Art History  

This guide provides suggestions on how to find basic art history information in the DAAP Library. The reference sources that are listed below are only a few of the titles that are available in the reference collection. Many of the sources are on a specific form or art period.
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Handbooks

Art Information and the Internet: How to Find It, How to Use It
N59.J66 1999
Provides a guide to finding art information on the Internet and how to use it. Designed for all types of users in all art disciplines and at a variety of different levels.

Art Information: Research Methods and Resources
N85.J64 1990
Provides an introduction to art research and resources, developing a research plan , and the reference tools that are available.

Guide to the Literature of Art History
Z5931.A67 c.2
An extremely useful guide to over 4,000 reference and research tools in the field of art. Indexed by author/title and subject

History of Art
N5300 .J3 1995
Illustrated summary of various periods and movements in art history concentrating on Western painting, sculpture, and architecture up to the 19th century with a brief section on Oriental and pre-Columbian art. Includes short bibliographies.

Oxford Companion to Art
N31 .O7 1970
Provides an introduction to the visual arts for the non specialist. Defines terms and concepts with cross references and an appended bibliography of over 3,000 selected items.

Oxford Companion to Twentieth Century Art
N6490 .O94 1981
Patterned after the Oxford Companion to Art, this handbook concentrates on late 19th century and 20th century art only. Includes a selected bibliography and list of illustrations.


Dictionaries, Encyclopedia and Directories

The Dictionary of Art
Online & DAAP Reference N31 .D5 1996
Provides extensive world-wide coverage of art, art styles, subjects, and media in addition to biographies of both Western and Non-Western artists, patrons, critics, and collections. Includes over 41,000 signed articles that provide bibliographic data and are usually illustrated. Volume 34: Index contains extensive cross references to additional material.

Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art
N7560 .H34 1974 (34 volumes)
A comprehensive dictionary that covers general subject matter for Western European themes and symbols in art beginning with classical Greece. It is a good source for beginning research on iconographical topics.

Encyclopedia of World Art
N32 .E6 1959-1987 (17 volumes)
Good source for obtaining an overview of all aspects of the visual arts, such as themes depicted in art and art styles. Contains lengthy articles with bibliographies by noted art historians. Survey entries on particular subjects, artists, or movements are a good place to begin research.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Art
N33 .M23 1969 (5 volumes)
Contains extensive articles on Primitive, Far Eastern , and Near Eastern art. Includes short entries on artists, monuments, periods, styles, and terms in addition to bibliographies. Good source for quick explanations.

Pelican History of Art Series
N5300 .P4 (45 volumes)
Each volume of this series is written by a well known art historian on a selected period or culture. Contains illustrations of the major works of art related to the topic. Includes excellent extensive bibliographies which are helpful in locating additional sources of information.


Biographical Sources

Afro-American Artists: A Bio-Bibliographical Directory
N6538.N5C42 1973
This work covers approximately 2,000 retrospective and contemporary artists from the 18th century to the present.

A Biographical Dictionary of Artists
N25 .E53 1983 v.2
An alphabetical arrangement of short informative entries on artists with reproductions of most major works. Includes information on important dates, education, career, achievements and influence.

Biographical Dictionary of Women Artists in Europe and America Since 1850
N6757 .D86 1989
A useful biographical guide providing a short synopsis of the artist's life and references to the artist appearing in the literature. A bibliography provides further resources for those researching women artists.

Contemporary Artists
N6490 .C6567 1996
Contains entries for more than 1,000 major artists of this century. Includes exhibitions, bibliographies, galleries representing the artist, critical essays, and statements from the artist.

World Artists 1950-1980
N6489 .M37 1984
World Artists 1980-1990
N6489 .M37 1991
Provides brief biographical essays on artists in the fields of painting, sculpture, and graphic design. Includes lists of major exhibitions and collections, as well as bibliographic information on the artist.


Periodical Indexes and Databases

Information that appears in art MAGAZINES is listed in PERIODICAL INDEXES. Only the title and the volumes owned by DAAP appear in UCLID. The titles of individual articles do not appear in UCLID but in the indexes available on UCLID/OhioLink. There is no one comprehensive index to periodical articles. Rather, each field of study has its own periodicals, and their own index. PERIODICAL INDEXES include a listing of the indexed magazines and their abbreviations at the beginning of each volume.

ART ABSTRACTS.
This standard periodical index has the broadest coverage, including all styles and periods of art. Indexes articles from approximately 300 major art periodicals dealing with such topics as art, photography, architecture, landscape architecture, museums, and urban planning. Articles are listed by author and subject. Includes book reviews and illustrations that are indexed under the artist.

ARTBIBLIOGRAPHIES MODERN.
This standard periodical index is primarily concerned with contemporary artists and events, concentrating on all aspects of art, design, and photography. Indexes articles from approximately 330 serials plus Festschriften (anthologies of articles dedicated to or honoring an individual, for example on a birthday), dissertations, exhibition catalogs, gallery publications, and artists’ books. Includes abstracts and has good coverage of European artists and obscure artists. From 1969-1988, it covered art created since 1800, while in 1989, it became more narrowly focused on art since 1900 and dropped architecture.

