- Gives every artwork one permanent inventory ID and one consistent row of facts.
- Keeps location, ownership, images, and documentation findable years later.
- Separates everyday cataloguing from professional attribution, valuation, and legal review.
Who this is for
Use this template if you are an artist, artist's estate assistant, or small studio and need one reliable master inventory: which works exist, where they are, who owns them, and which documents and images belong to each one. Start it with your next finished work and backfill older works gradually.
When not to use it
This is a cataloguing aid, not a substitute for professional judgement. It is not a provenance opinion, an authentication, a valuation, an accounting system, or legal advice — for attribution or authenticity questions consult a qualified specialist. Do not use a shared copy of this file to store buyer contact details or real prices; keep financial and personal records in a private document.
Catalog fields
The template uses 27 columns. Copy the list into your own tool, or download the spreadsheet with the same fields, dropdowns, and a worked example row.
Identity
- Inventory ID — one permanent ID per work (for example initials-year-number). Never reuse an ID, even after a work is sold or destroyed.
- Artist — the name exactly as it should appear in captions and certificates.
- Title — the final title; record earlier working titles in Notes.
- Year — year of completion; use a range like 2023–2024 only when accurate.
Physical description
- Status — In studio, Available, On consignment, On loan, Sold, Donated / gifted, Damaged, Lost, or Destroyed.
- Artwork type — painting, drawing, print, photograph, sculpture, and similar categories.
- Medium / materials — the materials statement used in captions, for example “Oil on linen”.
- Support — the carrier: canvas, paper, panel, aluminium.
- Dimensions — height × width (× depth) in a consistent order.
- Dimension unit — cm, in, or mm; keep one unit per catalog.
- Edition — “Unique work”, or edition number and size, plus artist's proofs.
- Signature / inscription — where and how the work is signed, dated, or inscribed.
Location and ownership
- Creation location — city and country where the work was made.
- Current location — where the physical work is right now; update on every move.
- Ownership / consignment — who holds title and whether the work is consigned.
- Acquisition or sale date — date of the ownership change, if any.
- Price / value (private) — a placeholder only. Keep real prices, buyer names, and payment details in a private document, never in a file you share.
History and documentation
- Provenance summary — a short factual chain of custody in your own records. This is documentation, not a formal provenance research report.
- Exhibition history — exhibition, venue, city, and year for each showing.
- Publication history — where the work has been reproduced or discussed.
- Image filename — the master image file; match filenames to inventory IDs.
- Image rights / credit — photographer, rights holder, and the credit line to print.
- Condition note — current condition and any restoration, dated.
- Certificate / document reference — where the certificate of authenticity or related documents are stored.
- Source / reference links — links to the pages or records that support the row.
- Last verified — the date you last confirmed the row against reality.
- Notes — anything that does not fit elsewhere, such as series context.
Worked example
Fictional artist and artwork used only to demonstrate the fields. The same row appears in the downloadable files.
DC-2024-012 — Dana Costa, Morning Field II, 2024
Physical: Painting · Oil on linen · Stretched linen canvas · 80 × 60 cm · Unique work · Signed and dated on the reverse: Dana Costa 2024.
Location and ownership: Created in Lisbon, Portugal; currently in the artist's studio, Lisbon; owned by artist; no acquisition or sale date; price kept in a private document.
History and documentation: Provenance summary “Created in the artist's studio in 2024; never left the artist's possession”; not yet exhibited or published; image dc-2024-012-morning-field-ii.jpg, photo by the artist who holds reproduction rights; condition excellent with no restoration; COA draft DC-2024-012 in studio records; source “Studio worklist, entry 12”; last verified 2026-08-19; note “Second work in the Morning Field series”.
Common mistakes
- Reusing or changing IDs: an inventory ID is permanent; retire it instead of reassigning it.
- Cataloguing from memory: record dimensions, inscriptions, and condition with the work in front of you.
- Mixing catalog and sales data: keep prices and buyer details in a private file, not in the shared inventory.
- Untraceable images: name image files after inventory IDs and record the photographer and rights holder.
- Letting rows go stale: update Current location and Last verified whenever a work moves or is checked.
Final check
- Every work has exactly one row and one permanent inventory ID.
- Dimensions use one unit and one height-first order across the whole catalog.
- Each image filename in the catalog opens an existing file.
- No shared copy of the file contains prices, buyer names, or private contacts.
- Each row's Last verified date is real — spot-check two works against the physical inventory.
Provenance, authorship, and reuse
Need help documenting and researching your works?
The template keeps the inventory consistent. Roksana Rublevska can research and write artwork descriptions, attribution texts, and supporting documentation.
See artwork attribution services