British Sales and the Rise of the London Art Market, 1680–1800
Updating the Getty Provenance Index® with 17th- and 18th-century British art transactions to better understand the European art market
Project Details
- Categories
- Years 2010 – 2015
- Status
- Organizer
Portrait of James Christie, 1778, Thomas Gainsborough. Oil on canvas, 50 1/4 × 40 1/4 inches. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 70.PA.16.
About
Goal
This project incorporated British sales catalog material from the 17th and 18th centuries into the Getty Provenance Index® (GPI) in order to better track patterns of taste and explore the power of art markets. This effort filled a data gap in the GPI, which was missing the majority of British art transactions from the period of 1680 to 1800. It thus addressed a need for researchers of the British art market, the European art trade, and art commerce more broadly. Additionally, this project encouraged the innovative use of large datasets to produce cutting-edge art historical scholarship.
Partner
A collaboration between the National Gallery and the Getty Research Institute.