ARTS AND HUMANITIES CITATION INDEX.
This is an index to references on an artist's work and indexes citations to articles, letters, editorials, reviews and other material located in 1,300 journals in arts, humanities, and social sciences. The index lists all past authors and works that have been cited in a given year and includes all the cited references (footnotes or bibliographies) published with each article it covers. Indexed by artists' names and author.

AVERY INDEX TO ARCHITECTURAL PERIODICALS.
This periodical index is one of the most comprehensive reviews of architecture and related subjects available. Indexes articles from more than 1,000 U.S. and foreign periodicals, including four important American architectural periodicals, American Architect, Architectural Forum, Architectural Record, and Progressive Architecture, from their first publication date. It has a broad international scope and covers architectural history, design, and practice; archeology; interior design; landscape concerns; city planning; and historic preservation. Located on the Index Shelves and through OhioLink.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE HISTORY OF ART.
Begun in 1990 with the merger of Repertoire d’art et d’archeologie (RAA) and International Repertory of the Literature of Art (RILA), BHA provides the most comprehensive coverage of art history literature. Indexes articles from all types of publications including over 2,500 periodicals, books, book reviews, conference proceedings, Festschriften, exhibition and art dealer’s catalogs, doctoral dissertations, collected essays, and museum publications. Coverage includes European and American art from late antiquity to the present. Indexes a large number of foreign periodicals and provides some abstracts written by art professionals. RILA is still available in print from 1975 to 1989.

INDEX TO 19TH CENTURY AMERICAN ART PERIODICALS.
An index to art periodicals published in the 19th century in the United States. It includes the complete contents of 42 journals (articles, notes, illustrations, stories, poems and advertisements) for the period of 1840- 1907.

REPERTOIRE D'ART ET D'ARCHEOLOGIE (RAA).
Published from 1910 to 1989 (when it merged with RILA to form BHA), this index covers a period from about 200 A.D. to the present, excluding Islamic, Far Eastern, and primitive art as well as post-1940 works of art and artists born after 1920. It contains a high percentage of Western and Eastern European art serials, published in English, French, and German. SW Depository Z5937.R46 1969.

INTERNATIONAL REPERTORY OF THE LITERATURE OF ART (RILA).
Published from 1973 to 1989 (when it merged with RAA to form BHA). this index abstracts article from about 400 core journals, including books, museum and exhibition catalogs, Festschriften, congress reports, and dissertations. It covers art from Late Antiquity of the 4th century to the late 1980s. DAAP Reference Index Z5937.R16 v.1-15.

RLIN BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATABASE.
The Research Libraries Information Database provides a union catalog of major research libraries outside Ohio. Many major art and museum libraries use the RLIN system.

SCIPIO: ART AND RARE BOOK SALES CATALOGS.
A union catalog of auction catalog records, this database provides bibliographic information about sources of art objects and rare books, history of collections and contemporary and historical market trends. Coverage begins in the 16th century and the database is updated daily.

 

Guides to Iconography and Symbolism

Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art
DAAP Reference N7560 .H34 1974

Encyclopedia of comparative iconography: themes depicted in works of art / editor, Helene E. Roberts.
DAAP Reference N7560 .E53 1998 v.1-2

Dictionary of symbols / Jean Chevalier and Alain Gheerbrant.
DAAP Reference GR931 .C4413 1996

1000 symbols / Rowena & Rupert Shepherd
DAAP Reference N7740 .S54 2002

Oxford Companion to Christian Art and Architecture
DAAP Reference N7830 .M87

The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History
Langsam Stacks D117 .P75 v.1-2

Medieval Art: A Topical Dictionary
DAAP Stacks N7850 .R67 1996
This reference work is a quick source for identifying and understanding the subjects, stories, symbols, and themes frequently represented in Christian art of the Middle Ages.

Butler's Lives of the Saints
Langsam Stacks BX4654 .B8 1999

Saints and Their Emblems
DAAP Reference N8080 .D7 1971

How to Distinguish the Saints in Art by Their Costumes, Symbols and Attributes
DAAP Oversize and Classics Reference N8080 .B5
Butler is the standard, classic source of biographical information on the principal saints. It is arranged by the saint's feast day. The other books make nice companions for art history research.

Handbook of Legendary and Mythological Art
DAAP Reference N7760 .W3 1969
These are exactly what they sound like, providing brief definitions for a wide range of subjects, themes, and concepts encountered in Western art and civilization. They supplement each other, so don't pick only one!

Iconographie de l'art chretien by Louis Reau
DAAP Reference N7830 .R4

Iconography of Christian Art by Gertrud Schiller
DAAP Stacks N7830 .S3513 1971b v.1-2

Iconographie de l'art profane au Moyen-Age et a la Renaissance by Raimond van Marle
DAAP Reference N5970 .M352 v.1-2


These works are classics in the field. Schiller is a translation of the original in German. Even if your French is not good, it is worth also consulting Reau or van Marle. All deal with the variations and evolution of major iconographic themes. Bibliographical references and numerous illustrations are also provided.

 

   


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