Because art history is concerned with works of art as physical objects, art historians have found the information about individual works in art catalogs very useful. Exhibition catalogs and catalogue raisonnés are important documentary sources for the art historian. In many cases, for contemporary artists the exhibition catalog is among the few published sources of information on an artist. A thorough review and definition of art catalogs can be found in the The Grove Dictionary of Art Connect .
The catalog raisonné is a comprehensive listing of an artist's entire work, or work in a particular medium, and generally includes the date, history, provenance, location, and other critical information about each work. Generally the images in the catalog raisonné are small and in black and white. The catalog raisonné is an important research tool.
Useful terms to search by in the Library Catalog
Art -- ExhibitionsArt, American -- Exhibitions
Or, perform a subject search on a specific artist and the list of possible subject headings would include one formatted like this one: Close, Chuck, 1940- -- Exhibitions