Posted December 1, 2001

Art Sales Index, 33rd Annual Edition, 2000/2001 Season contains 143,750 sales results for works of art by 44,000 artists that sold at 3,000 auctions held at 450 international auction houses between April 1, 2000 and July 31, 2001. A typical entry includes the artist's name, birth and death dates, nationality, title of the art, dimensions in centimeters and inches, signature and date information, date of the auction, name and location of the auction house, lot number of the art in the sale, and presale estimates in the currency of the country where the auction house is located. Hammer prices are given in dollars and pounds for all works of art including paintings, works on paper, drawings, miniatures, photographs, and sculptures.

Auction records for each artist are divided by type of art (paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, etc.), and then listed in order of selling price from lowest to highest. Other interesting features of Art Sales Index, 2000/2001 include seasonal data like a list of works of art that sold for over one million pounds (approximately $1,500,000), and total turnovers in auction lots and dollars for a variety of countries and by artists of various nationalities. For example, the United States led all other countries in monetary volume with nearly $910,000,000 in total sales, while more art by French artists was sold at auction last year than by artists of any other nationality-- 23,867 pieces.

All auctions included in the compendium are indexed at the front of the book by auction house, location, and date of sale. A list of artists who are better known by names other than their original names is also included. For example, auction records for works of art by Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn are listed under the name "Rembrandt" rather than "van Rijn."

Art Sales Index is the oldest and one of the most respected publishers of art price data in the business. They also publish art price CD-ROMs and maintain a researchable online art price database containing 2,400,000 auction records. Visit the Art Sales Index website for more information.

Art Sales Index, 33rd Annual Edition, 2000/2001 Season edited by Duncan Hislop. Art Sales Index Ltd., Egham, Surrey, England, 2001, two volumes, hardbound, 2503 pages, 8 1/2 by 12 inches. $195 (includes shipping and handling).

Order directly from the Art Sales Index website.

***

Maloney's Antiques & Collectibles Resource Directory, 6th Edition is the single best one-stop reference book for quick basic information about virtually any aspect of the art, antiques, and collectibles industries. It contains nearly 23,500 entries for dealers, collectors, experts, and buyers as well as contact information for 2,056 collectors clubs, 2,446 specialty periodicals, 3,200 appraisers, 1,200 restoration and repair specialists, and 583 specialist internet resources. If you've got any kind of antique, collectible, or older item that you want to know more about, Maloney's is a great place to start your research.

With respect to art, Maloney's has a general art section as well as more specialized sections on topics including animation film art, paintings and drawings, bronzes, cartoon art, folk art, frames, illustrators, art theft and fraud, prints, modern prints, artist personalities, art restoration and conservation, sculpture, and tattoos. All art sections provide a variety of contact information including that for appraisers, auction services, clubs and associations, dealers, experts, internet resources, museums, libraries, periodicals, and more.

One of the best aspects of Maloney's is that most entries contain brief comments in order to help users to more effectively determine which resources best satisfy their needs. For example, art conservator and canvas mark collector Alexander Katlan's comments state that he collects "American canvas marks or maker's labels found on the backs of paintings." Exactly how Katlan buys the canvas maker's mark without buying the entire painting is beyond the scope of this review.

As with any general resource directory, use Maloney's as a jumping off point for more in-depth research rather than an as end in-and-of-itself. Maloney's lists a handful of art museums on about a page, for example, while The Official Museum Directory , published by the American Association of Museums, lists thousands of museums and is over 2,000 pages long. Maloney's is a must for any working art, antiques, or collectibles library. Make sure you either own or have access to it.

Maloney's Antiques & Collectibles Resource Directory, 6th Edition edited by David J. Maloney, Jr. Krause Publications, Iola, WI, 2001, softbound, 952 pages, 8 1/2 by 11 inches, $32.95.

Available wherever antiques and collectibles reference books are sold or order directly from MaloneysOnline or call 1-800-258-0929.