Surveying your oeuvre

A first essential step towards surveying an oeuvre is knowing what works of art have been made and where they are kept, e.g. in the studio, the home or an (external) storage space. Walk through the places where the works are located and make a general plan of what is where. Identify and localise the works of art. Include the works that are on loan and those that have been donated or sold.

To localise and keep track of the works of art, you can use a placement list. Note on this list where the works are located in the rooms. You can also add a short description of the number and total of the works. The placement list makes it possible to make an initial estimate of how much time you will need to identify everything and integrate it into the inventory. You will also get a better idea of the principal and most urgent needs, and you can set clear goals.

As well as identifying the works, you can also collect as much information as possible about them during this step. What do you know about each work of art? Where can you look for further information? Have potentially important steps already been taken, such as photographing the work? You can also use this opportunity to establish the condition of the works of art and any restoration needs. This may help you later on with drawing up a condition report (in Dutch), for example, which is generally used to record and document the state of the collection.

Interested to read more? Go to next page: Organising the works of art.