Last revised: August 2009

Researching and Writing About Art and Artists: History, Theory and Criticism

Scope: This guide lists selected resources which provide an introduction to art history, theory and criticism, and to researching and writing about art. For further information email Louise Greene or call 301-405-9064.

Table of Contents

• Finding Books and Exhibition Catalogs
• Finding Journal Articles
• General Reference Sources
• Online Reference Sources
• Researching an Artist
• Looking at Art
• Writing About Art
• Art Theory and Criticism
• Guides to Art Information Resources
• Useful Tools for Writers: Citing Sources and Organizing Research

FINDING BOOKS AND EXHIBITION CATALOGS

• art appreciation
  
• art criticism
  
• art historiography
  
• art philosophy
  
• art psychological aspects
  
• communication art
  
• composition art
  
• painting psychological aspects
  
• visual perception art
  

• Cambridge Studies in New Art History and Criticism. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1993- .
  LOCATION: UMCP various
  CALL NUMBER: titles cataloged individually
  
• Studies in the Fine Arts. Art Theory. Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1981-1985.
  LOCATION: UMCP various
  CALL NUMBER: titles cataloged individually
  
• Studies in the Fine Arts. Criticism. Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1980-1990.
  LOCATION: UMCP various
  CALL NUMBER: titles cataloged individually
  

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FINDING JOURNAL ARTICLES

• Art Criticism. Stony Brook: Dept. of Art, State Univ. of New York at Stony Brook, 1979- .
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: N7475.A77
• Aesthetics on-line. Milwaukee: American Society for Aesthetics.
  LOCATION: UMCP Online Resources
  CALL NUMBER: N61.A47
• Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. Madison: American Society for Aesthetics, 1941- .
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: N1.J6
• N.paradoxa: International Feminist Art Journal Exploring Feminist Theory. London: KT Press, 1998- .
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: N72.F45 N737
• Other Voices: The eJournal of Cultural Criticism. Philadelphia: Students of the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, 1997- .
  LOCATION: UMCP Online Resources
  CALL NUMBER: CB151.O87

• Art Abstracts (1984-present) and Art Index Retrospective (1929-1984)
  Indexes to periodical articles 1929 to the present, covering art of all periods and styles; abstracts from 1994; some full-text articles from the mid-1990's.
• ARTbibliographies Modern
  Index to periodical articles 1974 to present, covering art of the 19th and 20th centuries.
• BHA (Bibliography of the History of Art)
  Index to periodical articles 1973 to present, covering art of Late Antiquity to the present.

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GENERAL REFERENCE SOURCES

• Ehresmann, Donald L. Fine Arts: A Bibliographic Guide to Basic Reference Works, Histories, and Handbooks. 3rd ed. Littleton, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1990.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: N5300.E7 1990
  
• Jones, Lois Swan. Art Information and the Internet: How to Find It, How to Use It. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 1999.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Folio, UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: N59.J66 1999
  
• Jones, Lois Swan. Art Information: Research Methods and Resources. 3rd ed. Dubuque: Kendall/Hunt, 1990.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Folio, UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: N85.J64 1990
  
• Marmor, Max. Guide to the Literature of Art History 2. Chicago: American Library Association, 2005.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: N380.M37G85 2005
  
• McNulty, Tom. Art Market Research: A Guide to Methods and Sources. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2006.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: N5200.M39 2006
  

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ONLINE REFERENCE SOURCES

• Artcyclopedia
  Search by name of artist for links to information and images.

• ArtLex: A Visual Arts Dictionary
  (http://www.artlex.com)
  A dictionary of art criticism, history, technique, aesthetics, and education.

• Oxford Art Online (Formerly Grove Art)
  Full text of the 34-volume Grove Dictionary of Art, content of Oxford art reference sources, as well as links to images and information through museum sites worldwide.

• The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism
  A guide to people, places, events and ideas including the arts.

• National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
  (http://www.nga.gov)
  Includes images, biographical information and bibliographical references.

• Words of Art: An Online Glossary of Theory and Criticism for the Visual Arts
  (http://web.ubc.ca/okanagan/creative/links/glossary.html)
  A guide to terminology in the visual arts and literary theory.

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RESEARCHING AN ARTIST

Biographical Indexes

• Artist Biographies: Master Index. Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1986.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: N40.A78 1986
  
• Havlice, Patricia. Index to Artistic Biography. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1973.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: N40.H38
  Supplements 1981, 1989.
  

