Research

Subject Guide: Art & Architecture

The Library's Subject Guides help you find resources that are specialized for certain areas of study. There are many other resources available which provide generalized information--not specific to one topic or area. To see more of these general resources, see the link[general.

Reference Materials

Reference books provide background information on a people, terms and concepts.

Art:

Grove Art Online
The best place to start; articles on thousands of artists, countries, and media.
[Print version: The Dictionary of Art / DEN Ref N31 .D5 1996]

Oxford Reference Books Online: Art Section
Online access to six of Oxford's art reference books.

Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Art Terms / DEN Ref N33 .L75 2004

Atlas of World Art / DEN Ref N5300 .A85 2004

Contemporary Artists / DEN Ref N6490 .C6567 2002

Dictionary of Women Artists / DEN Ref N8354 .D53 1997

Encyclopedia of Sculpture / DEN Ref NB198 .E53 2004

The Design Encyclopedia / DEN Ref NK1370 .B93 2004

Architecture:

International Dictionary of Architects and Architecture / DEN Ref NA40 .I48 1993

Encyclopedia of 20th Century Architecture / DEN Ref NA680 .E495 2004

Illustrated Dictionary of Architecture / DEN Ref NA31 .B83 1998

Photography:

The Photography Encyclopedia / DEN Ref TR9 .M39 1999

Encyclopedia of 20th Century Photography / DEN Ref TR642 .E5 2006

Contemporary Photographers / DEN Ref TR139 .C664 1995

Databases

Article & Book Databases:

Art Full Text
Index, abstracts, and full text for articles in art.

Avery Index to Architectural Periodials
Citation only; index to 2,000 periodicals published worldwide on archaeology, city planning, interior design, and historic preservation, as well as architecture.

Bibliography of the History of Art
Index with abstracts for art-related books, conference proceedings and dissertations; also exhibition and dealer's catalogs, as well as articles from more than 2,500 periodicals on European and American art from late antiquity to the present.

Contemporary Artists Index
A free web database from the Cleveland Institute of Art that indicates publications containing information on individual contemporary artists.

Index to 19th-Century Art Periodicals
Indexes art periodicals that were published in the United States during the 19th century on diverse art topics. No full text.

JSTOR
Historical full text (up to last 5 years) for 32 art history journals.

Image Databases:

ArtSTOR
Images only; a collection of over 300,000 images from museums and cultural sites all over the world. Click on "Search and browse for images" (lower left side) to begin.

Art & Architecture Digital Media
Access more than 60,000 art and architecture images.

Digital Video Collection:
Access digital videos from Films for the Humanities. Many films on various periods and themes in Art History; also, films on modern artists and techniques.

Web Resources

Here are a few web sites we think you might find useful:

Artcyclopedia
A searchable directory of web sites about artists and major art movements.

The Art History Research Centre
A collection of web resources for the art historian. Includes a section on proper citation of research materials.

Metropolitan Museum of Art's Timeline of Art History
A chronological, geographical, and thematic exploration of the history of art from around the world, as illustrated especially by the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection.

National Gallery of Art
"Exploring Themes in American Art" provides background information on recurring themes such as still life, abstraction, and portaiture.

Art History Resources on the Web
A directory of global art history information on the web, compiled by Dr. Chris Witcombe, professor of Art History at Sweet Briar College.

ArtNet
Lists artists currently being represented in galleries around the world, with photos of artwork for sale. A good resource for researching contemporary artists.