In German, this three-volume set is the first in-depth study of paintings sold in German-speaking countries prior to 1800.
Concentrating on sales that occurred during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, it contains references to more than fifty thousand paintings that passed through the art market in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Central Europe.
An introduction surveys the history of the art market in Germany beginning in the 1670s, and is followed by a chronological listing of all extant catalogs prior to 1800, along with the institutions where copies of these catalogs can be found. The circumstances surrounding each of these 269 sales are discussed, and when available, biographical information about the owner is included. For example, the fate of an important group of paintings owned by art dealer and merchant Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky (1710-1775) is cited in the comments on his 1764 sale due to financial difficulties, while the activities of Clemens August, Elector of Cologne (1700-1761) and his contemporaries are noted in the 1764 sale of his vast collection.
The present location of paintings found in these sales are given whenever known (as in the case of such eminent works as The Three Maries at the Tomb by Rubens, now at the Norton Simon Museum of Art, and The Prodigal Son by Rembrandt, now at the Hermitage). In addition, the career's of some of the most prominent dealers of the period-such as Johann Christian Kaller of Frankfurt and Michael Bostelmann of Hamburg-are examined here for the first time. Comprehensive indexes allow the reader to look for paintings by the name of the artist or their owners, completing this valuable resource for scholars of the history of collecting and the art market.