Biographical Dictionaries

• Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon. Leipzig: E.A. Seemann; Munchen: K.G. Saur, 1983- .
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: N40.A63 1983
  
• Bénézit, E. Dictionary of Artists. Paris: Grund, 2006.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: N40.D5213 2006
  
• Falk, Peter Hastings, ed. Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975: 400 Years of Artists in America. Madison, CT: Sound View Press, 1999.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: N6536.W56 1999
  
• Gowing, Lawrence, ed. A Biographical Dictionary of Artists. New York: Facts on File, 1995.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: N40.B53 1995
  
• Heller, Jules and Nancy Heller, eds. North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary. New York: Garland, 1995.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: N6503.N67 1995
  
• Naylor, Colin. Contemporary Artists. London: St. James Press, 1977-.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Folio, UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: N6490.C6567
  Latest edition in Reference.
• Riggs, Thomas, ed. St. James Guide to Black Artists. Detroit: St. James Press, 1997.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: N40.S78 1997
  
• Thieme, Ulrich and Felix Becker. Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Kunstler. Leipzig: W. Engelmann, 1907-50.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: N40.T4
  Supplements by Hans Vollmer 1953-1962.
• Turner, Jane, ed. Grove Dictionary of Art. (Available online as Oxford Art Online). New York: Grove, 1996.
  Print version: Grove Dictionary of Art
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: N31.D5
  
• Who's Who in American Art. New York: R.R. Bowker, 1936/37-.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: N6536.W5
  

Bibliographies

• Freitag, Wolfgang, ed. Art Books: A Basic Bibliography of Monographs on Artists. 2nd ed. New York: Garland, 1997.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: N40.F73 1997
  
• Igoe, Lynn. 250 Years of Afro-American Art: An Annotated Bibliography. New York: Bowker, 1981.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: N6538.N5I36 1981
  The updated CD-ROM version, entitled African American Artists on Disc, is available at the Circulation Desk.
• Karpel, Bernard, ed. Arts in America: A Bibliography. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1979.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: NX503.A1A7 1979
  

Artists' Statements

• Crofton, Ian. A Dictionary of Art Quotations. New York: Schirmer Books, 1989.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: PN6084.A8D54 1989
  
• Robertson, Jack S. Twentieth-Century Artists on Art: An Index to Writings, Statements, and Interviews by Artists, Architects, and Designers. 2nd. ed. New York: G.K. Hall, 1996.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: NX456.R59 1996
  
• Stiles, Kristine. Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art: A Sourcebook of Artists' Writings. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: N6490.T492 1996
  

Miscellaneous Resources

• Edelstein, Debra. Pronunciation Dictionary of Artists' Names. 3rd rev. ed. Boston: Little, Brown, 1993.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: REF N40.K3 1993
  

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LOOKING AT ART

• Berger, John et al. Ways of Seeing. New York: Viking Press, 1973.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: N7430.5 W39 1973
• Feldman, Edmund Burke. Varieties of Visual Experience. 4th ed. New York: Abrams, 1992.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Folio
  CALL NUMBER: N71.F42 1992b
  
• Nemett, Barry. Images, Objects, and Ideas: Viewing the Visual Arts. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers, 1992.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Folio
  CALL NUMBER: N71.N46 1992
  
• Perkins, David N. The Intelligent Eye: Learning to Think by Looking at Art. Santa Monica: Getty Center for Education in the Arts, 1994.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: N7430.5.P52 1994
  
• Preble, Duane. Artforms: An Introduction to the Visual Arts. 6th ed. New York: Longman, 1999.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Folio
  CALL NUMBER: N7430.P69 1999
  
• Straten, Roelof van. An Introduction to Iconography. Langhorne, PA: Gordon and Breach, 1994.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Reference, UMCP Art Library Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: N7565.S7713 1994
  
• Taylor, Joshua C. Learning to Look: A Handbook for the Visual Arts. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: N7477.T39 1981
  
• Whitford, Frank. Understanding Abstract Art. New York: Dutton, 1987.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: N6494.A2W54 1987
  
• Yenawine, Philip. How to Look at Modern Art. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1991.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: N6490.Y46 1991
  
• Zelanski, Paul. The Art of Seeing. 3rd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1994.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Folio
  CALL NUMBER: N7430.5.Z36 1994
  

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WRITING ABOUT ART

General

• Barnet, Sylvan. A Short Guide to Writing About Art. 8th ed. New York: Longman, 2005.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks, UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: N7476.B37 2005
  
• The Chicago Manual of Style. 15th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: Z253.U69 2003
  
• Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 5th ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 1999.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: LB2369.G53 1999b
  
