ARTH 281: 19th Century Art

Fall 2009

Joy Sperling

madame x.jpg

"Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau)" (1883-84) by John Singer Sargent Image courtesy of ARTstor

Lareese Hall, Fine Arts Liaison Librarian
halll@denison.edu  / x6688

Research Basics

Information on citing resources (including images) is available on the library Citation Help page.

Reference materials are useful for finding a topic, narrowing an idea, and/or starting research.  The best way to find these materials is to BROWSE! In our library, reference materials can be found in on the 3rd floor by the Learning Commons (they will also say "DEN Ref" in their call number) and online.  DEN Main books are in the stacks.

Dictionaries & Encyclopedias: Good for quick reference and starting research.  Encyclopedias are written by leading scholars and often have bibliographies for further reading and research.

  • Oxford Art Online
    A good place to start - includes Grove Art Online. Here you will find full text articles on thousands of artists, countries, and media.
    Print version: The Dictionary of Art N31 .D5 1996
  • Oxford Reference Books Online: Art Section
    Online access to six of Oxford's art reference books.
  • Nineteenth-Century European Art: A Topical Dictionary / DEN Ref N6757 .S77 1999
  • Art in Theory, 1648-1815: An Anthology of Changing Ideas / DEN Ref N6420 .A78 2000
  • Victorian Painters / DEN Ref ND467 .W65 1995
  • Yale Dictionary of Art & Artists / DEN Ref N33.L353 2000
  • Dutch Art: An Encyclopedia / DEN Ref N6941.D88 1997


Finding Books, Journals, and other materials

Use the library catalog (CONSORT) in one of the following ways:

  • You can search by title, author, keyword, subject, or journal title.  The information you find as you do your research will lead you to additional keywords and subject headings.  Remember to look at the subject headings for the things you find that are useful - that will give you specific search terms to use as you continue with your research.

    • SUBJECT Search: Artist name
      Enter an artist's name (Lastname, Firstname)
      RESULT: All the books by or about the artist, divided up by the type of book (e.g., "Exhibitions," "Criticism & Interpretation")

    • SUBJECT Search: Theme or topic
      Enter a topic or medium, such as: "Painting American"
      RESULT: All the books about the topic, subdivided by time period or geographic region

    • KEYWORD Search: When you're not sure of the exact name or topic
      Use AND between terms to narrow your search
      Use OR between like terms/synonyms to save time
      Use * to search all forms of a word
      Use ( ) to create a complex search
      Use " " to search a phrase

  • Make Lists!!!
    Save your catalog searches using  "Saved List" (the "save" button is listed under the number of each item)
    • You can continue to save items on your list throughout your search session
    • To get to the Saved List, click "View Saved Records" at the top of the screen
    • You can print the list or email it to yourself

  • If you cannot find something in the CONSORT catalog, check OhioLINK to see if there is a copy available.  You can "Request this item" if you find something in OhioLINK (follow the prompts on the screen).


    • Databases and Web Resources

    Databases are infinitely more organized than some random online searches.  Remember the subject headings and keywords that were successful for you in the catalog and start with those here. Use indexes and databases to search for articles that appeared in periodicals. After you find relevant articles, see if the database you are using has full text (usually PDF) files available for you to download.  If the full text is not available, use the CONSORT Catalog to see whether we subscribe to the journal. If we don't have the journal available make a request for the article using Interlibrary Loan.)


    Article & Book Databases and Indexes:

  • Art Full Text
    Index, abstracts, and full text for articles in art.
  • JSTOR
    Historical full text (up to last 5 years) for 32 art history journals.  Searching in JSTOR allows you to search for images in both the articles themselves and in ARTstor.  Magic...
  • Art Abstracts
    Indexes art periodicals back to 1929.
  • Project Muse
    Project Muse is online archive of 400 high quality humanities, arts, and social sciences journals from 100 scholarly publishers.
  • Nineteenth Century Masterfile
    Find periodical articles pre-1920.
  • Index to Nineteenth Century American Art Periodicals
    Helps you find articles from 42 American art periodicals from 1840-1907.
  • The Times (London) Digital Archives
    Full-page images of the newspaper, 1785-1985.
  • New York Times Digital Archive
    Full-page images of the newspaper, 1851-2003.
  • Periodicals Index Online
    A periodicals database covering 300 years.


    Web Resources


    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.
  • VADS the online resource for visual arts
    The Visual Arts Data Service is based at the Surrey Institute of Art and Design at University College in Farnham, Great Britain. The services offered include a searchable catalog of image collections and other collections. Subject areas include fine arts, design, architecture, applied arts, history and theory, media, museum studies and conservation, and professional practice

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