Since the COVID-19
pandemic in 2020, auction houses have largely shifted from printed catalogs to
online publications, impacting transparency in the art market and challenging
institutional archiving. The National Gallery of Art (NGA) Library and the
Watson Library, Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET), prominent collectors of
auction catalogs in the US, have faced a sharp decline in acquisitions; for
instance, Watson's annual catalog intake dropped from 2,000 in 2016 to 439 in
2023. This essay examines the role of auction catalogs in museum collections
from both academic and collector perspectives, presenting interviews and data
analysis to address the archival obstacles caused by this shift. By exploring
the evolution of catalogs from client resources to essential academic tools, it
proposes collaborative solutions to adapt museum libraries and auction houses
to the digital age while ensuring a robust archive for future research.
