Research
The collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of an art object
Art research employs several critical lenses to fully understand a work of art.
Formal analysis is a fundamental approach that focuses on an artwork's visual elements, like its use of line, color, and composition, to interpret its aesthetic qualities.
Meanwhile, iconography delves into the deeper meaning of an artwork by decoding its symbols and themes, connecting it to specific cultural, religious, or historical contexts.
Beyond the object itself, the social history of art considers how social, political, and economic forces of a particular time influenced its creation.
Another method, the biographical approach, interprets an artwork by examining the artist's life and personal experiences.
Lastly, provenance research traces an object's complete history of ownership, a vital step for confirming its authenticity and addressing any ethical concerns regarding its origin.
Art Research Resources
ArtTrak.com features several free research databases. ArtTrak Auction Database includes over 200,000 historical records of objects sold at auction from the 1970s up to and including catalogs after the Year 2000. This searchable database is particularly useful in tracking the provenance of particular objects.
There is also the Southwest Historic Pottery Database that includes over 1700 objects from museum collections in the southwest USA. In this section, links are provided to several public art/research databases.
Tribal Art Auction Database
The ArtTrak Auction Database is the only Tribal Art resource that is searchable for past auction results between 1980 and the present. Our data entry efforts are continuous as we enter current catalogs and art auction catalogs from the 1970s and earlier. As a subscriber to the art auction database you can search for an object on tribe, category, auction house, sale, origin, date, sold amount, collection history, and research data. Because of copyright issues photographs are not attached to the auction records; however, the search will indicate whether photos are available in the catalogs. Searches can be downloaded and printed on your printer.
Historic Pueblo Pottery Project
The Historic Pueblo Pottery database contains over 1850 ceramics dating from the 18th to the mid-20th century. They are sourced from 7 major museum collections in the United States: Arizona State Museum, Tucson; Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati; Taylor Museum of Art, Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs; Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa; Museum of the Red River, Idabel; Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee; and Logan Museum of Anthropology, Beloit.
There is no doubt that without the assistance and support of the curators at these various institutions, as well as the expertise and patience of Bill Mercer, this project could never have succeeded. This, however, is just the beginning. As we work out all the bugs, we shall be encouraging your participation in adding additional historic pottery that is comparable in age and quality, and with a good documented collection history. Please contact me if you have any questions or suggestions.
We want this free database to continue to grow as an important research resource for scholars, curators, dealers, collectors, and students.