FYE 1080: Learning to Look
Books
The links below are some catalog searches to get you started. There are many more possibilities — try searching the Catalog for the names of artists, movements, countries, techniques, or time periods that interest you. Any book marked Oakdale Circulating is on the second floor of the library and may be checked out.
Historic Buildings in New York State
Metropolitan Museum of Art for books published by the Met.
Reference Books on Art
Oakdale reference books are on the first floor of the Oakdale library.
Atkins, R. (1997). Art speak: A guide to contemporary ideas, movements, and buzzwords, 1945 to the present. New York: Abbeville Press.
Using a who-what-when-where approach, the author illustrates the various artistic genres, movements, and vocabulary of the world of contemporary art from 1945 until the present.
Reference N6490.A87 1997
Atkins, R. (1993). Art spoke: A guide to modern ideas, movements, and buzzwords, 1848–1944. New York: Abbeville Press.
This companion volume to Art Speak uses the same format of who-what-when-where to illuminate the art movements of 1848 to 1944.
Reference N6447.A85 1993
Dempsey, A. (2002). Art in the modern era : A guide to styles, schools & movements 1860 to the present. New York: Harry Abrams.
Covers schools and movements that developed in the arts from the start of the Civil War to the 21st century, including Futurism, Dadaism, and the Kitchen Sink School.
Reference N6490 .D415 2002
Gardner, H. (2003).
Gardner’s art through the ages: The western perspective.
Belmont, CA: Thomason/Wadsworth.
This textbook is a classic for the study of art history. It was designed for an undergraduate survey course and covers all periods with a focus on Europe and the west.
Reference N5300 .G25 2003
Honour, H., & Fleming, J. (1995). The visual arts: A history. New York: Abrahms.
This resources covers art throughout the ages and across the world. It includes a helpful glossary and a bibliography of other resources.
Reference N5300 .H68 1995
Janson, H.W., & Janson, A.F. (1997). History of art. New York: Harry N. Abrams.
This comprehensive volume covers the world of art. It presents its topic by breaking it into time periods, such as “The Ancient World” or “The Modern World,” and then taking a detailed look at the movements and places within each period. It has a decidedly western slant as Asian art is not included.
Reference N5300 .J3 1997.
Roberts, H.E. (Ed.). (1998). Encyclopedia of comparative iconography: Themes depicted in works of art. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn.
Entries are written by experts in the field of the arts. Essays cover artists’ uses and interpretations of themes from mythology, religion, and literature across time and culture.
Reference N7565 .E53 1998
Sayre, H.M. (2002). Writing about art. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
This simple volume provides guidance to writers in how to describe and interpret art so that their writings will have impact. It details all steps of the writing process from selecting a work of art, to researching it, to writing.
Reference N7476 .S29 2002
Ward, G. W. R. (2008). The Grove encyclopedia of materials and techniques in art. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Reference N8510 .G76 2008
Reference Books Online
Grove Art Online Now part of Oxford Art Online, this database includes The Oxford Companion to Western Art, Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, and The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms.
Oxford Reference Art & Architecture searches a variety of dictionaries and guides to the arts.
CAMIO Art images from museums worldwide
Credo searches a number of encyclopedias and reference books, including The Bridgeman Art Library Archive.
Britannica Encyclopedia general encyclopedia.
Biography in Context all purpose source for biographies, including many artists.
Finding Articles
Academic Search Premier contains full text of a number of art-related journals and magazines, including Art in America.
Need to keep looking for more articles? Try these multi-subject databases from the library.
Periodicals
These links will take you into a database search for each of the specific magazines and journals listed. You can add keywords to each search once you’re inside. Check the Journal Locator to see if we have access to another specific journal title.
- African Arts
- Art Bulletin
- Art History full text is delayed by a year
- Art in America
- Art Journal
- Art Monthly
- ARTnews (available in print at the Periodicals Window)
- Ceramics Monthly
- Graphic Arts Monthly
- Journal of Architecture full text is delayed by a year
- Metropolitan Museum Journal
- Scan: Journal of Media Arts Culture online Spanish-language journal
Citing Your Resources
Doing ethical research means citing sources. It is critical to credit writers for their work and their contributions to your research. To not do so is unethical and leads to plagiarism - unintentionally or not. Here are some sources to help you cite properly and to avoid the problem of plagiarism.
- MLA Citation Style
These websites will help you format your citations in MLA (Modern Language Association) style. This is the format used in the arts and humanities. - Why Cite?
