General Art History Research
Suggested Databases:
Finding Books: Check our catalog, ConnectNY and WorldCat for books, paying special attention to exhibition catalogs.
In our catalog and in ConnectNY always search the artist’s name as an author (last name first), as a subject heading (again, last name first) and as a keyword. A keyword search is important in our catalog and in ConnectNY because keywords search across the entire book description, including the contents and notes information. For some artists, there may not be a whole books devoted to their works, but there might be an essay in a book that is about a larger idea or movement or group exhibit. So the artist’s name might appear in the Contents or Notes section, and nowhere else in the description.
WorldCat is a catalog of thousands of library catalogs, including all the major research libraries and many, many specialty art libraries. Repeat the searches you performed in our catalog and [http://www.connectny.info/screens/opacmenu.htmlConnectNY]. If you find a book you want to read, come to the Reference Desk and talk to the librarian about an Interlibrary Loan.
Journal Articles: Try The Bibliography of the History of Art, Art Abstracts, Art Index Retrospective and JSTOR for journal articles. Use the Advanced Search, and search on the artist’s name as a subject or a descriptor. If you get too many hits, try adding a keyword (maybe the title of a specific work) that might narrow your subject down. To see if we subscribe to a particular journal, open up another window to our homepage and click on our “a to z journal” link. Type in the title of the journal, click on the Search button and then click on the links (if any) listed below. If there’s no link, see the librarian at the Reference Desk about an Interlibrary Loan.
Newspaper Articles: For reviews and articles before three years ago, use The New York Times. We have the complete run of The New York Times from 1851 to three years ago online. This is a particularly nice database because the information is laid out in page image, and includes any photos or reproductions. If the photo is blocked because of copyright restrictions, click on the page image and enlarge. For reviews
For images, try ARTstor, but, if you don’t find the works of the artist you’re looking for, do a Google Image search.
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