Art and Art History Research Guide

Art is a broad subject area. This subject guide covers the visual arts and their history.

Books, Videos and Slides
The Public Access Catalog contains 1224 subject headings for Art, 152 subject headings for Arts, and 69 subject headings related to Art. To narrow broad results, search using Subject, Keyword, or Advanced Boolean, with a style, nationality, country or time designation. To locate an artist biography, or criticisms on an artist use a Subject search with artists last name first, followed by first name.

Sample Subject Headings

Sample Artists as Subject Headings

Learn the Library Of Congress location for subjects in ART—Click on N--FINE ARTS and T--TECHNOLOGY (for Photography and Film). This site uses Adobe Acrobat or WordPerfect.

Reference Sources
Grove's Dictionary of Art—begins the Art section of Moraine's reference collection. The title is deceptive: This "Dictionary" is 34 volumes and contains 45,000 (those zeroes are correct) entries by 6700 contributors. These include 20,800 biographies as well as articles on both "fine" and "decorative" arts. Only filmmaking is excluded.

Other Art Dictionaries
Artists Dictionaries
Artists Materials
Current Biography—for biographies of artists.

Collection Resources on Artists
Artists Psychology
Women Artists

There are a number of Multimedia materials in the collection such as slide sets, videocassettes and filmstrips. Once you have found your subject heading, choose the limit option at the top of the results page and select "Where item is located." On the drop-down menu choose "AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS."

Journal Articles Available Online
Online Databases—Look for art subjects and topics in the online databases such as Expanded Academic ASAP, Academic Search Elite, Article First, Periodic Abstracts, or ERIC.

Encyclopedia Britanica Online—is a good starting source for Art History and artist biography information.

Periodicals In Print Held in the Library Collection
Indexes to Periodicals are found in Periodicals Section in the back of the library

Art Index (1965- )
Art in Time[Magazine] (1923-1969)
Readers Guide to Periodical Literature (1900- )

Publications (on the shelves by title in the Periodicals Section of the library)

Architecture Forum (1950-74 microfilm; 1978-84 paper)
Art in America (1947-2002 microfilm; current year paper)
Artforum (only current year)
ARTnews (1947-2002 microfilm; current year paper)
FiberArts (1984- )
The international review of African American art (1996- )
Journal of Aesthetic Education (1995- )
American Artist (1954-2002 microfilm; current year paper)
American Craft (1979-90 microfilm; current 2 years paper)
Arts in Society (1974-76 paper)
Ceramics Monthly (1965-89 microfilm, current 2 years paper)
Craft Horizons (1960-79, microfilm)
Crafts 'N' Things (1996- )
Creative Woman (1989- )

Web Resources

Art Deadlines—A monthly email newsletter listing art contests and competitions, art scholarships and grants, juried exhibitions, art jobs and internships, call for entries/proposals/papers, writing and photo contests, residencies, design and architecture competitions, auditions, casting calls, fellowships, festivals, funding, and other opportunities (including some that take place on the web) for artists, art educators and art students of all ages.

General information

Art History Resources on the Web—This award-winning site is a great resource and supplement to any Art History or Art Appreciation study. Art topics and resources are divided by styles, time-designations and countries. In-depth linked lists maintained by Chris Witcombe, Professor of Art History, Sweet Briar College, Virginia 24595 USA.

Universe in Universes—Information and communication system on the visual arts and art history of Africa, the Americas, Asia/Pacific. Search site by individual countries. Available in English, Spanish and German languages.

Louvre Museum Official Website—The official site of the museum, with history, collections, and current exhibitions. Both the greatest collection of Western art and the greatest museum in the Western World! Choose "Collection" on the Home page. This site can be viewed in English, French, Spanish and Japanese languages.

The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia—Situated in the center of St. Petersburg, the State Hermitage Museum is housed in five magnificent buildings created by celebrated architects of the 18th to 19th century. Put together throughout two centuries and a half, the Hermitage collections of works of art (over 3,000,000 items) present the development of the world culture and art from the Stone Age to the 20th century. Try out the "Virtual Tour," "The Zoom View Gallery," "Virtual Exhibitions," or just brave the "Collections" option unassisted on this user-friendly site in English or Russian language.

National Gallery of Art—The National Gallery of Art houses one of the finest collections in the world illustrating major achievements in painting, sculpture, and graphic arts from the Middle Ages to the present. Search the collection by specific artist, title, or a combination of criteria. Tour the collection thematically by choosing medium and school. Explore in-depth studies that focus on artists, themes, and specific works of art. Download a collection tour in English, French, German, Italian, or Spanish (PDF format).

Smithsonian American Art Museum--The Smithsonian American Art Museum collection features the work of American artists. Browse 6,000 items from the permanent collection by artist's name or topic. Or take advantage on the online answer service, "Ask Joan of Art!"

The Art History Research Centre—The AHRC is the first and foremost tool for art historical research on the internet. It shares key resources and methods of online research so that art historians can find the resources relevant to their work.

Great Buildings Online—More than 800 great buildings from around the world and across history are listed and illustrated at this web site and The Great Buildings Collection CD-ROM , with photographic images, architectural drawings, discussion, bibliography, architect info, and live 3D walkthrough computer models.

Art Crimes: The Writing on the Wall--View examples of Graffiti art at this online tribute to "tagging" worldwide!

The Metropolitan Museum of Art—5,000 Years of Art--About 3,500 objects--fifty highlights from each of the Museum's curatorial departments as well as the entire department of European Paintings--can be searched by artist, period, style, or keyword. You may also explore other works from the Met's collection by taking the director's tour; viewing some of the Museum's recent acquisitions; or by visiting the Timeline of Art History, the Period Rooms: Virtual Reality Tour, or the Provenance Research Project.

The Art Institute of Chicago Museum—Click on "View the Collection" or "Collection" at the bottom of the page and choose between options to "view art (click on any one of the twelve images representing twelve of the museum's collections), read, play, explore, discover or interact." The Museum houses more than 300,000 works of art which include many treasures.

MCA Chicago--Welcome to the Museum of Contemporary Art, in Chicago click on EXHIBITIONS an d then choose "The Collection," to view holdings on Website Insights. Website Insights is a searchable database of MCA Collection highlights. This on-line archive will continually expand to reflect the development of the Collection.

MoMA | The Museum of Modern Art, New York—A constantly evolving site, MoMA.org features information on exhibitions, online art projects, and images from its collection. Choose "Index to Artists," then click on "Collection," or go straight to the collection from the Home page.

Web directories

Fine Art Forum Directory of Online Art Resources—serves as a directory and jumping-off place for people interested in art, and in the possible relationships between art and technology.

Artcyclopedia—A self-named "fine arts search engine for artists, artworks, and museums." Good, quick resource for popular works and artists.

World Wide Arts Resources—This site claims itself to be "the largest gateway for online arts information: artists, museums, galleries, quality art, art history, arts education, antiques, dance, theater, and more... discover the largest collection of original art online!" Decide for yourself.