artistswork

Artistswork is a term used in art scholarship and cataloging to refer to the total body of works produced by a single artist or collective. The term functions similarly to oeuvre and is used to discuss development, themes, techniques, and influences across an artist's career. It is not a formal classification, and its precise scope can vary by discipline and archive.

Scope and usage: The concept covers all art forms associated with the artist, including visual works such as drawings, paintings, and sculpture, as well as time-based and performative pieces like installations and performances, and related material such as sketches, preparatory notes, correspondence, and digital outputs. It distinguishes a body of work from any single piece.

Authorship and attribution: Determining authorship and dating can be challenging, especially for artists who collaborated, produced assistants' works, or created posthumously. The concept of the artistswork helps distinguish the artist's full creative output from individual items or unrelated works.

Cataloging and provenance: In practice, the artistswork is documented in catalogues raisonnés, databases, and collections with metadata such as title, date, medium, dimensions, current location, provenance, and exhibition history. This documentation supports authentication and scholarly study.

Significance and challenges: The concept supports analysis of stylistic development, technique, influence, and market considerations, as well as restoration and conservation planning. Challenges include attribution disputes, incomplete records, and posthumous revisions or reconstructions.

See also: Oeuvre, Catalog raisonné, Corpus, Catalogue.