Artistic Heritage Management: Professional Inventory and Cataloguing

The service offered consists of the recording, inventory and cataloguing of pictorial, photographic, sculptural and graphic artworks. As cultural assets and physical objects, we consider the recording, inventory and cataloguing of these artistic assets to be an essential task for their study, dissemination, maintenance, protection and/or conservation.

Three interconnected actions or processes are carried out:

• Registration is the first step and consists of identifying and collecting the information used to identify the assets to be classified and organised. Different types of data are systematically collected and recorded: registration number, collection, title/name – designation, author/manufacturer, conservation status, provenance, photographic record and location. This serves as the basis for developing inventories and catalogues.
• Inventory is the next step after registration. It refers to the process of identifying each and every asset after recording all relevant information about its characteristics in the corresponding inventory records.
• Cataloguing involves configuring and designing a physical or digital document in which a series of studies, analyses and materials relating to the collection’s artworks are recorded, organised and described according to specific criteria and a defined methodology.

The existence of artistic cultural assets in collections and holdings requires organisation and classification through registration and inventory, which are necessary for their identification, maintenance, conservation and dissemination. This service can be offered to individuals and institutions holding heritage assets, collections or artworks requiring inventory or cataloguing.

We offer the recording and study of information relating to artworks, followed by their inventory, cataloguing, promotion or dissemination in print or online.

We offer specialised professional expertise in the field of Fine Arts, together with previous experience in the cataloguing and inventory of artworks.

The cataloguing of artworks serves several functions and offers a number of advantages:

• Visual documentary record of the exhibition project or collection.
• Theoretical documentary support for the project or collection.
• A document for analysing and gaining a deeper understanding of the exhibition or collection.
• A tool for publishing and disseminating the exhibition project or artworks in an artistic collection.
• A source of information for subsequent research and reflection.
• A record for future retrieval and preservation of memory.

Fully operational. The service is immediately available for application to public or private collections, using a methodology already tested in professional and academic settings.

• Cultural Institutions (Town Councils, Provincial Councils, Foundations).
• Art Galleries and Auction Houses.
• Private Collectors and Family Offices.
• Companies with Corporate Art Collections.
• Historical Archives and Libraries.

José Antonio Hinojos Morales – Department of Art