When artists describe their work, they often use familiar studio language: painting, mixed media, paper, canvas, oil, acrylic, collage, sculpture, print. Those words may seem simple, but in a professional catalog, the language used to describe an artwork affects how that work can be searched, studied, preserved, compared, and understood over time.
The Legacy Catalog uses selected Getty Vocabularies to help artists create clearer and more consistent records. For now, the two most important are the Art & Architecture Thesaurus, often called AAT, and the Union List of Artist Names, often called ULAN.
These vocabularies help bring structure to the way artworks, materials, techniques, and artist names are recorded.
“If you could say it in words, there would be no reason to paint.”
Why vocabulary matters in an artist catalog
If the language in a record is inconsistent, the catalog becomes harder to search, harder to share, and harder to understand over time. One record might describe a work as “mixed media.” Another might say “collage.” Another might say “paper and acrylic.” All may be accurate, but without consistent structure, important information can become scattered or difficult to compare.
Structured vocabulary helps reduce that confusion. It creates a more reliable way to describe work type, materials, techniques, and names across an artist’s catalog.
This matters not only for the artist, but also for future family members, estate managers, galleries, scholars, collectors, appraisers, museums, and institutions that may one day rely on the artist’s records.
Without structured vocabulary
- “mixed media”
- “collage”
- “paper and acrylic”
Same kind of work, three inconsistent descriptions.
With AAT-standardized terms
- Work type: collage
- Materials: acrylic paint, paper
- Support: canvas
One consistent structure, searchable across the whole catalog.
The two Getty Vocabularies used by the Legacy Catalog
The Getty Vocabularies include several major resources used across the cultural heritage field. The Legacy Catalog currently draws most directly from AAT for artwork description, while ULAN represents an important future-facing integration for artist identity records.
AAT — Art & Architecture Thesaurus
For describing works, materials, techniques, and related concepts.
The Art & Architecture Thesaurus is a structured vocabulary for art, architecture, decorative arts, material culture, archival materials, and related fields. In the Legacy Catalog, AAT is especially useful when describing what an artwork is and how it was made.
AAT can help standardize terms such as:
- painting
- drawing
- sculpture
- collage
- watercolor
- oil paint
- acrylic paint
- bronze
- canvas
- paper
- mixed media
Why it matters: An artist may use different language at different times to describe similar works. AAT helps organize those terms so catalog records are more consistent and searchable.
Plain-language example: Instead of recording one work as “oil piece,” another as “oil painting,” and another as “oil on canvas,” structured terminology helps the artist record the work type, materials, support, and technique in a more consistent way.
ULAN — Union List of Artist Names
A future-facing integration for artist identity records.
The Union List of Artist Names is a structured Getty vocabulary for artist names and related people or organizations. ULAN matters because an artist may be known by different names across signatures, exhibitions, publications, legal records, studio records, and collections.
For artists who already have a Getty ULAN record, ALI expects the Legacy Catalog to support referencing that identifier as the platform expands.
For artists who do not yet have a ULAN record, ALI intends to explore future workflows that may help organize qualified artist information for possible submission or consideration. Inclusion in ULAN is not guaranteed.
Looking ahead: ULAN is part of ALI’s broader goal to continue expanding Legacy Catalog integrations that strengthen artist documentation, discoverability, and long-term records.
Controlled vocabulary does not replace the artist’s voice.
Structured terminology is not meant to flatten an artist’s language or replace the way an artist talks about their own work.
An artist’s statement, studio notes, titles, descriptions, interviews, correspondence, and personal records remain essential. Those materials preserve meaning, intention, context, and voice.
Controlled vocabulary simply adds another layer: a consistent cataloging structure that helps the work remain discoverable and understandable over time.
The goal is not to make every artwork sound the same. The goal is to make the record strong enough to survive beyond the artist’s memory, studio, inbox, or hard drive.
A simple example
Instead of only writing:
“Blue mixed media piece, 2022”
A stronger record might include:
- Title
- Blue Interior
- Date
- 2022
- Artist
- Jane A. Smith
- Alternate Artist Name
- J. Smith
- Work Type
- Painting
- Materials
- Acrylic paint, graphite, and paper collage
- Support
- Canvas
- Technique
- Collage; painting; drawing
- Dimensions
- 36 × 48 inches
- Provenance Note
- Retained by artist until sold directly to private collector, 2024.
- Exhibition History
- Included in artist’s solo exhibition, Portland, Oregon, 2023.
The second version does more than describe the artwork. It creates a record that can be searched, verified, understood, and passed forward.
AAT helps standardize terms such as painting, acrylic paint, graphite, paper, canvas, collage, and drawing. ULAN-style name discipline helps preserve the relationship between Jane A. Smith and J. Smith.
Why this helps protect an artist’s legacy
Many future problems begin with missing, inconsistent, or unclear records.
When artwork records are created carefully, they can help answer important questions later:
- What is this work?
- Who made it?
- When was it made?
- What materials were used?
- Has it been exhibited?
- Has it been sold or transferred?
- Is this the same work that appears in an earlier record?
- What name was the artist using at the time?
Clear records support provenance, authorship protection, scholarly research, collection management, estate planning, and long-term stewardship.
This is especially important when a work later enters a gallery, collection, estate, archive, museum, appraisal process, publication, or sale.
What artists can do now
Artists do not need to become professional catalogers to benefit from structured documentation. A few practical habits can make a major difference.
- Use consistent terms for work type, materials, technique, and support.
- Record the artist name exactly as it should appear in the catalog.
- Preserve alternate names, earlier names, or studio names when relevant.
- Avoid relying only on memory or informal descriptions.
- Keep image files connected to the correct artwork record.
- Document title changes, alternate titles, and earlier descriptions.
- Preserve invoices, certificates, correspondence, labels, and installation images.
- Update records while information is still fresh.
The words used to describe artwork become part of the artwork’s future.
Key takeaway
Consistent cataloging language helps artists protect the integrity of their records, support future scholarship, and make their work easier to understand across time, platforms, and institutions.
By using selected Getty Vocabularies, the Legacy Catalog helps artists apply professional cataloging principles in a practical, artist-centered way.
This guide references the Getty Vocabularies developed by the Getty Research Institute, including the Art & Architecture Thesaurus and the Union List of Artist Names. Learn more at Getty Research Institute.