What is Catalogue Raisonné
Catalogue Raisonné
The catalogue raisonné has the purpose of assembling and sharing — as an online publication for the moment — a rigorous and comprehensive body of information about the work of the painter Sofía Gandarias.
The project is conceived as a work in progress, continuously modified and expanded with the new data provided. Its base is the documentation prepared by the artist in her series. Normally, she worked according to a narrative on a main subject. This was her line that she followed since the series Presencias in 1986 till the Homage to El Greco in 2015. They were published in her website www.gandarias.es whose content has been incorporated.
Its structure is based in the narrative and the chronological order that she established in her own CV. Moreover, we have included an Index that allows the access to her works by items. Looking to her early period, we have included the works that we know, although it is work in progress.
How does the catalogue raisonné work?
The primary aim of the catalogue raisonné is to establish beyond doubt the works that belong to Gandarias’s output as an artist. It is, then, a task of attribution, that does not extend to an aesthetic appraisal of the works.
The working process is organized as follows:
To access the entry on a particular work, go to the search engine. It has different sections, some of them with drop-down menus, to facilitate the search.
All of the information has been entered in accordance with the following criteria:
Image: Each entry includes, whenever possible, a colour reproduction of the work.The artist worked mainly with the following photographers: Juan Gyenes, Fabien de Cugnac, Ambroise Perri n and Juan Jesus Blazquez.
Title: It is not unusual for a work to be known by more than one name. We give precedence to the title given to the work by the artist herself and this appears in italics (and in brackets, in English translation, if necessary). Any other titles subsequently given to the work then appear in bold.
Where the title given to the work is not known, precedence is given to the most commonly accepted title, and this appears in bold.
Date: Gandarias did not always date his works. For that are not dated, we propose a year according to her own CV. Where there is not enough reliable information, the year is preceded by the abbreviation c. (circa).
Technique: This catalogue raisonné is mostly devoted to oil paintings, but it also includes an affresco. There are entries when elements such as silk paper, marble powder, sand, cement or collage are incorporated .
She worked normally on commercially prepared canvases, in some cases on command. She painted on panels too.
The advice of Pro. Manuel Huertas Torrejon, that holds the Chair of Painting Technics, fellow and expert of the work of Sofía Gandarias has been precious for the preparation of this item.
Dimensions: The measurements of the work are given in centimetres , with the height followed by the width. Where it was not possible to take the measurements directly from the work, we use the information provided by the owner.
Signature and inscriptions: If the work is signed, the signature is described and its position detailed. If the work is unsigned or was signed at a later date, this fact is noted.
Location: This section gives the current owner of the work. Many private collectors prefer not to be identified, and in such cases the expression ‘private collection’ is used.
Observations: This section contains supplementary information that may clarify various aspects of the work, its title, date, provenance, the length of time an exhibition was open, etc. We also indicate here if the work is on the face (front) or back (reverse) of the support, using the formula: ‘On the other side is …’.
Exhibitions: This is a chronological list of the most important exhibitions in which the work has been shown.
Bibliography: This details the most important books in which a reproduction of the work appears, with the page number.
NOTA: El asesoramiento técnico del Dr. Manuel Huertas Torrejón, pintor y Catedrático de Técnicas Pictóricas y Materiales del Departamento de Pintura de la Facultad de Bellas Artes de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, compañero de carrera y experto en la obra de Sofía Gandarias, ha sido precioso para la preparación de todo lo relativo a las cuestiones técnicas contenidas en este catálogo.