This video gives you more background on why you need to cite sources in your papers. - Tips on avoiding plagiarism
- Turnitin
Turnitin is a service that faculty and students use to detect and avoid plagiarism in their writing. - NoodleBib
NoodleBib is an online resource that will help you format MLA and APA bibliographies, exporting them directly to your word processing program.
Web Sites
American Memory from the Library of Congress
Comprising more than 9 million items that document U.S. history and culture, American Memory is organized into more than 100 thematic collections based on their original format, their subject matter, or who first created, assembled, or donated them to the Library of Congress.
Archives of American Art
Collection of primary sources for research in American art history include letters, photographs, diaries, oral history interviews, sketches, scrapbooks, business records, and other documents. A number of collections have been digitized and are available as Collections Online.
Art 21
PBS television series highlighting contemporary U.S. artists.
Art & History of the U.S. Senate
Official government resource is rich in photographs and historical/biographical information. Listings for exhibits, paintings, sculpture, graphic arts and oral histories can be found here.
Art History Resources On The Web
Maintained by Christopher L. C. E. Witcombe, Sweet Briar College. Art historical resources by period, with links to image resources.
Artcyclopedia
A commercial site providing a comprehensive index of artists represented at hundreds of museum sites, image archives, and online resources.
ArtNet
An online magazine covering contemporary fine arts, with some coverage of the decorative arts. Access to exhibition, gallery, auction and museum listings.
Art Project by Google
Think of this as Google Street View for museums. Pick your museum and you can take a visual tour through their galleries, stopping to zoom in and get more information on the art.
Big Art Mob - Free & Open Images of Public Art
The Big Art Mob is a collective effort to create the UK’s first comprehensive survey of Public Art. It’s based entirely on photos from the camera phones of art-lovers. It aims to record for posterity the wealth of artworks in public places nationwide and serve as the focus of a dynamic national conversation.
Brooklyn Museum of Art
Brooklyn Museum of Art home page includes information about collections, current exhibitions, Museum news, competitions, and directions to the Museum. Highlights include the Museum’s blog and the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art.
Metropolitan Museum 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.
Mother of All Art History Links Pages
Links to universities, museums, and art history research resources. Maintained by Patrick Young, Department of Art History at the University of Michigan.
Museum of Modern Art
This site presents highlights from the Museum’s extensive collections. Areas include Architecture and Design, Drawings, Film and Media, Painting and Sculpture, Photography, and Illustrated Books.
NYPL Research Guide— Art History\\ New York Public Library provides detailed support in searching their extensive resources in art history. There is even help for “Writing About Art.”
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution’s “Explore and Learn” page for Art and Design leads to countless resources. Select an artistic field, region or culture, and find extensive imagery, online exhibits, archive access, research databases and more.
Steven Spielberg’s Jewish Film Archive
Contains a searchable catalog as well as a dedicated section to the Holocaust. Created in conjunction with The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The Art History Research Center
Links to universities and museums for art history resources. Maintained by Leif Harmsen, Concordia University.
The Center for Book Arts
The Center for Book Arts in New York City promotes “the traditional crafts of bookmaking” via classes, exhibitions, lectures, and various events throughout the year.
Added by RDF - Last updated: 8/14/2008
The Cloisters
Metropolitan Museum of Art guide to The Cloisters, including the Cloisters’ floorplan and an overview of its collections.
The Frick Collection
This site provides a virtual tour of its collection of Western paintings, sculpture, and decorative art as well as a link to its library.
The History of Art Virtual Library
Interdisciplinary links for the study of art history and computer applications maintained by the History of Art Department of Birkbeck College, University of London.
The Louvre Museum, Paris
View major works, by country and time period, online.
The National Gallery, London
The entire National Gallery permanent collection and long-term loans are illustrated and described in the collection online.
The Prado Museum, Spain
Information about the collections of Spain’s national museum, the Prado Museum in Madrid. Includes photos of selected works and exhibitions. Spanish and English versions are available.
The Tate Museum, London
The Tate holds the national collection of British art from 1500 and of international modern art. All works can be found on this site, each with its own information page.
Union List of Artist Names
The Union List of Artist Names, from the Getty Research Institute, contains names and associated information about artists.
Virtual Library Museums Pages
Resources to chronological listings of museum and artist exhibitions.
Voice of the Shuttle: Art and Art History
Information on museums, exhibits, and auctions, maintained by Alan Liu, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Welcome to Artlex
A dictionary of art terms, pronunciation notes, and quotations.
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