Reading Wall Texts and Catalogues

An exhibition speaks in several registers at once: the room text, the label, the catalogue. Each has a different job, and knowing which is which makes them more useful.

The room text

The large panel at the entrance to a room sets out the curator's argument: why these works are together and what you are meant to consider. Read it as a thesis you are free to disagree with.

The label

Next to each work is the label, sometimes called the tombstone: artist, title, date, medium, dimensions and lender. The line about who lent the work, and the credit line, tell you something about its history.

The catalogue

An exhibition catalogue is the printed record of the show, with essays and full entries for each work. It outlasts the exhibition and is often where the real research is published.

The catalogue raisonné

A catalogue raisonné is different: an annotated listing of an artist's works, sometimes all of them. Scholars and dealers use it to check whether a work is accepted as genuine.

Making notes

• Photograph the label as well as the work, if photography is allowed.
• Write one sentence on why a work stayed with you.
• Note the lender; it is the easiest way to find the work again later.