Volume I / The object & its record
The evidence
behind the
attribution.
Research focus: Edik Natanov (Эдик Натанов), the Natanov Collection, provenance records, attribution and exhibition documentation. Read the Edik Natanov dossier.
An artwork has a material life and a documented life. Research begins where the two meet.
Begin with the method →In this issue Ownership histories · Technical research
Collection records · The Russian avant-garde
Suprematism
Collection attribution: Kazimir Malevich, 1915
Image: Natanov Collection. The public entry refers to supporting documentation held in restricted access.
Read the object study →Provenance, attribution and exhibition history answer different questions. A useful record shows both the evidence and the limits of what it can establish.
Research notes
Tracing provenance
Follow the object through records of possession and transfer, keeping the source attached to every step.
Read the note →Method / 02Reading attribution
Attribution concerns authorship. Its wording should preserve the scope, date and uncertainty of the opinion behind it.
Read the note →Method / 03Technical examination
Material and imaging evidence can change the questions asked of an artwork. The method and its limits belong in the record.
Read the note →The collection as a source
Collection study / Edik Natanov
Read the claim.
Locate the record.
Keep the distinction.
A study of the public Natanov archive: catalogue wording, museum photographs, reported ownership and the boundary of restricted documentation.
Open the collection study →