Saturday, May 3, 2025

The Getty Provenance Index

[First posted in AWOL 6 March 2020, updates 3 May 2025]

The Getty Provenance Index® provides open access to millions of resources from dealer stock books, sales catalogs, and archival inventories, revealing information on the ownership and market histories of artworks. As part of ongoing improvements, the Provenance Index is transitioning to a linked open data structure and platform for enhanced access and query.
  1. Open book with handwritten artwork titles, galleries, numbers, and costs

    Transactional records from prominent galleries and dealers, including Goupil & Cie./Boussod, Valadon & Cie. (Paris, 1846–1919), and M. Knoedler & Co. (New York, 1872–1970)

    Search within Dealer Stock Books

  2. Sales Catalogs

    Printed list describing art objects in a collection belonging to Sir Peter Lely

    Auction house and dealer sales catalogs documenting works of art offered for sale in Europe from 1650 to 1945

    Search within Sales Catalogs

  3. Archival Inventories

    Colored drawing of a wall with various Italian words in frames and a window with curtains

    Legal records of objects in European private collections from 1520 to 1880 (data is in transition and is currently accessible on our legacy database platform)

    Search within Archival Inventories

Provenance Resources

These databases complement the Getty Provenance Index, providing further materials for research on art transfer and ownership.

  1. Collectors Files

    Various photocopies and papers with information about collecting art

    References to over 20,000 Getty Research Institute files on collectors and collections from the Middle Ages to the 21st century

    Search within Collectors Files

  2. Payments to Artists

    Crowd of people fighting each other, with men pulling and dragging women away, a man in red robes watching over the scene

    Records of payments to artists in Rome between 1576 and 1711, highlighting patronage and artistic networks

    Search within Payments to Artists

  3. Public Collections

    Map of US, Canada, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Ireland, and United Kingdom with circles in varying sizes representing public collections

    Provenance records from 1500 to 1990 for artworks in public institutions across Great Britain and the United States

    Search within Public Collections


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