...

290+

Record files on International Art Dealers and their Agents

2,205+

Record files on International Private Collectors

110

Auction Houses feature in our Auction Catalogue Databank

17,300+

Artwork Photographs from Dealers and Collectors Held

The Library & Archive

Welcome to one of the largest Library & Archive of factual 'primary source material' on European Impressionist & Modern Art available in one location. Over many years our researchers have been gathering and sourcing documentation internationally that support the historical record of significant works of art. Documentation vital to collectors that wish to establish early provenance to support authenticity and identify restitution risk.

Our Archive is built from internationally sourced material, collected together for the first time to be collated, compared and assessed. We gather material in a highly focused manner, specific to each artist at a particular time in their lives. We wish to understand not only what artists were producing and when but also, which dealers they operated through and how. This allows us to build an accurate contextual understanding of an artwork's journey, the network of dealers it passed through and the collectors that owned it.

Our Library continues to bring together all known exhibition and literature publications on specific artists, with particular attention paid to publications preceding both World War II and the death dates of the artists.

We are also continuing to develop a library of International Auction Catalogues. The earliest texts we hold are from 1880's to the present day. They are largely digitalised and available for the use by professional curators, art academics, Masters and Phd. students on request.

Significant Projects

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Galerie Vollard Archive

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Galerie Thannhauser Archive

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Carstairs Gallery Archive

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The Looted Art Claims Project

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Auction Catalogue Databank

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Paul Rosenberg Archive Project

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Fauve Period Paintings Catalogue

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French Export Applications, Licences granted and refused 1940-1964

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Our Archive contains the following types of records:

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Impressionist & Modern Art Dealer Administration Records;

including stock books, sales books, commission books, client inventory cards, restoration reports, sales receipts, provenance records, artists letters, photographic indexes, authentication letters etc. We currently hold records on over 290 art dealers and their agents. We execute a complete holistic analysis of dealer's available records that we gather from multiple sources. Where possible we have achieved historically significant reconstructed 'lost' stock books from primary materials for the following galleries:

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Institutional & Arts Societies Records;

including exhibition administration records, insurance documents, inventory lists, request letters, shipping records, damage reports, exhibition catalogues, scholar notes, sales books etc. The Archive contains digitalised records from over 90 Institutions.& Arts Societies

Private Collector Records;

the Archive holds records on over 2,200 Private collectors; including collection inventories, requests to dealers, condition reports, restoration receipts, collection catalogues.

Scholars Papers;

including cataloguing notes, authentication certificates, photographic archives, collector letters & inventories.

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French Export Applications, Licences granted and refused 1940-1964

Details are below within the Specialist projects area.

The Looted Art Claims Project;

collates, contextualises and assesses partially structured and unstructured archive material data related to European Impressionist & Modern artworks that were stolen, confiscated, seized, looted or subject to forced sale during the period 1933-1945. The Looted Art Claims Project that has tracked over 4,600 Impression and Modern Artworks. The project generates Restitution Risk Profile Certificates and in-depth tailored specialist Reports related to challenging provenance and restitution related questions.

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Art Market Index Databank

We are the only library in the world that has collated together the records of auction sales of European Impressionist & Modern Art between 1861 and 2024. The task was not straight forward, we had to find and gather complete sets of multiple indexes that were scattered throughout many international libraries. The "art sale indexes" were published mainly in France, Germany and England, translated into at least four different languages and issued, through translation, with confusing new titles. In Addition the Indexes changed publishers, titles were even swallowed by competing publishing houses over the years. Our interest is to be able to track the whole history of one artist's auction record.

We have completed the analysis of 533 Auctions that feature over 2,900 European Impressionist & Modern artworks (paintings, drawings and sculpture) that were conducted in Germany / Austria-Hungry / Austria & Switzerland during the following periods: 1900 - 1945.

Specialist Projects

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The 'Lost' Stockbooks of Paul Rosenberg / Galerie Rosenberg, Paris 1906 - 1940

The project is currently recovering data from the receipts, restoration notes and collector letters of the Galerie Paul Rosenberg, Paris 1906 - 1928. The data is then transferred into a 'stock book,' with the data links to each archival source recorded. The format of the data is recorded chronologically. The second stage of the project will cover the period from 1928 - 1940.

So far the 1906 - 1928 Stock Book records over 830 Artworks traded by Galerie Paul Rosenberg, Paris

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French Export Applications, Licences granted and refused 1940-1964

This project is analysing every existing archive record of the movements of European Impressionist and Modern Art that were exported from France between 1940-1964. The project was given special access to records to develop this key resource for Private and Institutional Collectors.

The archival materials have been gathered, digitalised and initial structuring of the data has been accomplished.

The projects aim is to build a dataset that clarifies the information between the different sorts of archive materials (export applications, assessments, registers and export licenses granted and refused). This will enable the precise tracking of artworks. Further details on this project are to follow. For more information contact us directly. 

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George Braque's Fauve Period Complete Catalogue of Paintings

Walmsley Fine Art Advisory has been mapping and x-checking all known Georges Braque Fauve period paintings. We investigate and hold on file one of the largest library & archive collections for this period that allows us to study and recover documentation from publications, exhibtions, dealer records, press archives, institutional archives, scholar notes, owner collection inventories etc.. so far the project has assessed 120 paintings:

  • A total of 113 paintings that appear to have been executed between 1904-1907 have been assessed.
  • There are 27 paintings that are distinctive but are currently without image verification.
  • There are 35 paintings that are currently owned by Museums.
  • The 29 paintings that were identified in Isalov's catalogue Raisonne of 1932 have been recognised in the data.
  • At least 1 painting is of dubious Authenticity.
  • At least 1 painting has potential restitution issues.

We are currently contacting the owners of these paintings to provide them with the 'primary source evidence' documentation we have been able to recover on their paintings. This verification documentation greatly supports the provenance history of these artworks.

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