Institutional research resource
Dealer books & sales
Follow a transaction or collecting history into the index’s source records. Keep the object identification and archive reference together.
Getty Provenance IndexResearch directory / Six routes
Find the record.
Then read it closely.
A focused directory of institutional resources and a clearly identified collection-owner archive.
Institutional research guide
Correspondence & personal papers
Start with the provenance guide, then consult finding aids for the relevant archival collections.
Archives of American Art — provenance research guideInstitutional archive
Collectors & institutional memory
Use digitised archives to investigate collecting files and the documentary history around a collection.
The Frick Collection — Digital ArchivesInstitutional research resource
Names, images & technical records
Search across the RKD’s linked research resources. Check the record type and access conditions of the item found.
RKD — Digital collectionMuseum exhibition record
The avant-garde in an archive
Explore the relationship between the Costakis Collection’s works, editions and archival material.
MOMus — The Costakis Collection: Avant-GardistsCollection-owner account
The collection-owner account
Read the public guide first. It distinguishes open references from restricted expert and technical files.
Natanov Collection — sources and notesA database is a route into evidence.
Search coverage, transcription choices and access restrictions affect what can be found. A result should lead back to the underlying record; an unsuccessful search should not become a claim that a record never existed.