Reed College Library: Art

There are many handbooks, dictionaries, and encyclopedias that provide basic information on art history. If you wish to explore your topic, these reference sources provide definitions and introductory information about the subject. Other more specialized resources are available in the Reference Room.

A Biographical Dictionary of Artists
Ref N40 .B53 1995
Covers artists from the 12th to the 20th century. Includes a chronology, illustrations of the artists and their work, and reading lists.

Dictionary of Artists
Ref N40 .D5213 2006
Comprehensive work including biographies, bibliographies, sample signatures, museum collections, and more on nearly 200,000 artists.

Dictionary of Women Artists
Ref N8354 .D53 1997
Women painters, sculptors, and photographers from the 10th to the 20th century.

Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography
Ref N7565 .E53 1998
Compares iconographic themes in works of art through various periods, cultures, and genres.

Encyclopedia of World Art
Ref N31 .E533
The articles include extensive bibliographies, and approximately the last half of each volume consists of plates arranged to illustrate the articles.

Oxford Art Online
A collection of fulltext reference sources from Oxford including Grove Art Online, The Oxford Companion to Western Art, the Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, and The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms.

Grove Dictionary of Art
Ref N31 .D5 1996
Fulltext encyclopedia with over 45,000 entries covering "the visual arts worldwide from prehistory to the 1990s." Links to important art images in galleries and museums around the world.

Grove Encyclopedia of Decorative Arts
Ref NK28 .G76 2006
A valuable resource for those interested in the history, practice, and mechanics of the decorative arts.

The Oxford Companion to Western Art
Coverage of Western Art with entries on artists and their works, styles and movements, art forms and art terms from classical times to the 20th century.

The Oxford Companion to Archaeology
Ref CC70 .O96 1996
Entries on a range of subjects, including biographies and coverage of the methods used in archaeological research.

Guides & Bibliographies

Ref N40 .F73 1997
Covers over 2,000 artists from all historic periods and countries.

Bibliographic Guide to Art and Architecture
Ref N7420 .N47
Annual subject bibliographies.

Fine Arts: A Bibliographic Guide to Basic Reference Works, Histories, and Handbooks
Ref N7425 .E47 1990
Covers topics from ancient times to the present. Author, title and subject indexes.

Guide to Research in Classical Art and Mythology
Ref N7760 .V3 1991
Presented in three parts: general reference, mythology, and particular media of ancient art. Bibliographical references and indexes are included.

Guide to the Literature of Art History
Ref N380 .A67
Guide to the Literature of Art History 2
Ref N380 .M375 2005
Annotates bibliographies, indexes, catalogs and periodicals. Divided into general reference sources, primary and secondary sources, the particular arts, and serials.

Directories of Museums and Exhibit Catalogs

Index to Two-Dimensional Art Works
Ref N7525 .K67
Covers books published between 1960 and 1977. Volume 1 has general symbols, abbreviations for books indexed and an artist index. Volume 2 has location symbols for institutions and private collections and a title/subject index.

Internationales Kunst-Adressbuch. International Directory of Arts
Ref N50 .I6
A directory of world museums and galleries, etc.

World Painting Index
Ref ND45 .H38
A tool for locating reproductions of paintings in books and catalogs.

Locating Books

To locate books, look in the library catalog. If you know the author or artist, search Author, last name first. To search by topic, try a Keyword search.

Once you locate some appropriate book titles, make note of the subject headings assigned to them. You can then do a Subject search on those headings to locate more books. You may also want to check the stacks for other books with similar call numbers. To search successfully by Subject, be sure to use subject terms from the Library of Congress Subject Headings. These books are shelved directly behind the Reference Desk. You may also want to search for the artist as the subject of a book. Again, search last name first by Subject.

To search for books in the Summit system, access the library catalog as usual, and select Search in Summit. If you find books in Summit which aren't owned by Reed, you may request the books directly from the Summit catalog.

Finding Journal Articles and Critical Essays

Indexes allow you to search the contents of periodicals to identify articles on your topic. Some indexes are interdisciplinary, and some focus on a particular subject area. Some indexes contain fulltext or links to fulltext from other sources.

After you find a citation for an article, you will need to check the Print & Electronic Journal page to see if Reed subscribes to the journal and if we have the particular issue.

AATA Online
Abstracts of International Conservation Literature is a comprehensive database of over 100,000 abstracts of literature related to the preservation and conservation of material cultural heritage.

Arts & Humanities Citation Index (1975 - present)
Multidisciplinary index covering the journal literature of the arts and humanities. (Available through Web of Science.)

Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
Indexes articles on architectural design, history and practice of architecture, landscape architecture, etc. Selected coverage back to the 1860s.

Image Collections

Directs you to a variety of excellent art image collections. Art Resource, Bridgeman Art Library and Art Image Links provide searchable image collections covering hundreds of areas in the visual arts.

ARTstor
Digital library of art images, associated information, and software tools designed to enhance teaching, learning and scholarship. Contains approximately 300,000 images of art, architecture and archeology from a wide range of cultures and time periods, with initial strengths in European, American and Asian cultures.

CHRISTUS REX
Information on works of art preserved in churches, cathedrals and monasteries all over the world.

Getty Explore Art
Includes all the art that appears on the Web site, as well as artworks from featured programs. You can access the images in this area in several ways.

Index to Christian Art
A thematic and iconographic index of early Christian and medieval art objects cataloging primarily Christian art from early apostolic times to approximately 1400 A.D.

Mother of All Art History Links
Listings of academic art history department web sites, online research resources, image collections, online exhibits, etc. Maintained by the Dept. of the History of Art at the University of Michigan.

Web Gallery of Art
The Web Gallery of Art is a virtual museum and searchable database of European painting and sculpture of the Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassicism and Romanticism periods (1100-1850).

Selected Websites

Not all websites are appropriate for academic research. If you aren't sure if the information is accurate or from an authoritative source, ask your professor or a librarian.

Design Addict
An excellent collection of resources related to modern and post-modern design. Researchers interested in modern and contemporary three-dimensional design will find news, indexes, links, interviews, and discussion forums.

Design by the Book
In "this online-only miniseries, ... the [New York Public] Library partnered with [a] leading design blog ... to invite five New York City-based artists to sift through our collections in search of inspiration.

Intimate Circles: American Women in the Arts
Yale University exhibit "explores the lives of women -- writers, artists, publishers, performers, collaborators, and community builders -- whose energies set in motion lasting aesthetic and cultural practices."

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.

Perseus Digital Library
Digital library of the classical world. Particularly good for searching fulltext classical texts and providing links to images of classical art and architecture.

Picturing Words: The Power of Book Illustration
Smithsonian exhibit explores book illustration as inspiration (sacred texts and letterforms), information (geography and travel, natural history, and anatomy), and influence (such as product literature and architecture).

UCLA Art Web Sites
Contains links to academic art libraries, meta-indexes, organizations, museums, image databases, research guides, reference sources, and sites by area, period and genre.

Union List of Artist Names Online (ULAN)
ULAN is a directory of names and biographical information for two hundred thousand artists and architects. Produced by The Getty Research Institute for the History of Art and the Humanities.

Voice of the Shuttle
Web page for humanities research produced by the English Department of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Includes art and art history and photography links.

Library

Research Guide for Art