It's all about the artwork

the documentation process

Every piece of information entered into the catalogue’s database is related to a specific work of art. This includes its characteristics (title, medium, date, dimensions…) as well as information on its current location, provenance, exhibition history, published references, research notes, and more.

ONLINE PLATFORM

The online research platform facilitates the entry and organization of required data around the artwork. The Marchutz catalogue raisonné is powered by panOpticon, a cloud-based information management system, using the Uniform Data Standards recommended by leading members of the Catalogue Raisonné Scholars Association. The panOpticon platform hosts the catalogues raisonnés of over 90 artists, including Paul Cézanne (discover Paul Cézanne’s Catalogue Raisonné), Mary Cassatt, Roy Lichtenstein, Sam Francis and John Singer Sargent.

“One of the many challenges of a catalogue raisonné, is staying focused. When I feel I’m getting dispersed, I repeat to myself my new mantra: It’s all about the artwork.

Denise Lemoine
Project Manager, The Leo Marchutz Catalogue Raisonné

Project Highlights

ARTWORK CATALOGED

670 works recorded
(350 paintings & 320 lithographs)

MUSEUM FINDINGS

247 individual works and
33 original documents found
in 9 international museums

PHOTO SHOOTS

233 large-format paintings professionally photographed.
310 lithographs of Aix scanned using a high quality/high resolution scanner.

3 FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGNS

160 donors
$32,263 collected

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400+ newsletter subscribers

Lost and found

The mysteries of the catalogue raisonne

Catalogue raisonné research is like detective work. You have to dig, follow leads, gather evidence, compare notes, and build your case. You have to be methodical… and above all, patient.

A catalogue raisonné is “a comprehensive, annotated listing of all the known works of an artist either in a particular medium or all media”. Sound simple? Well, think again! Like most artists, Leo Marchutz did not keep detailed notes on the artwork he created, exhibited, sold, donated or destroyed. Since research began, we have made some exciting discoveries in a number of museums around the world. We also encountered a fair share of mysteries. Below is a sample of what we found (or didn’t…)

MUSEUM FINDINGS

Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET), New York

— 20 lithographs, 12 drawings, 6 illustrated pages from The Gospel According to Saint Luke (donation of James N. Rosenberg)

Albertina Museum, Vienna

— 40 lithographs, 2 drawings and 1 illustrated edition of The Gospel According to Saint Luke (donation Private Collector)

Sapienza University of Rome

— 14 drawings (in The Lionello Venturi Archives)

Smithsonian, Washington, D.C.

— 33 original documents on the artist and The Leo Marchutz School of Painting and Drawing (in The Henry Pearlman Archives)

Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), New York

— 86 original lithographs, and a supplementary suite of 4-drawings from The Gospel According to Saint Luke (from the Louis E. Stern Collection)
— 2 lithographs and 1 drawing (gifts of Henry Pearlman)

Lenbachhaus Museum, Munich

— 12 lithographs from the album Vues de la Sainte Victoire (purchased by curator Hans Konrad Roethel from the artist)

Musée Granet, Aix-en-Provence

— 1 early period painting (donated by John Rewald)
— 10 lithographs, 2 large format paintings and 1 drawing (purchased by the Museum)

The Brooklyn Museum

— 1 large format painting Mary and Four Angels (provenance unknown to date)

“We are delighted to have Mr. Marchutz’s prints in the Museum’s collection. His strength lies in delicacy, in deft suggestion.

A. Hyatt Mayor
Curator of the Print Department of
The Metropolitan Museum of New York (1959)

whereabouts unknown

30 early works

Brought to London by John Rewald, acting as Marchutz’s agent in the 1930’s
Remaining leads: The Victoria and Albert Museum. John Rewald’s family to determine which galleries, private collectors, and other museums may have been approached.

1 oil painting, The Ascension, (1919)

The first painting sold by Leo Marchutz to Theater and Film Director Max Reinhardt.
Remaining leads: The heirs and relatives of Max Reinhardt in Germany and in the US.

97 artworks

Purchased by art collector Henry Pearlman between 1962 and 1969
Remaining leads: The Brooklyn Museum. The Henry Pearlman Papers at the Smithsonian Archives.

7 early period paintings (c. 1920)

The Apostles, The Annunciation, Christ on the Mount of Olives, The Resurrection, John at Patmos, Emmaus, Tobias Becoming Blind.
Remaining leads: The Folkwang and Osthaus Museums in Hagen and Essen, Germany. Other museums and galleries in Munster active in the 1920’s. The heirs and relatives of Ernst Osthaus, art collector and organizer of Marchutz’s first solo show.