Making and Using the Index

TUDOR-ART Independent Index is part of a group of complementary products, designed to inform the institutions and the individuals who are active in the field of fine arts and on the Romanian art market. Shaping these products, collecting the bio-bibliographical data, and monitoring the public art sales began on August 1, 2000 and this work continues without interruption even at the closing date of this edition. In the online version, the index was released on September 1, 2005 and it is used by Romanian and foreign subscribers.

In the printed edition, the index contains detailed information about artworks sold in auction houses from Romania, as well as sales made in art galleries. The data is presented in alphabetical order for artists, and in chronological order for their works. The sales performed in galleries are specified separately. This way, we enable the users to analyze the data according to their needs.

The currency in which we specified the selling price of the artworks is the EURO. This currency entered in circulation on January 1, 2002. For the previous years, we used simultaneously the Romanian Leu and the US Dollar, in a ratio reported by the National Bank of Romania. The conversion in EURO of the selling prices from January 1, 1995 to December 31, 2001 was made ​​using the dollar-euro ratio published by the National Bank of Romania on the first working day of 2002. In the online version, the TUDOR-ART index uses simultaneously all three currencies.

The countries listed as places of birth or disappearance of the artists are in accordance with the present geographical configuration.

An important correction of the information was necessary in preparing the printed edition of the TUDOR-ART Independent Index. Some artists less visible in public documentation mediums have received attention, for the first time, in the index. To those nominated in catalogs only by signature, and who remained unidentified after our research, we have added [s] as a sign of maintaining our interest in identifying them for the future editions.

Many of the questionable assignments, noticed by us or reported online by our subscribers, as well as other shortcomings of the same type, were resolved by comprehensively and comparatively reviewing the works sold between 1995-2011 (37,841), first edition, 1995-2012 (48,197), second edition and 2005-2016 (67,255), third edition.

The signatures, added to many of the artists found in this index, required a significant processing effort. Most of them are accessible to the general public for the first time. These signatures are here only for informative purposes. They are very appreciated in the world of explorers of the art market. The professional evaluators know, however, that the artist's signature contains elements that differ from one work to another, and from one period to another, etc. Using the signatures reproduced in the index, for purposes other than the ones stated here, is totally prohibited.

The independence of the TUDOR-ART Index is ensured by its achievement under conditions that were free of any commercial and speculative interests, and which were exercised by us on the Romanian art market. The funds for the research and for the TUDOR-ART projects was provided exclusively by the author and the institutions that he is coordinating.