Exhibition history is the record of the exhibitions at which a particular work has been publicly shown, always with the title of the show, the institution, the city and the year. In auction catalogues you will find it under the heading Exhibited, right next to provenance (the history of ownership) and literature, meaning the publications that mention the work. The same term is used for artists too: their exhibition history is the list of solo and group shows in their CV. Collectors read the two together.
Exhibition history works as a public recommendation. When a curator (the specialist who puts an exhibition together) selects a work for a museum, a kunsthalle or a biennale, they vouch for its quality in front of the professional world. There is a hierarchy, too: a solo show weighs more than a group show, an institution more than a commercial space, and a renowned house abroad more still. The J&T Banka Art Index rests on the same principle, scoring the exhibitions of Czech artists over the past ten years and leaving prices out entirely. An exhibition in a café earns far fewer points there than one in an established gallery.
With contemporary art that has not yet reached auction, exhibition history is often the most reliable guide to where an artist is heading. When collectors were asked what decides their purchases of contemporary art, most of them named it as essential. The market values strong content and lasting institutional interest, not likes. That is why, for every work at Art Part Club, we state where it has already been shown, and the club also arranges loans to further exhibitions that add to a work's prestige.
A long list with little behind it. Dozens of shows in cafés and rented spaces do not weigh as much as a single exhibition at the National Gallery. Check that the details add up: the title of the show, the institution and the year should be traceable in a catalogue, on the institution's website or in an archive. And beware of a mix-up. Was it only the artist who exhibited, or this very work? The exhibition history of a specific work is a stronger argument than a general CV.
— Anna Pulkertová, founder of Art Part Club
Related terms: Provenance · Solo exhibition at an institution · Lending a work to an exhibition · Kunsthalle · Catalogue raisonné
