ICRA Conference

"Future-Proofing the Catalogue Raisonné: Sustainability in the Digital Age"

The catalogue raisonné has always been an act of preservation: of an artist's work, of scholarship, and of the knowledge that gives an oeuvre its meaning. But the conditions in which that knowledge is created, protected and passed on are changing rapidly. Whether on paper, online or both, how do we ensure that catalogues remain authoritative, accessible and sustainable for generations to come? Digital platforms can disappear, data can be repurposed, and years of research can be copied and recombined with unprecedented ease. AI offers new possibilities for research and documentation while raising urgent questions of authorship, intellectual property and ownership. Other emerging technologies may offer new tools for authentication and long-term stewardship, but they bring new challenges too. At the heart of these developments lies the tension between transparency and protection. How much should a catalogue reveal, and where is the line between openness and privacy? How can authors protect sensitive information, intellectual property and years of research while still enabling legitimate scholarship? Future-proofing also means asking what, and whose, histories are being preserved. How should catalogues document fragile, natural or deliberately impermanent works? How can new forms of artistic practice and documentation be accommodated while keeping the catalogue's authority? And how might established approaches better represent artists and cultures that remain underrepresented, particularly beyond Western traditions? The conference brings together established and emerging catalogue raisonné authors, scholars, archivists, artists, institutions and intellectual-property lawyers to consider how the profession and its responsibilities are evolving.

With thanks to Navigating.art, Picturae and Christie’s for their generous support

Speakers include:

• • Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Independent Curator; former Director, Castello di Rivoli; editor, Fabio Mauri Catalogue Raisonné
  • Elizabeth Gorayeb, Executive Director, WPI Inc.
  • Ore Disu, Director, Museum of West African Art
  • Magda Radu, Founder, program coordinator, Salonul de Proiecte, Bucharest
  • The Foundation for Artists’ Catalogues
  • Martin Lorenz, Managing Director, Navigating.art
  • Lynn Rother, Director of the Provenance Lab & Lichtenberg Professor of Provenance Studies at Leuphana University; Getty Scholar 2026-27
  • Margaret Doyle PhD, Head of Curatorial Files, National Gallery of Washington
  • Jon Sharples, IP and Art Lawyer, Howard Kennedy LLP
  • Caitlin Sweeney, Senior Director of Digital Strategy and Publications, WPI, New York
  • Etienne Breton, Old Master Consultant; co-author, Catalogue Raisonné Boilly
  • Tom Stammers, Reader in Art and Cultural History at the Courtauld Institute, University of London
  • Agnès Penot, Director of Research, Gallery 19C; Jules Breton Foundation

ICRA's Board:
Sharon Hecker & Frances Fowle, Co-Chairs
Alex Morrison, Deputy Chair
Matthew Stephenson
Michelle Shuttleworth
Lynn Rother
Tom Stammers
With Advisory Board member Lisa Le Feuvre