data source: Getty Provenance Index GitHub Knoedler file 13 Dec 2017
(analysis performed on CSV file before GPI remodel)
Note: Transactions prior to 1925 or in the Stockbooks 1-7 have been removed from this file, reducing the number of transactions from 40,250 to 13,809. This enables us to focus on the years 1928 to 1970.
Three huge spikes in activity pop out: 1951, 1928 and 1942. But before we examine what happened in those years to create such a spike, we must deal with a problem of missing data.
Of the above transactions, 1,746 lack an entry date year. That's over 10%! More than even our highest peak!
What to do? Data scientists often "clean" datasets by eliminating rows with incomplete data. That is exactly what we will NOT do. Instead of eliminating these rows of incomplete data from our data set, we will focus on them.
Why are these 1,746 transactions missing the entry date year? Do they have anything else in common?
What other indicators might supply us with the missing information? Proxies, in short, for the entry date year. (Names associated with specific date ranges, for example).
The Stock Book Numbers 1928-1970
The Stock Book Numbers for transactions with no Entry Date Year
We see that most of the missing years are from Stock Book 11.
What else can we learn about the profile of the missing dates? We can compare the most frequent nationalities of all transactions 1928-1970
to the nationalities of the transactions missing entry date years:
The largest contingent are American. We don't understand this but will file it away, hoping that it might Make sense later.
What about the sellers? And here we are in for a bit of a surprise.
Of the 1,746 transactions that have no entry year, the vast majority - 1,481 - also have no seller.
What kind of ledgers are these that Knoedler was keeping, with neither year nor seller?
Which ledgers are most concerned by this double absence?
With 1,469 mysterious transactions, it's Stock Book 11.
Who are the joint owners listed in Book 11 ledger entrees which have no entry date or seller name?
(filter: Joint owner appear at least twice)
Joint Own Auth 1 | Count | Knoedler Numbers in Book 11 |
Pinakos, Inc. (Rudolf Heinemann) | 84 | A6420, A5321, A4774, A6680, A5326, A5434, A1825, A1834, A1845, A1849, A1943, A1944, A1945, A1946, A2523, A2730, A2770, A2774, A2795, A2964, A3026, A3029, A3044, A3049, A3274, A3292, A3300, A3312, A3527, A5250, A5286, A5467, A5469, A5515, A5624, A5708, A5730, A4542, A4824, A4839, A4840, A4843, A4844, A4849, A4851, A4854, A4898, A4920, A4937, A4940, A4955, A5117, A5213, A5944, A5948, A5960, A5963, A5964, A5965, A5982, A6010, A6122, A6777, A6679, A6593, A6548, A6530, A6501, A6500, A6430, A6415, A6318, A6310, A6299, A6295, A6294, A7059, A6998, A6970, A6932, A7109, A5602, A5603, A6826 |
Hirschl & Adler Galleries | 37 | A3815, A4107, A3884, A3886, A3873, A3875, A3876, A3880, A3882, A3883, A3885, A3888, A5284, A5319, A5560, A5561, A5737, A5738, A5788, A5806, A5807, A5928, A6102, A6738, A6727, A6726, A6722, A6721, A6704, A6651, A7047, A7046, A7021, A7005, A7004, A6972, A7125 |
Spark, Victor David | 25 | A6144, A3188, A5745, A4448, A4923A, A4923C, A4923D, A4923H, A4923I, A4923K, A4923L, A4923M, A4923O, A4923P, A4923Q, A4923R, A4923S, A4923T, A4923W, A5016, A6013, A6018, A6138, A6145, A6147 |
Berggruen (Heinz), Galerie & Cie | 23 | A5750, A6640, A7031, A7030, A7029, A6899, A7119, A7120, A6070, A6073, A6114, A6112, A6150, A7018, A7017, A7016, A7015, A6844, A6843, A6443, A6350, A6347, A6641 |
Schempp, (Theodore), & Co. | 13 | A6934, A5188, A6684, A7066, A7002, A7001, A7000, A6942, A6939, A6935, A7116, A7130, A7131 |
Kennedy Galleries, Inc. | 13 | A4936, A7127, A7128, A7129, A5581, A6272, A6273, A6274, A7124, A7135, A5074, A5075, A6669 |
Fine Arts Associates | 11 | A5304, A5209, A6764, A6739, A7039, A6869, A7114, A7115, A7133, A7134, A6922 |
The A.B. Closson Jr. Co. | 9 | A5079, A5080, A5082, A5083, A5085, A5086, A5087, A5088, A5089 |
Betty McLean Gallery | 9 | A5288, A5290, A5291, A5292, A5294, A5299, A4684, A4685, A5055 |
E. and A. Milch | 7 | A3655, A3855, A3857, A3858, A4635, A6824, A7136 |
Marlborough-Gerson Gallery | 7 | A7078, A7080, A7082, A7081, A7083, A7077, A7079 |
Pearlman, Henry | 6 | A7086, A7087, A7089, A7090, A7091, A7088 |
Kleemann Galleries | 6 | A4617, A6432, A6391, A6390, A6332, A6331 |
De Hauke & Co. | 5 | A6763, A7100, A7101, A7103, A7110 |
Frank Perls Gallery | 5 | A6506, A6230, A6762, A6743, A6435 |
Balay, Roland | 5 | A3834, A3835, A3836, A3837, A3838 |
Latendorf Bookshop | 5 | A6249, A6250, A6251, A6252, A6253 |
Agnew's | 5 | A5435, A6098, A6099, A6228, A7056 |
Old Print Shop, The | 4 | A5714, A5716, A5718, A4672E |
Weitzner, Julius H. | 4 | A6921, A5703, A6534, A6929 |
Charell, Ludwig | 3 | A6379, A6378, A6377 |
Babcock Galleries | 3 | A3413, A3661, A5072 |
Galerie les Tourettes (Otto Wertheimer) | 2 | A5281, A7117 |
John F. Fleming Rare Book Co. | 2 | A6388, A6387 |
Galerie des Arts Anciens et Modernes | 2 | A6135, A6313 |
SUTTON, HILDA | 2 | A3383, A3395 |
Louis Leon and Co. | 2 | A6801, A6525 |
Michelotti, M. | 2 | A5320, A4049 |
Ward Eggleston Galleries | 2 | A5991, A5992 |
Kernochan, Katherine Lorillard | 2 | A2144, A2145 |
Ackermann, (Arthur), and Son | 2 | A3600, A2556 |
Frederick A. Stern Inc. | 2 | A3068, A3206 |
Weil, (André), Galerie | 2 | A6701, A6795 |
STRÖLIN, ALFRED | 2 | A6478, A6477 |
Abdy, Robert Henry Edward, Sir, 5th Bart. | 2 | A7009, A6967 |
Colnaghi's | 2 | A1982, A3060 |
Where else do these Knoedler numbers appear? What do they tell us?
Can the recent publication of the new Getty Provenance Index on linked data principles help us to go further in the analysis of the information that is missing from the original Knoedler ledgers? How might we do this?
tbc...
