Project Description

Catalogue Raisonné John Quincy Adams (1873-1933)

The project aims to produce a complete scientific documentation, description and assessment (a so-called Catalogue Raisonné) of the artistic works of the Austrian painter (with American roots) John Quincy Adams (see also his short biography with links to selected works). All his works will be documented and described, including short biographies of the sitters. It will also be put into an artistic, social and biographical context to enable a comprehensive assessment of the evolution of the artist’s work and its artistic and social background.

The Catalogue Raisonné will be published in both English and German  under a ‘creative commons’ license (free use, except for commercial use) and will be made available online freely and without charge. The online format allows the catalogue to be continuously amended and expanded. The catalogue’s editor (Arnulf Grubler) and contributing experts work for free on this scientific research project. There is no commercial background. The artist’s grandson, Count Johannes Walderdorff, as well as all the holders of major public collections in Austria (the Belvedere, the Kunsthistorisches Museum, the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum and the Wien Museum) support this research project, making reproductions of works freely available for the catalogue, allowing online access to the works of Adams in their collections, and assisting research with references and documentation.

Why should owners of paintings by Adams support this project and assist its research by providing photographs and information?

1. Researching and preserving our cultural heritage relies critically on the support of private owners of art. Without their support, research would be almost impossible, there would be no exhibitions, no public appreciation of art, and no common identity through our shared cultural heritage. For research on the works by Adams in private collections we simply ask for color photographs of the painting and its signature, the dimensions of the painting, and -if available- supplementary information on the subject or sitter. In return the catalogue’s research can provide owners with valuable information. Are there matching paintings (e.g. of family or relatives) in other collections, or comparable paintings by other artists? What and who is depicted, and what is the story behind the person in the painting (many of Adams’ sitters were the equivalent of today’s celebrities). Therefore, both parties, owners and researchers can learn from each other in this project.

2. Security. The anonymity of private owners is strictly guaranteed. Attributions in the catalogue simply indicate ”private collection, country” (e.g. ”private collection, USA“), or the name of a museum and city (e.g. “Belvedere, Vienna“) for public collections. Contact details will not be stored electronically, but only in paper format and will not be passed on to third parties, except in case of museum curators planning for an (alas highly unlikely) Adams exhibition. In such case you will be asked to give your written consent before any information is shared with a museum. Conversely, the catalogue improves the safety of your valuable art. In case of loss, all necessary information (dimensions, photograph) is at hand, and appropriate warnings in the catalogue can alert art dealers and auction houses immediately through a simple consultation of a free online resource (and without expensive registrations, e.g. the Lost Art Registry).

3. Economic aspects are of no consideration for scientific research but can be in the case of private owners. Should you in future decide to sell a work in your collection it is well attested that market values depend on the documentation of a piece of art. The catalogue thus can facilitate and ease market transactions. The catalogue’s research team regrets that it is unable to provide market value assessments for the works by Adams. For this purpose, professional auction houses should be contacted. Full documentation is available online and we would be happy to respond to queries on artistic, biographical, or historical aspects of any work by Adams documented in the catalogue.


contact:
          Dr Arnulf Grubler                            Tel (office): +43 2236 807470
          Wiedner Guertel 12/14a               Tel (home): +43 1 504 3633
          A-1040 Vienna, Austria                  Email: gruebler@iiasa.ac.at
                                                                           or:  arnulf@chello.at

Online information, literature as well as a preview of selected works by Adams can be found at (work in progress):  http://www.iiasa.ac.at/~gruebler/JQA/JQA.html