Overview
The Union List of Artist Names (ULAN) is a controlled vocabulary and authority file that documents the names, variant spellings, life dates, nationalities, occupations and brief biographical information for visual artists and architects. Designed to support cataloging, scholarship and data interoperability, ULAN links name records with related people, patrons, collaborators and the subjects of portraits. The database is maintained by the Getty Research Institute and is accessible online through the Getty’s vocabulary services: Getty Research Institute and its public lookup tools online.
Contents and structure
A ULAN record typically contains an authorized name plus variant names and transliterations, life dates, a brief biographical note, roles or professions, and relationships to other entities. Relationships can include teacher–student ties, familial connections, patrons, workshop assistants and subjects of works. These structured links enable researchers and collections to reconcile different name forms and to navigate networks of influence and attribution.
Typical fields
- Authorized name and variant names (aliases, transliterations)
- Biographical summary and activity dates
- Roles (painter, sculptor, architect, etc.)
- Relationships (teachers, patrons, subjects) — see examples: portrait subjects
- Sources and documentation notes
History and development
The Getty Research Institute began developing ULAN in the 1980s to address the need for consistent name authority control across museums, libraries and archives. Over time it has evolved into a curated, machine-readable vocabulary that can interoperate with other cultural heritage vocabularies and standards. ULAN is part of the suite of Getty Vocabularies that support terminology and authority control in art historical research. For more on scope and updates consult the Getty vocabulary pages: ULAN descriptive overview.
Uses and significance
ULAN is widely used by catalogers, curators, digital humanists and systems that manage collection metadata. By standardizing names and recording relationships, it improves searching, provenance research and data linking across institutions. Its structured format makes it valuable for linked data projects, authority control in library catalogs and for anyone aligning disparate artist name forms in exhibition records, databases or publications.