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Posted August 11, 2003

The Art Sales Index CD-ROM 2003 contains over fifty years and 2.6 million auction sales results for paintings, prints, works on paper, sculptures, miniatures, and photographs by 207,000 artists of all nationalities and all time periods that sold at international art auctions for over $400 from the 1920's through May 2003. Each entry contains the artist's name, birth and death dates (when available), nationality, century when active, title or description of the art, medium, dimensions, auctioneer, date of sale, lot number, selling price (in dollars, pounds, and the local currency), and a notation as to whether the piece illustrated in the sale catalogue.

Advantages of the ASI CD-ROM 2003 over similar products are its multiple search and arranging capabilities, and its ability to search an artist by full name as well as by surname alone (surname-alone searches require sifting through all artists with that same surname in order to find the one you're looking for). Searches can be performed and results arranged according to a variety of criteria including artist name, dates, title or description of the art, dimensions, medium, the year a work of art was created, and more. The best option, however, is that the database can be searched even when an artist's complete name is not known. Letters or groups of letters that are indecipherable in an artist's signature can be typed as an asterisk or question mark anywhere in an artist's name except for the first letter.

An additional benefit of the CD-ROM is that it includes 260,000 different name spellings so that in instances where an artist's name is spelled incorrectly in different catalogues, all spellings are directed towards the correctly spelled name. For example, records for Mihail, Michail, Michel, Michael, and Mikael Chemiakin all appear under the same artist, Mikhail Chemiakin. The CD ROM also has contact details for the auction houses including emails, web sites, and the option to click directly from an auction price result to the web site of the auction house for additional information.

Another advantage of this CD-ROM is that it can easily be used on multiple computers including laptops (for when you're away from your home or office). Each installation needs a security release code (obtained by calling or emailing Art Sales Index). Competing products have security mechanisms that can make usage on more than one computer inconvenient. And good news for Macintosh owners: Art Sales Index CD-ROM 2003 is now compatibe with certain Mac PC-emulating programs (it works on this Macintosh G4 with Virtual PC 4.0).

Those of you who prefer online art price research can use the Art Sales Index Database. Art Sales Index Database is perfect for dealers and collectors who constantly research art prices, research while travelling, and need up-to-the-minute information. Subscription options include "unlimited" at $750 annually, "business" at $525 annually (8 AM - 6 PM in your time zone, unlimited weekends), and for the economy minded, "off-peak" at $375 annually (6PM - 8 AM weekdays, unlimited weekends).

Art Sales Index CD-ROM 2003 edited by Duncan Hislop. Art Sales Index, Ltd., Egham, Surrey, England, 2003. $575.

Art Sales Index online database edited by Duncan Hislop. Art Sales Index, Ltd., Egham, Surrey, England, 2003.