What Data Exactly
What paintings are we looking for?
We have drawn up a list of 509 artists from 47 countries who have produced work in Europe between 1860 and 1945. So far, we have found 287 artists represented in 36 museum collections across the US, but we are determined to find more! In order to locate these artists in your collection, we are asking you to kindly share any collection information with us that fits the bill: paintings from Europe created between 1860 and 1945. Since we are able to refine all data for our needs, filtering out any information that is surplus to requirement, no data is too much data. That is, please do not feel as though you can overshare!
What do we mean by ‘painting’ exactly?
We are aware that while some museums use the classification ‘painting’, others do not, and that the spectrum of what defines a painting can include anything from oil on canvas and mixed media to 'Oil and metal fasteners on sandpaper, mounted on canvas, with feathers’. Indeed, for our algorithmically generated website ‘What is a painting?’, we have already gathered 587 different media types from 36 museums. If we can thus make one wish, it is that you overshare your information should you not use the classification ‘painting’. This is because we can easily filter your information for ‘paintings’ that are consistent with our dataset.
What types of information are we looking for?
Essentially, we are looking for the types of information that are typically recorded in catalogue raisonnés: object information and, if possible, also provenance information, exhibition history, and published references. This can include, but is not limited to, the following, where essential information is highlighted in bold:
Artist name
Title of the object
Date of creation (or unknown)
Place / Location of creation
Dimensions
Medium / materials
Credit Line
Accession / object number
Inscriptions, signatures, etc.
URL of the object on your museum website
Classification
Museum department
Provenance text and notes
Exhibition history before entering the museum collection
Bibliography, published references, catalogue raisonné
For your convenience, we have prepared a table with the types of information we are looking for: Museum Data Table. Please feel free to use this table as a reference and/or to copy and paste your collection information into it, before kindly sending it back to us per email: provenance@leuphana.de.
Can you share ‘too much’ or ‘wrong’ information?
Certainly not. Rather, if in doubt, please overshare! Indeed, we understand that it is not always easy to pull, never mind filter, specific information from collection management systems, online platforms and publications. Luckily, we can extract information from any source and filter it for specific data, be it digital or analogue.
Can you share your information in any format?
Yes! While we would prefer to receive semi-structured or structured data, we would be very grateful for your collection information in any format, indeed, even analog. For example:
collection data presented in a table in Excel, CSV, or Google spreadsheet (structured or semi-structured)
collection data in a text document such as Word or PDF (unstructured)
collection information in a publication, be it a hard copy, scan, or bibliographic reference to a catalogue
For your convenience, we have prepared a table with the types of information we are looking for: Museum Data Table. Please feel free to use this table as a reference and/or to copy and paste your collection information into it, before kindly sending it back to us per email: provenance@leuphana.de.