The RKD are Calling for Stamps and Brands!
October 20 2023
Picture: codart.nl
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
CODART (International network for curators of art from the Low Countries) have shared news that the RKD in the Netherlands are calling for photographs of makers stamps and brands for a brand-new digital database. As all picture researchers will know, this information can prove vital in assessing the origin, dating and significance of a work of art.
According to the article linked above:
In the project Marks on Art, the RKD works in close collaboration with Prof. em. dr. Jørgen Wadum. The starting point is Wadum’s unique dataset of thousands of marks, collected since the 1980s during visits to collections and auction houses. By January 2025, the RKD aims to present this dataset in its sustainable and freely available database infrastructure, permitting cross-linking between artwork, artist, and technical research data such as dendrochronological research results. In addition, a revised and expanded version of Wadum’s 1998-article ‘The Antwerp Brand on paintings on panel’ will be published in the open access publication platform RKD Studies. This project received a generous grant from the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) providing Wadum with a three-month Conservation Guest Scholarship, as well as a Digital Art History Grant to the RKD from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation.
Details of how to get in touch with the relevant researchers can be found via the link above.