• Sayre, Henry. Writing About Art. 3rd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: N7476.S29 1999
  
• Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. 6th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: LB2369.T8 1996
  

Historiography

• Harris, Jonathan. The New Art History: A Critical Introduction. New York: Routledge, 2001.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: N7480.H37 2001
  
• Hatt, Michael. Art History: A Critical Introduction to Its Methods. New York: Manchester University Press, 2006.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: N7480.H38 2006
• Jansen, Charles R. Studying Art History. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1986.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: N380.J36 1986
  
• Johnson, W. McAllister. Art History: Its Use and Abuse. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: N380.J64 1988
  
• Kultermann, Udo. The History of Art History. New York: Abaris Books, 1993.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Folio
  CALL NUMBER: N380.K8513 1993
  
• Minor, Vernon Hyde. Art History's History. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1994.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: N380.M556 1994
• Nelson, Robert S., ed. Critical Terms for Art History. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2003.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: N34.C75 2003
• Preziosi, Donald, ed. The Art of Art History: A Critical Anthology. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1998.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: N7480.A79 1998
• Roskill, Mark. What is Art History? 2nd ed. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1989.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: N380.R67 1989
  

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ART THEORY AND CRITICISM

• Alsberg, John. Modern Art and Its Enigma: Art Theories from 1800 to 1950 Based Upon the Writings of This Period's Artists and Philosophers. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, c1983.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: N6447.A43 1983
  
• Atkins, Robert. Artspeak: A Guide to Contemporary Ideas, Movements, and Buzzwords, 1945 to the Present. New York: Abbeville Press Publishers, 1997.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks, UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: N6490.A87 1997
  
• Atkins, Robert. Artspoke: A Guide to Modern Ideas, Movements, and Buzzwords, 1848-1944. New York: Abbeville Press, 1993.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: N6447.A85 1993
  
• Barasch, Moshe. Modern Theories of Art. New York: New York University Press, 1990-c1998.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: N70.B2 1990
  
• Chipp, Herschel Browning. Theories of Modern Art: A Source Book by Artists and Critics. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1968.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: N6450.C62
  
• Harrison, Charles, Paul Wood and Jason Gaiger, eds. Art in Theory, 1648-1815: An Anthology of Changing Ideas. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2000.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: N6420.A78 2000
  
• Harrison, Charles, Paul Wood and Jason Gaiger, eds. Art in Theory, 1815-1900: An Anthology of Changing Ideas. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 1998.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: N6450.A779 1998
  
• Harrison, Charles and Paul Wood, eds. Art in Theory, 1900-1990: An Anthology of Changing Ideas. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell, 1993.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: N6490.A7167 1993
  
• Homer, William Innes. The Language of Contemporary Criticism Clarified. Madison, CT: Sound View Press, 1999.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks, UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: PN81.H525 1999
  
• Kocur, Zoya and Simon Leung. Theory in Contemporary Art Since 1985. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2005.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: N66.T49 2005
  
• Murray, Chris, ed. Key Writers on Art. New York: Routledge, 2003.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks, UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: N7475.K49 2003
  

• Nelson, Robert S. and Richard Shiff, eds. Critical Terms for Art History. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: N34.C75 1996
  
• Patin, Thomas. Artwords: A Glossary of Contemporary Art Theory. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1997.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks, UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: N71.P32 1997
  
• Podro, Michael. The Critical Historians of Art. New Haven, Yale University Press, 1982
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: N380.P53 1982
  
• Prosyniuk, Joann, ed. Modern Art Criticism: A Biographical and Critical Guide to Painters, Sculptors, Photographers and Architects from the Beginning of the Modern Era to the Present. Detroit: Gale Research, c1991.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Reference
  CALL NUMBER: N6489.M63 1991
  
• Smith, Paul, and Carolyn Wilde, eds. A Companion to Art Theory. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2002.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: N66.C66 2002
  

• Thompson, James M., ed. Twentieth Century Theories of Art. Ottawa: Carleton Univ. Press, 1990.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: BH39.T93 1990
• Williams, Robert. Art Theory: An Historical Introduction. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2004.
  LOCATION: UMCP Art Library Stacks
  CALL NUMBER: N5300.W647 2004
  

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GUIDES TO ART INFORMATION RESOURCES

• Browser's Guide to the Art Library
  
• Visual Image Resources on the Web
  
• Web Resources for Art, Art History, and Archaeology
  

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USEFUL TOOLS FOR WRITERS: CITING SOURCES AND ORGANIZING RESEARCH

• Research Organizing and Citing Tools
  
• Writing Tools
  

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