The Getty Provenance Index® (GPI) contains over 12 million digitized, open-access resources that trace the origins, movements, and lineages of art and cultural artifacts. Spanning the 16th–20th centuries, the GPI includes primary source materials such as transcribed inventories, auction catalogs, and dealer stock books, with strengths in European and American art.
Founded in 1974 by Burton Fredericksen, the GPI was created to improve access to information found in archival documents related to the ownership of art. Originating in the Getty Museum’s Paintings department, the GPI is the product of continued international collaboration and has expanded to include information from the Getty Research Institute's own archives related to dealers and the art trade.
As one of the earliest digital art history initiatives, the GPI has continually operated at the forefront of technological advancement and open access. First compiled digitally in 1984, published on CD-ROM in 1994, and launched online in 1998, it has evolved alongside advances in provenance research and digital art history. More recently, the GPI has transitioned to a Linked Open Data (LOD) framework, enabling network visualization and cross-database analysis.
Today, the GPI continues to grow as a leading nexus of provenance research, forging new partnerships and integrating technological advances.
