Digital art history resources
Research, practical guidance, and examples that help art historians understand and shape the digital methods used to preserve, connect, and publish knowledge.
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Research and publications
Original research, reports, and critical essays about digital art history, access, authority, and emerging methods.
Digital catalogues in practice
How research organizations use connected data and digital publication to make scholarship available and useful.
Practical guidance
Clear explanations that help research teams make informed decisions about data, digital tools, and publication.
News and field notes
Highlights from digital art history conferences and announcements from Navigating.art.
Browse all resources
The complete chronological archive includes research, guidance, project articles, news, and field notes.
Digital asset management for catalogues raisonnés
Digital asset management keeps each catalogue image connected to its metadata, rights, identifiers, and publication uses. This guide explains the asset lifecycle and the questions teams should ask before choosing a system.
What a confidence score can’t tell you: AI and the authorship of paintings
An AI confidence score describes a model’s classification, not the historical probability that an artist made a painting. This article explains what these systems measure and how they can support attribution research.
The digital infrastructure of online catalogues raisonnés
This study uses public website fingerprints to identify how 118 live digital catalogues raisonnés are published and which artists they document. It examines visible technology, not catalogue content, data quality, or internal research workflows.
Frequently asked questions: Digital catalogue raisonné software and technology
Concise answers for scholars, estates, and institutions comparing digital catalogue raisonné technology, including what different approaches require and what to ask before committing.
A guide to choosing a digital strategy for your catalogue raisonné
A practical comparison of three technical approaches, with questions to help research leaders weigh organizational capacity, cost, sustainability, and scholarly fit.
The Eva Gonzalès Digital Catalogue Raisonné: Her work, relationships, and legacy
A close reading of the Eva Gonzalès Digital Catalogue Raisonné and what its works, sketchbooks, provenance records, and primary sources reveal about her artistic independence and legacy.
The catalogue raisonné after digital: Authority, access, and infrastructure
Highlights from CRSA and CAA 2026 examine authority, iterative publication, long-term preservation, material research, and artificial intelligence.
State of the field: Digital catalogues raisonnés, 2020 - 2025
Based on a 2025 field survey and recent publications, this report examines how digital catalogue raisonné teams approach funding, authority, technology, completion, artificial intelligence, and sustainability.
Bridging continents: expanding access to Frank Bowling's artwork with Mapping Frank Bowling
A case study of how the Frank Bowling Studio launched an expandable digital catalogue raisonné through institutional collaboration, verified records, and a strategic first publication.
Manoucher Yektai: a vision beyond borders
The Manoucher Yektai digital catalogue raisonné documents an artistic practice shaped by Iran, France, and the United States. This project profile considers the estate’s evolving record and its significance for cross-cultural modernism.
WPI launches digital catalogue raisonné of Romare Bearden
WPI’s first release documents Bearden’s works from 1964 to 1969 and connects catalogue entries with the Romare Bearden Papers. The article examines incremental publication, archival evidence, and the project’s significance for scholarship on African American art.
Is your catalogue data ready for reuse? Ten lessons from NEMO
What does it take to make catalogue data searchable, exchangeable, and sustainable? This field note turns NEMO’s ten-part digital cataloguing guide into a practical data-readiness review.
How to budget for a digital catalogue raisonné
A practical guide to creating a multi-year digital catalogue raisonné budget, comparing proposals, and identifying costs that continue after publication.
How to create a digital catalogue raisonné: a project roadmap
A practical roadmap for planning a digital catalogue raisonné, from defining its scope and authority to choosing technology, publishing research, and maintaining it over time.