inconnu or Unknown Masterpiece, the artist Frenhofer works on a painting for over ten years and never completes it. In truth, it is the individual who chooses to catalog the artist’s body of work that takes a decade to complete it. The catalogue raisonne is the marathon of documentation in art.
The catalogue raisonne is a comprehensive and exhaustive study of an artist’s oeuvre or body of work in a particular medium. It is a complete listing, usually in chronological order. These scholars and enthusiasts spend decades if not scores of years identifying and cataloging a particular artist’s production, a specific facet dedicated to the arts, or even an art movement itself.
To date, there are almost fourteen hundred catalogues raisonnes in print with some scholar or ardent amateur culling the body of work of an artist, gleaning disciplines in art history, or focusing on a particular aspect of documentation.
What makes cataloging an artist’s opus even more noteworthy is that it might happen years, if not decades and even centuries after an artist has passed on and, more importantly, their art has been dispersed through time and the hands of adoring collectors.
For instance, Rembrandt has had approximately twenty catalogues raisonnes dedicated to his print oeuvre of just his etchings and drypoints alone. About twenty researchers dedicated a portion of their lives to catalog just one medium of one of the greatest artists (and considered one of the greatest etchers) to ever live: from the first, which was compiled by Gersaint in 1751 (almost one hundred years after Rembrandt’s death) to White and Boon, who compiled their catalogue raisonne in 1969 (three hundred years after his death).
In a broader sense, it is this very dedication that is a testament to the compilers themselves.
One such example is the Zervos Catalogue which is dedicated to Picasso’s unique work. Begun in 1932 it was completed posthumously after Christian and his wife, Yvonne, died in 1970. It is thirty-three volumes in length; and, if my math is correct, this catalogue raisonne took almost forty years of research to complete.
Another noteworthy researcher is Frits Lugt. He not only compiled a catalogue raisonne dedicated to collector’s stamps throughout history (1921) he also worked on a supplement to his original work (which was published in 1956).
These catalogues raisonnes are not measured in pages between two covers, but by volumes between two book ends.
Just to name a few: Picasso’s print output of etchings and lithographs (and some monotypes), compiled by Baer stands at eight volumes; Rembrandt’s drawings were cataloged by Benesch and it took six volumes; Toulouse-Lautrec’s drawings were compiled in a catalogue raisonne by Dortu, and it six volumes in length; Albrecht Durer’s drawings were completed by Strauss (the founder of Abaris Press in New York) and it is six volumes in length; Chagall’s lithographic work is cataloged by Sauret in six volumes; Miro’s engraving were documented by Dupin in three volumes and his lithographic work was assembled by Mourlot in six volumes; and, lest we forget Bartsch who took eighteen years to complete his catalogue raisonne of the Italian and Northern school of engraver-painters in no less than twenty-one volumes.
It is not only a tribute to an artist’s greatness that a third party (or third parties) would dedicate years of service compiling the all-encompassing catalogue raisonne, but a tribute to the researcher that takes on such a task. However, the catalogue raisonne stands on the podium as the marathon of documentation in masterworks and fine art; and, it is nothing less than an Olympic achievement.
