Interzone: The catalogue raisonné – at the museum and in the hands of the artist

Abstract

This Interzone investigates how the catalogue raisonné can be used in different fields and with different purposes. In this article we look at the catalogue raisonné in a museum context and in an art exhibition. To shed light on this topic, this Interzone consists of an analysis and reflection on artist, writer and curator Christian Vind’s art exhibition Dr. Topic from 2014 and an interview with Deputy Director of Collections, Research and Conservation at Statens Museum for Kunst Camilla Jalving. Camilla Jalving contributes with a specific knowledge of and experience with the use of the catalogue raisonné at Statens Museum for Kunst. She explains how the catalogue raisonné is used as a working tool in the creation of exhibitions at the museum. However, the catalogue raisonné is also a useful tool in the daily work with the administration of the collection. In Dr. Topic, the catalogue raisonné is not used as a specific working tool but rather as a process-related instrument. Christian Vind is both an artist and a private collector, and he uses his own collections of different objects as a vital part of his art exhibition. In this way, Dr. Topic imitates some of the general working methods of the catalogue raisonné in the development of the exhibition. Thereby, this article provides different perspectives, understandings and employments of the catalogue raisonné.