RDA Special Topics:

Art Catalogs
Kate James
LC Policy & Standards Division
December 2011
Revised January 2013
What we mean by “art
catalogs” here
 Listings of artwork by one or more artists,
usually with many pictures
 Also including catalogs of art exhibitions
 NOT including
 Auction and sales catalogs (covered separately
in LC-PCC PS 19.2.1.1.1)
 Artists’ books (books produced by artists
intended as visual objects)
 Other types of books about art like instructional
materials, biographies of artists, books about
aesthetics

Art Catalogs 2
 AACR2 21.17B1 not in RDA
 21.17B1: If a work consists of reproductions of the works
of an artist and text about the artist and/or the works
reproduced, enter under the heading appropriate to the
text if the person who wrote it is represented as author in
the chief source of information of the item being
catalogued. Make an added entry under the heading for
the artist. Otherwise, enter under the heading for the artist.

 No special instruction in RDA equivalent to

AACR2 21.17B1! Use general instructions
instead.
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 Remains the same in RDA

 LCRI 21.1B1 = LC-PCC PS 19.2.1.1.1 Art

Catalogs
 LCRI 21.1B2 Art Catalogs = LC-PCC PS
19.2.1.1.1 Art Catalogs
 An artist can still be considered a creator
(main entry in AACR2-speak) in RDA
because 6.27.1.2 includes the idea of artist as
creator
 Reproductions of the work(s) of an artist
named the same way as original work
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 Art catalogs and corporate
bodies (LC-PCC PS 19.2.1.1.1)
 Recurring exhibition?—yes enter under
exhibition
111 2# $a Arango International Design Exhibition $n (8th : $d
1992 : $c Miami, Fla.; New Orleans, La.)
245 10 $a Out of the ordinary : $b good design for $20 or less.

 Owned by one corporate body?—yes, enter

under corporate body
110 2# $a National Gallery of Art (U.S.)
245 10 $a Italian paintings of the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries / $c Diane de Grazia, Eric Garberson.

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Art catalogs and personal names

 If main entry under corporate body

(including conference name) is not
appropriate, consult Chapter 6,
especially:

 6.27.1.2 Works Created by One Person

 6.27.1.3 Collaborative Works
 6.27.1.4 Compilations
 6.27.1.6 Commentary, etc. Added to a
Previously Existing Work
Art Catalogs 6
 Art catalog as compilation of
works of one creator
 Usually art catalogs for
a single artist contain
compilations of the
works of the artist
100 1# $a Warhol, Andy, $d 1928-1987.
240 10 $a Drawings. $k Selections
245 10 $a Andy Warhol drawings.

100 1# $a Bissell, Robert.

240 10 $a Paintings. $k Selections
245 10 $a Hero : $b the paintings of Robert Bissell / $c
introduction by Carl Little.

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 Art catalog as commentary plus
previously existing work(s)
 Catalog presented as the work of the person writing
about the art
100 1# $a Bailey, Colin B.
245 10 $a Renoir : $b impressionism and full-length painting / $c
Colin B. Bailey.

 Catalog is presented as the work(s) of the artist

100 1# $a Renoir, Auguste, $d 1841-1919.
240 10 $a Works. $k Selections
245 10 $a Renoir : $b paintings, drawings, lithographs, and
etchings / $c selected and introduced by Nigel Lambourne.

Art Catalogs 8
 Art catalog compilation?
 Look further than statement of responsibility
relating to title proper
 No creator in statement(s) of responsibility
245 $a The masterworks of Charles M. Russell : $b a
retrospective of paintings and sculpture / $c edited by Joan
Carpenter Troccoli ; foreword by Lewis I. Sharp and
Duane H. King.

 Possible creators
245 $a Georgia O'Keeffe and Ansel Adams : $b natural affinities /
$c essays by Barbara Buhler Lynes, Sandra S. Phillips,
Richard B. Woodward.

Art Catalogs 9
 Art catalog compilation?—yes
 Answer is clear when you look at table of contents
245 $a The masterworks of Charles M. Russell.
505 $a Poetry and motion in the art of Charles M. Russell / by
Joan Carpenter Troccoli – Memories of Charles M.
Russell among my Indian relatives / by George Horse
Capture, Sr. – Charlie Russell in wax / by Mindy Besaw –
Charlie Russell discovers Lewis and Clark / by James P.
Ronda.

245 $a Georgia O'Keeffe and Ansel Adams.

505 $a Northeast by Southwest / Richard B. Woodward –
Georgia O'Keeffe and Ansel Adams : subjects of self /
Barbara Buhler Lynes -- What Adams saw : Ansel Adams
and modern art in America / Sandra S. Phillips.
Art Catalogs 1
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 Example: art catalog compilation
o Catalog is published by an art gallery, but LC-PCC PS
19.2.1.1.1 does not apply. It is a compilation in multiple
senses.
245 $a Susan Hiller / $c edited by Ann Gallagher ; with
contributions by Yve-Alain Bois, Guy Brett, Jörg Heiser,
Alexandra M. Kokoli and Jan Verwoert.
500 $a Catalog published on the occasion of the exhibition
Susan Hiller at the Tate Britain, 1 February-15 May 2011.
505 $a Shape shifting / Ann Gallagher – Retrievals / Susan
Hiller, Yve-Alain Bois and Guy Brett in conversation – Key
Works, 1970-2010 – Messages suppressed by culture
do not cease to exist / Jörg Heiser – Moving Sideways and
other “sleeping metaphors” : Susan Hiller’s
paraconceptualism / Alexandra M. Kokoli – Science and
Sentience / Jan Verwoert.

Art Catalogs 1
1
 Example: art catalog compilation
 Access points have been given for the editor and
contributor named first in statement of responsibility.
700 1# $a Gallagher, Ann.
700 1# $a Bois, Yve-Alain.
 Instead of an analytical authorized access point for the
first work listed in the 505, an analytical access point is
given for the compilation of the artist’s works.
700 12 $a Hiller, Susan. $t Works. $k Selections.
 An access point for the host institution is optional, but
consider giving if helpful to the user.
710 2# $a Tate Britain (Gallery)

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Exhibition catalogs
 An exhibition catalog is not the
exhibition itself

 Exhibitions are corporate bodies, which

are Group 2 entities

 Exhibition catalogs are manifestation,

which are Group 1 entities

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Relationship designators
(Appendix I)
 Relationship designators for creators
(I.2.1):
 artist
 author
 photographer

 Relationship designators for other P-F-

CBs associated with a work (I.2.2):
 host institution
 issuing body
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Relationship designators
(Appendix I) (cont.)
 Relationship designators for
contributors (I.3.1):
 editor of compilation
 writer of added commentary
 writer of added text

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A relationship designator not
commonly used for art catalogs
 Curator (I.5.2)
 “A person, family, or corporate body
conceiving, aggregating, and/or
organizing an exhibition, collection, or
other item”
 Only allowed for a P-F-CB associated
with an item

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 Review
 Check 19.2.1.1.1 first to see if a corporate
body should be considered creator
 The creator may not be named on the
preferred source of information
 Text is not more important than art when
determining “main entry” in the bibliographic
record
 Conventional collective titles are not
restricted to textual works
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