An attempt at completely cataloging Harta’s vast body of work is impossible given that he painted before, during, and after two World Wars; moreover, many works were destroyed or went missing.(1) Therefore, the website medium was chosen for the purpose of quickly amending, adding or deleting data on Harta. Ongoing research and communication with collectors, curators, dealers, and relatives will improve accuracy.

 

It is estimated that Harta created up to and most likely over 3,000 works drawn in a variety of mediums. His own ledger shows works drawn in Oil, charcoal, Chalk, Ink Brush, Pastel, Rotel pencil, and watercolor. There are two primary sources for identifying his artwork. The first is Harta’s handwritten list that he titled “Werkverzeichnis”, henceforth referred to as WV.(2) The second is Edith Baumgartner’s “Created catalog of works with illustrations” which she compiled in 1991 for her doctorate in art history on Harta from the University of Salzburg. She transcribed Harta’s list, where she captured approximately 700 works, with approximately 338 being Oil paintings, and the rest, graphics,using the following designations:

 

G = oil paintings

Gr = graphics

GN = Oil paintings listed within a supplement (Nactrag), and GNr meaning graphics listed within the supplement.

WV- = the work is not listed in Harta’s Work Catalog.(3)

 

When the project began, I was overly concerned with the concordance between works I discovered. and those listed in the two prior catalogs. The fact is both Harta and Baumgartner made errors in listing which proved to be somewhat chaotic. With the assistance of Stefan Üner, an art historian from Vienna, a new and more logical designation will be presented as follows:

 

P=Oil paintings; Z=graphics; D=prints

 

The works will be chronologically numbered within a given year. For example, an oil painting drawn in 1914, and researched as the first painting drawn by Harta that year will be designated P-1914-1, with the next work P-1914-2, and so on. This designation also makes it easier to add newly discovered works. Pencils, Charcoals, Watercolors, etc will be listed as Z-1914-1, and so on.

 

Catalogue Details and Chronology

 

An effort is made to list works in the order in which Harta created them.  While empirical, this cannot be guaranteed to be one hundred per cent accurate. For example, Harta created a painting in 1935, but then dates it much later.  The online listing will sort the works within 4 time periods. A 5th category is “Unverifiable”. A work lists here when it cannot be corroborated either from the two prior catalogs and/or any primary source document such as an exhibition catalog or literature reference.  In sum, all one can say is “attributed” to Harta.(4) Finally, there is a spreadsheet that is called “Missing Oils and “Missing Graphics. This is defined as works whose appearance is unknown, but whose existence is referenced in surviving documents. These works were not catalogued by Baumgartner, but are listed in an Excel Spreadsheet with explanatory comments. In some cases, Oil paintings not listed in Harta’s catalog, but exhibited are listed.

 

Information for Each Work:

 

Abbreviations: A glossary of abbreviations is available on a subpage to the methodology.

 

Main Title Box: The Designation followed by the title in English.                                                                

 

Second text box: Title/Date: The title in German. Wherever possible, the title in German is written exactly as Harta wrote it in his catalog. With works, that were not listed by Harta, the title by Baumgartner and/or the Auction House will be used. Following the title will be the date. Undated works will be indicated by the suffix “um”. In English this is “ca”.

 

Medium:  The known medium is listed. In cases where the backing of an oil painting is unknown, only “Oil” is listed.  The graphics present a larger problem as some are drawn with mixed techniques. If no medium is listed, it means that the medium is unknown.

 

Dimensions: Dimensions are listed in CM (Height times Width). In some cases, inches are provided. Note that in some cases, one does not know if the dimensions are that of the image or the framed image. If no dimensions are listed, it means the dimensions are unknown.

 

Signature, date, and location: A signature and where its located is always listed.  Undated is assumed when only the front of the painting is signed. In some cases, we know what dates if any are on the verso.  Where there are inscriptions, they are listed with their location within the painting.

Location: Where the work currently is. Where it resides in a museum, the inventory number is listed. Due to privacy, collector’s names are not provided unless they have given permission, so generally this is listed as “Private owner”. Where the location is unknown or is presumed lost, this is listed as “Whereabouts Unknown”

 

Catalog Concordance: Previously this was a separate category, and now will list under literature, and in German.  Example:  Baumgartner 1991 II, S. 65 mit Abb. This means the Second volume of her Dissertation, S (page #), mit Abb (With Illustration). Volume 1 references will have “I” in the citation. Harta’s catalog listings will also be cited as literature references. Example: Harta WV65/1910, S. 4. 

This means it was the 65th work listed in the ledger on page 4 of Volume 2 of the dissertation. The citation under the work will be cited as:

 

Harta 1906 -1966, S #, Kat #.

Baumgartner 1991 I, S. #, Kat # mit Abb(with illustration)

 

The Bibliography is being updated, and is a work in progress but the general citation for the dissertation is:

Baumgartner 1991 I                                                                                                                                                        Edith Karolina Baumgartner: Felix Albrecht Harta (1884 – 1967), Bd. I (Diss. Univ. Salzburg), Salzburg 1991.

Baumgartner 1991 II                                                                                                                                                         Edith Karolina Baumgartner: Felix Albrecht Harta (1884 – 1967), Bd. II (Diss. Univ. Salzburg), Salzburg 1991.

 

Exhibitions: The title, date, and place of the exhibition. Because of space limitations, this is abbreviated. A section is provided for a complete list.  Exhibitions are divided between his life and after he passed.  All Exhibitions are verified through source documents.  In some cases, we know that Harta registered works, but a catalogue was not printed.   

 

Literature: All places where the work has been referenced. This can be from an exhibit catalog, dissertation, monograph, book. For the major works, space does not allow for all known literature citations. Future plans include a complete Bibliography.  

 

Provenance: Determining the entire provenance chain of ownership is beyond the scope of this project. In many cases, it requires an experienced Museum-based provenance researcher, and even here, they cannot complete it due to lost records. However, many new works have been discovered where the provenance is known.

 

Remarks: Where space permits, additional comments about the work are provided.

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(1) In 1938, there was a fire on the 5th floor of the Department Store Schwarz that hosted the Neue Galerie in Salzburg where many Harta works were destroyed. In 1940, when Harta was forced to emigrate to England, his apartment in Cambridge was destroyed during Germany’s blitz attack.(See Baumgartner, Vol. 1, pg 57.)

 

(2)Harta’s catalog has a gap between 1961 and 1965 where no work is listed.

 

(3)WV- does not necessarily mean that the work is not listed. Because of title similarities and or title variations, it becomes nearly impossible to identify a specific work, Nevertheless, in most cases, WV- means the work was not listed by Harta.

 

(4)Note that there are works that were not drawn by Harta. They occasionally come up for auction, but are easily spotted as someone drawing a painting, then signing it “Harta”. Not only do they lack source documentation, but they lack artistic quality and/or are not homogeneous with Harta’s style in any given period. Moreover, the signature tends to be questionable.