Art: Databases: Visual Arts and Humanities

An excellent starting point for all visual arts research! This database covers all periods and media (historical and contemporary, decorative and commercial art, various areas of architecture and architectural design). It includes scholarship starting from the 1930s to the present, is international in scope.

ARTbibliographies Modern (ABM) offers information on modern and contemporary art, dating from the late 19th-century – present, including photography since its invention. Scholarship dates are from the 1960s-present. A good database for research on: contemporary art, performance, video art, computer/electronic art, graffiti art, artists’ books, museum design, ceramics, fashion, and more. Documents include: scholarly articles, exhibition reviews, books and book reviews, conference proceedings, and exhibition catalog entries. Languages: English, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese.

A freely available citation database from among millions of journal articles, books, and exhibition and auction sales catalogues published between 1910 and 2007, covering topics in the arts and archeology from late Antiquity to the mid-2000s.

Accessed through the Getty Research Institute, BHA covers European and American art from late antiquity through to contemporary art until 2009. Scholarship coverage is from 1975 through 2007. It is a citation database, so you'll find indexes and abstracts of articles, conference proceedings, dissertations, exhibition and dealer’s catalogs.

A citational database for the history of Western Art from antiquity to the present, and Global Art since 1945. It encompasses visual arts in all media (painting; sculpture; video; new media; etc.) while also covering museum studies and conservation, some archaeology, material culture, classical, and architectural history. Scholarship begins from 2008 onwards. It is the successor database to the Bibliography of the History of Art (BHA). For articles before 2008, please consult BHA.

This database indexes 42 art journals published in the United States during the 19th century. It covers articles, art notes, stories, illustrations, poems and advertisements from these periodicals. Use this if you are looking for essential information on artists and illustrators, painting, sculpture, drawing, photography, architecture and design, exhibitions and sales, decoration and collecting.

This database is a comprehensive listing of journal articles on architecture since 1934, covering the history and practice of architecture, landscape architecture, city planning, historic preservation and interior design and decoration.