Research Guides: Art History: Getting Started

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Art History Research

Art history is a vast discipline - geographically, historically, and intellectually. The canon continues to be redefined as histories of art in regions and communities that had previously been wrongfully excluded and marginalized are brought to light and amplified in scholarly discourse. How to keep up with, or identify, all of the core literature of this field? Getting started with topical overviews and summaries written by art historians and experts through reference sources (annotated bibliographies, encyclopedias, and handbooks) will help you focus in on your research, dig deeper, and become more knowledgeable on your topic. There are many resources listed on this page to help you get started, but you can always book an appointment if you want one-on-one help to find library resources for your paper or research assignment.

Writing Resources

A Short Guide to Writing about Art by Sylvan Barnet
Publication Date: 2015
This is an excellent guide for every aspect of writing about art. It covers how to analyze pictures (drawings, paintings, photographs), sculptures and architecture, and tips and tools for presenting ideas through effective writing. Coverage of essential writing assignments includes formal analysis, comparison, the research paper, exhibition reviews, and even writing text panels and other materials.
How to Write about Contemporary Art by Gilda Williams
Publication Date: 2014
This is a great handbook for students on writing eloquently, accurately, and originally about contemporary art. It navigates readers through the key elements of style and content, from the aims and structure of a piece to its tone and language.

Annotated Bibliographies

Oxford Bibliographies Online - Art History
Peer-reviewed annotated bibliographies on artists, movements, and other topics in the field of art and art history. Oxford Bibliographies provides faculty and students with a seamless pathway to the most accurate and reliable resources for a variety of topics. Written and reviewed by academic experts, this database is an authoritative guide to the current scholarship, containing original commentary and annotations.
Guide to the Literature of Art History
The literature of art history is well documented by these reference bibliographies published by the American Library Association (ALA). Annotates art and architecture books and journals published worldwide in the last two decades of the twentieth century. Critical selection of nearly all literature in art history, primarily in Western European languages, since 1977.

Encyclopedias and Handbooks

Online Resources:

Oxford Art Online This link opens in a new window
Oxford Art Online is an online reference resource for art and art history. It includes articles that span ancient to contemporary art and architecture including topical overviews and detailed artist biographies with bibliographies for further research. It also includes some images and artist signatures. Oxford Art Online combines Grove Art Online (scholarly art encyclopedia), and the Benezit Dictionary of Artists (artist biographies).
Online Egyptological Bibliography (OEB) This link opens in a new window
The Online Egyptological Bibliography (OEB) holds the largest available collection of references in Egyptological literature. It includes the records and abstracts from Annual Egyptological Bibliography (AEB, 1947-2001), combined with Bibliographie Altägypten (BA, 1822-1946), the Aigyptos database with keywords, and more than 50,000 further items. Coverage is from 1822 to the present. It is updated nearly every day.

The Grove encyclopedia of American art
Deals with all subject areas in American fine art including: biographies of major artists, architects and patrons, architecture, painting, new media, photography, sculpture, installation art, performance art, new media art, art education, and more.
The Benezit Dictionary of Asian Artists
This online dictionary consists of more than 4,700 entries on Asian artists representing all regions of the continent, including the Middle East, and every era from antiquity to the present. The content is drawn from the most recent edition of the Benezit Dictionary of Artists (Editions Gründ, 2006), supplemented by fifty new entries on contemporary artists commissioned for this publication and over one hundred updated biographies.
The Grove encyclopedia of classical art & architecture
A reference resource for the visual arts of the Classical period. It features an abundance of in-depth articles on this field of enduring importance--from biographies to thematic entries on architecture, ceramics, metalwork, mosaics, painting and sculpture. The resource provides art historical and cultural information about art forms, artists, rulers, philosophers, architecture, renowned works of art, archaeological sites and stylistic developments.
The Grove encyclopedia of Islamic art and architecture
Covers introductory information on Islamic art and architecture ranging from the Middle East to Africa to Central, South, and East Asia and includes entries on artists, rulers, writers, ceramics, sculpture, metalwork, painting, calligraphy, textiles, and more
The Grove encyclopedia of materials and techniques in art
Provides historical and current uses of materials and techniques in a wide range of areas from painting and sculpture to non-traditional media such as digital and video art for anyone who studies, creates, collects, or deals in works of art. C
The Grove encyclopedia of medieval art and architecture
Offers coverage of all aspects of art and architecture from Medieval Western Europe, from the 6th century to the early 16th century. Drawing upon the expansive scholarship in the celebrated Grove Dictionary of Art and adding hundreds of new entries on topics not previously covered, as well as fully updated and expanded entries and bibliographies.
The Grove encyclopedia of northern Renaissance art
Offers comprehensive scholarly information on the visual arts of the Renaissance in Northern Europe. It covers a wide range of subject areas, addressing people and subjects specific to all areas of Northern, Central, and Eastern Europe, including the diverse geographical regions that now encompass the modern nations of Germany, Austria, France, England, the Netherlands, Belgium, Scandinavia, Poland, and Russia. Featuring rich and engaging articles on artists, artisans, patrons, painting, architecture, sculpture, cities, centres of production, theory, criticism, and more.
The Oxford encyclopedia of archaeology in the Near East
A collaborative work of over 600 scholars from more than forty countries, the 'Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages' provides 3,000 concise and detailed articles on all aspects of the period from the fifth to the fifteenth century. It explores art, architecture, religion, law, science, language, philosophy, and theology, as well as cultural, religious, intellectual, social and political history. With a focus on focus on Europe and Christendom, the Encyclopedia also covers the rise of Islam and people of other cultures with whom Europeans came into contact.
Oxford Companion to the Photograph
Providing a wide range of technical information, this book presents a mass of recent scholarship on photography as a social and artistic practice. There are over 800 biographical entries, both on photographers and on others who have influenced photographic culture from the 19th century to the present.

Print Resources: Some of the titles above are also in print, but these texts specifically are not published online. While they may be older, they still provide valuable biographical and contextual information to conduct research in art history.

The Oxford Guide to Classical Mythology in the Arts, 1300-1990s
Call Number: NX650.M9 R45 1993 (Reference)
Publication Date: 1993
Contemporary Women Artists
Call Number: N8354 .C66 1999 (Reference)
Publication Date: 1999
The Dent Dictionary of Symbols in Christian Art
Call Number: N8010 .S64 1994 (Reference)
Publication Date: 1995
A Dictionary of Canadian Artists
Call Number: N6548 .M28
The Dictionary of Christian Art
Call Number: BV150 .A66 1994 (Reference)
Publication Date: 1994
Dictionary of Women Artists
Call Number: N8354 .D53 1997 (Reference)
Publication Date: 1997
Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography
Call Number: N7560 .E53 1998 (Reference)
Publication Date: 1998
The Encyclopedia of Italian Renaissance and Mannerist Art
Call Number: N6370 .E53 1999
Publication Date: 2002
The Encyclopedia of Latin American and Caribbean Art
Call Number: N6502 .E53 2000 (Reference)
Publication Date: 2002
The Encyclopedia of Sculpture
Call Number: NB198 .E53 2004 (Reference)
Publication Date: 2003
Encyclopedia of Women in Religious Art
Call Number: N7793.W65 A66 1996 (Reference)
ISBN: 0826409156
Publication Date: 1996
The Grove Encyclopedia of Decorative Arts
Call Number: NK28 .G76 2006 (Reference)
Publication Date: 2006