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‘Grau, Teurer Freund, 1st alle Theorie…’: the acquisition of exhibition catalogues

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 June 2016

Thomas Lersch
Thomas Lersch*
Affiliation:
Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte, Munich, Federal Republic of Germany
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Abstract

The acquisition of exhibition catalogues is in many cases problematic, involving the expenditure of much staff time in addition to the cost of the catalogue itself. This is especially so when catalogues have to be ordered individually, whether from museum or bookseller; standing orders, including wide-ranging standing order arrangements negotiated with specialist suppliers, offer a partial solution; libraries attached to museums and galleries can also acquire catalogues by exchange. In the Federal Republic of Germany, exhibition catalogues are acquired by the seven major art libraries constituting the AKB as an integral element of their cooperative acquisitions programme, but documentation of contemporary art is not acquired comprehensively.

Type
Research Article
Information
Art Libraries Journal , Volume 14 , Special Issue 1: Special European issue , 1989 , pp. 30 - 37
Copyright
Copyright © The Art Libraries Society 1989

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References

References (see also the Bibliography which follows)

1. Mephistopheles, in Goethe’s Faust.Google Scholar
2. Editorial ‘Les expositions’, Revue de l’art no. 26 1974 p.4–7; cf. also a sketch of the typology of an exhibition catalogue. On the importance of this genre as primary source for art history see Houghton, (1984), p.69 and Peters, (1988), p.65.Google Scholar
3. A good example of this is provided by Clair, Jean (1988), p.111. See also Cieszkowski, (1981), p.3, cited below.Google Scholar
4. Börsch-Supan, Helmut in his review of the exhibition Antoine Pesne 1683-1757 (East Berlin, October-December 1983), Kunstchronik, no.37 1984 p. 123. See also his ‘Wider die dicken Austellungskataloge’, Schöndruck/Widerdruck. Schriften-Fest für Michael Meier zum 20 Dezember 1985. Munich and Berlin, 1985, p. 136–140. A similar version can be found in Daniel Ternois (1988), p. 107.Google Scholar
5. On the primary function of the exhibition catalogue as a commentary on that which the viewer sees before him, Pierre Rosenberg says ‘Le catalogue, lui, s’appuie sur l’oeuvre originale, la notice nous la fait découvrir dans toute sa diversité, elle nous en garde vivant le souvenir’. Rosenberg (1988), p.101.Google Scholar
6. Il catalogo italiano 1979-1981. Moscow, 1981 (exhibiting institution not given). (Contributi di ricerca e di informazione sui beni artistici e ambientali nelle più recenti esposizioni in Italia). Florence: Centro Di, 1981. Not to be found are the dates of the exhibition as well as the prices for the individual catalogues. The exhibition was put on by the Italian Foreign Office along with the Ministero per i Beni Culturali e Ambientali.Google Scholar
7. Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Kunstbibliotheken. - Protokoll der 11. Arbeitstagung, 12. November 1970. Munich: Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte, p.6–10.Google Scholar
8. ARLIS Newsletter, no. 16 September 1973.Google Scholar
9. ‘Exhibition Catalogs at the Conference’, ARLIS/NA Newsletter v.III, no.2 February 1975 p.38.Google Scholar
10. See Rücker, (1979) and Houghton, (1984).Google Scholar
11. Burton, (1977); Cieszkowski, (1981).Google Scholar
12. Wagner, (1979); Gold, (1980).Google Scholar
13. Rücker, (1983), p.111.Google Scholar
14. At the end of the 1970’s approximately 25% of the annual accessions consisted of exhibition catalogues at the Germanische Nationalmuseum. Rücker (1979), p.207.Google Scholar
15. At the request of the Bavarian ministries for Education and Culture and Art and Science, a ‘1987 guideline for the future use of computers in Bavarian State Libraries’ (DV-Rahmenplan 1987) plans to involve, among the 13 libraries, six art libraries (including the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte). It remains to be seen how favourably the computerization of the acquisition of exhibition catalogues will compare with that of books.Google Scholar
16. In comparison, the library of the Bayer Staatsgemäldesammlungen obtains 80% of its exhibition catalogues as exchanges or author’s copies.Google Scholar
17. An overview of these categories is given in Houghton, (1984), p.68f.Google Scholar
18. Houghton, (1984).Google Scholar
19. A well-known example of this type is The Worldwide Art Catalogue Bulletin. Part list of new publications, part critical bibliography, the Bulletin has appeared since 1963; an Annual Index rounds it out.Google Scholar
20. By far the most complete directory of public and private exhibitors is the International Directory of Arts. Internationales Kunst-Adressbuch. 18th edition 1987/1988. 2 vols. Frankfurt am Main: Müller, 1987.Google Scholar
21. Burton, (1977), p.74.Google Scholar
22. Selective list of periodicals can be found in Burton, (1977) and Rücker, (1983).Google Scholar
