The art of progress: benefits of incrementally publishing a digital catalogue raisonné

The Akseli Gallen-Kallela catalogue raisonné project has achieved the significant milestone of documenting 1,000 works — a landmark made possible through an incremental approach to digital cataloguing. By publishing verified information as it became available rather than waiting to complete research on his entire oeuvre, Irene Riihimäki and the NAI team avoid the indefinite extensions that have historically challenged catalogue raisonné projects of prolific artists. The work of the iconic Finnish “Golden Age” painter is available free to a global audience. Discover his landscapes, his series of paintings based on the Finnish National epic, Kalevala, and the works he completed while traveling the world.

Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Mary Bride (Portrait of the Mary Gallén) (Taiteilijan vaimon muotokuva), 1890, oil on canvas. Private collection. Image credit: Tampere Art Museum / Jari Kuusenaho.

Accelerating access to cultural heritage

The Akseli Gallen-Kallela catalogue raisonné project began with a meticulous card index created by the artist's granddaughter Aivi Gallen-Kallela-Sirén, who prepared a card with photos, basic information, measurements, titles, collection information, and selected exhibition history for every known painting if the information was available. Since 2018, Riihimäki has been carefully translating this research and new research into the digital catalogue raisonné.

Nordic Art Intelligence foundation isn’t the only one working productively with this approach. Starting from a pre-existing list and publishing as research is completed is what the Wildenstein Plattner Institute calls the digital corpus model, which has also supported the advancement of catalogues raisonnés for Tom Wesselmann, Claude Monet, Paul Gauguin, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Dolphins (Delfiinejä), 1909, oil on canvas. Private collection. Copyright: Irene Riihimäki

Expanding the catalogue raisonné through collaboration

Incrementally publishing catalogue information creates important opportunities for community engagement. When the publication of the first part of the catalogue with 300 works was announced in February 2024, people began coming forward with information and materials. Riihimäki notes this benefit while hoping that even more people will approach us to help with images and information as the project gains visibility.

Recent additions to the catalogue raisonné include some of his most beloved paintings, such as Symposion and Waterfall at Mäntykoski, as well as previously undocumented works, such as Master Builder and Dolphins, and meaningful family portraits, including Mary Bride, Mary Heroic, Southern Cross (Portrait of Mary Gallén), Portrait of Impi Marjatta and Kapperi, The Skiers, Akseli and Jorma, and Portrait of Greta Ahlman. These works continue to deepen our understanding of the artist and his oeuvre.

Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Symposion, 1894, oil on canvas. Private collection. Image credit: Tampere Art Museum / Jari Kuusenaho.

Adaptability: learning through doing

Akseli Gallen-Kallela, The Skiers, Akseli and Jorma (Hiihtäjät, Akseli ja Jorma), 1909, oil on canvas. Private collection. Image credit: Tampere Art Museum / Jari Kuusenaho.

One significant advantage of the incremental digital approach is the ability to refine methodologies as the project evolves. Riihimäki says that she has adjusted some procedures implemented at the beginning of the process and is grateful that the digital format provides the flexibility to refine as the project evolves, accommodating new insights and improved strategies throughout the project's lifespan. For prolific artists like Gallen-Kallela, the incremental approach prevents the project from extending indefinitely before publication, not only due to the mass of information but also due to limiting systems.

Preserving and presenting Gallen-Kallela’s legacy

Perhaps most importantly, the incremental digital approach ensures that valuable research work is preserved and made accessible. For the artist’s granddaughter, Aivi Gallen-Kallela-Sirén, who created the original card index, seeing the information digitized and published provides assurance that decades of research will be presented and preserved. 

The Akseli Gallen-Kallela digital catalogue raisonné project, running on the Navigating.art platform, demonstrates how technology can support and expand traditional art historical research methodologies. By embracing an incremental publication approach, catalogue raisonné projects can better serve current researchers while ensuring important cultural documentation work reaches completion.

Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Master Builder (Rakennusmestari), 1913, oil on canvas, attached on camponboard. Private collection.