The Fine Arts Library provides access to resources in all formats to support provenance research.
This collection includes more than 40,000 sales catalogues from the United States, Europe, and Asia from the 18th century to present day. The Fine Arts Library continues to grow the print catalogues produced by the European houses as well as prioritizing the acquisition of rare catalogues from the 18th and 19th centuries, especially when annotated. However, Sothebys and Christies ceased production of print sales catalogues for their respective auctions in 2020. Information about their sales is available for a limited time just before the auction on their websites. The Fine Arts Library is no longer able to maintain a current record of Sothebys and Christies.
The Walther and Ellen Bernt Collection is a large research collection that includes rare auction sales catalogs from the late 19th and early 20th centuries on 17th-century Dutch and Flemish painters. A collection inventory is available on request.
A significant number of auction sales catalogs are available in the Microforms Collection, including microfiche for the Knoedler Library and the Art Sales Catalogues, 1826–1860, and microfilm for Sotheby's sales catalogs from 1734–1980.
Accessing These Materials
Individual sales catalogs are represented in HOLLIS and may be requested for use in the Fine Arts Library's Special Collections Study Room by appointment.
Newer receipts may lack a record, but may still be requested via HOLLIS Special Request.
The Microform Collections and readers are located in the basement stacks level of the Fine Arts Library. A digital scanner is also available in the Reading Room on the first floor of the library.
Relevant electronic resources are listed in the Research Guide for the History of Art and Architecture and some may be accessed directly through Harvard Library's E-Research Portal.
Selected databases require a password. Contact a Fine Arts Library reference librarian for access at falibref@fas.harvard.edu.