23. At the Zentalinstitut für Kungstgeschichte in 1987 291 out of the total 441 German catalogues were gifts; of the 315 catalogues received by means of exchange 78 were of domestic production.Google Scholar
24. Rücker, (1979), p.200.Google Scholar
25. Peters, (1988), p.66; Ternois, (1988), p.108.Google Scholar
26. Gold, (1980), p. 116 establishes, in regard to the American production, a price increase of 10% from 1970-1979.Google Scholar
27. Peters, (1988), p.67ff. See also Mai, Ekkehard, Expositionen. Geschichte und Kritik des Austellungswesens. Munich, 1986, p.97–102.Google Scholar
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29. Catalogus. Bulletin bibliographique trimestriel illustré de récents catalogues d’exposition d’art contemporain. The first issue (Automne 1988) appeared as a supplement to the 25th Cahier du Museé national d’art moderne. It cites 332 exhibition catalogues in 24 pages, and contains short entries and an index of artists.Google Scholar
30. 10 June - 30 October 1988. Ruhr, Kulturstiftung, Hügel, Villa, Essen. (Freren: Luca, 1988). The exhibition will be taken over by Vienna.Google Scholar
31. Cieszkowski, (1981), p.4.Google Scholar
32. Arbeitsgemeinschaft.. (as in note 7), p.8.Google Scholar
33. The two oldest and largest specialist agencies for exhibition catalogues have long since given in and allowed their clients to inspect titles. The strict demeanor described by Burton (1977), p.77, can no longer be upheld.Google Scholar
34. Rücker, (1979), p.202, 207; 201: Title changes in travelling exhibitions!Google Scholar
35. Zurbarán. New York, Metropolitan Museum: 16 September - 14 December 1987; Paris, Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais: 14 January - 11 April 1988; Madrid, Prado: 3 May-30 July 1988.Google Scholar
36. Washington, National Gallery of Art: 23 October 1987-3 January 1988.Google Scholar
37. The Hungarian Avant-Garde 1914-1933. Storrs, The William Benton Museum of Art: 25 October - 24 December 1987 and Burlington, The Robert Hull Fleming Museum, University of Vermont: 26 January - 18 March 1988.Google Scholar
38. A curious example for this type is the catalogue Abraham Bloemaert im Oberhausmuseum der Stadt Passau (FRG): 17 June - 31 July 1988. The booklet comprises 15 hectographed pages and indicates 39 entries, of which 32 are drawings and engravings and 7 are paintings. It was handed out for free at the exhibit, but the museum did not systematically send to other print collections, nor was it available in bookshops. There is no introduction and no indication that the exhibited works of the Utrecht painter do not belong to the Passau museum, as the title and text seem to indicate. Such items are not only difficult to obtain, but are very frustrating for our colleagues from the aspect of title.Google Scholar
39. Wagner, (1979), p.62ff; Gold, (1980), p. 116.Google Scholar
40. Wagner, (1979), p.62.Google Scholar
41. We have consciously avoided listing individual standing order agenices here. The nature of such a list is always subjective and tends to reflect the individual librarian’s limited knowledge of foreign specialist booksellers. To be truly helpful, they must be constantly brought up to date. Specialist agencies are listed in Burton, (1977), p.76f, Rücker, (1979), p.204, and Rücker, (1983), p.117.Google Scholar
42. Emile Mâle. Le symbolisme chrétien. Vichy, Bibliothèque municipale: 28 May - 20 June 1983.Google Scholar
43. Also Umberto Eco’s oft-read paper De Bibliotheca gives an amusing and contemporary philosophy of library use but not of acquisitions (Umberto Eco, Sette anni di desiderio. Milan, 1983; German version entitled Die Bibliothek. Munich/Vienna, 1987.Google Scholar
44. This is indicated in a ‘Mitteilung der Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Kunstbibliotheken’, Kunstchronik no.26 1973, p.377f. and in Rücker, Elisabeth, ‘Kooperative Erwerbungspolitik deutscher Kunstbibliotheken. Ein Programm der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft’, Kunstchronik no.31 1978, p.437–446.Google Scholar
45. La Riviera de Charles Nègre. Premières photographies de la Côte d’Azur. Travelling exhibition Grasse - Cannes -Mougins - Nice - Ingolstadt: 31 May - 30 October 1988.Google Scholar
46. Eugene Delacroix. Zurich, Kunsthaus: 5 June-23 August 1987; Frankfurt am Main, Städt. Galerie im Städel: 24 September 1987 - 10 January 1988; Madrid, Museo del Prado: 2 March - 20 April 1988.Google Scholar
47. For a general discussion, see Houghton, (1984), p.67.Google Scholar
48. An exceptional case is the Kunstbibliothek Berlin which belongs to no museum but publishes catalogues for exhibitions of its own collections.Google Scholar
49. For example, Söhn, Gerhart, ‘Zersplitterte Landschaft. Es fehlt ein Zentralarchiv für die Kunst des 20. J ahrhunderts’, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 8 October 1987. For a limited area of the classic German Avantgarde, the Bauhaus and its periphery, an attempt is being made by the Bauhaus-Archiv to collect all forms of documentation, including invitations.Google Scholar

Bibliography (in chronological order)

1973 ARLIS Newsletter, no. 16 September, 1973 (contributions by various authors on the subject of exhibition catalogues).Google Scholar
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