Art and art history
Below are listed library resources and research strategies pertaining to the study of art and art history.
Call numbers
Browsing the shelves is a simple, powerful method for finding materials on your topic. You can quickly evaluate the scope of a book by checking its table of contents, index and bibliography. In fact, even if a book's contents aren't what you are looking for, its bibliography may still help you to locate relevant resources.
Depending upon your exact topic, you may wish to browse different sections of the collection. Remember that many art books are what we consider to be "oversized," and are therefore shelved on the Main Level near the Reference Workstations. Below are some good call numbers for art browsing:
| N | Visual arts |
| N 5300 - 7418 N7420 - 7525.8 |
History General works |
| NA | Architecture |
| NA 190 - 1555.5 NA 2500 - 2599 NA 4100 - 8480 |
History General works Special classes of buildings |
| NB | Sculpture |
| NB 60 - 1115 NB 1135 - 1150 NB 1293 - 1895 |
History General works Special forms |
| NC | Drawing, design, illustration |
| NC 50 - 266 NC 703 - 725 NC 730 - 758 |
History of drawing General works Technique |
| ND | Painting |
| ND 49 - 813 ND 1130 - 1156 ND 1288 - 1460 |
History General works Special subjects |
| NE | Print media |
| NE 1 - 978 NE 1000 - 1352 NE 1400 - 1879 NE 1940 - 1975 |
Printmaking and engraving Wood engraving Metal engraving Etching and aquatint |
| NK | Decorative arts |
| NK 600 - 806 | History |
| NX | Arts in general |
| NX 440 - 632 NX 650 - 694 |
History of the arts Special subject, characters, persons, religious arts, etc. |
To see a brief outline of the entire Library of Congress classification system, click here.
Reference resources in Hewes Library
Art reference
Reference materials such as handbooks, encyclopedias and dictionaries provide excellent starting points for art research, whether you are interested in theory, movements or specific artists. You will find the resources below, among others, in the Reference Collection on the Main Level.
- The dictionary of art (34 vol.) REF N31. D5 1996
- Encyclopedia of world art (15 vol.) REF N31. E4833
- The Adeline art dictionary REF N33. A223 1966
- McGraw-Hill dictionary of art (5 vol.) REF N33. M23
- A dictionary of art terms and techniques REF N33. M36
- The Oxford companion to art REF N33. O9
- Artwords: a glossary of contemporary art theory REF N71. P32 1997
- Contemporary artists REF N6490. C6567 2002
- Dictionary of contemporary American artists REF N6512. C851 1994
- Contemporary women artists REF N 8354. C66 1999
- The concise encyclopedia of antiques (5 vol.) REF NK 30. R343
- A dictionary of the avant-gardes REF NX 456. K67 2000
General reference
General historical information is useful for fixing the context of your art topic: what was being written at the time? What about music? What wars were being waged in your artist's part of the world? What social movements were afoot? Our Reference Collection can provide the answers, starting with the resources below:
- Encyclopedia of the Renaissance (6 vol.) REF CB361. E52 1999
- The timetables of history: a horizontal linkage of people and events REF D11. G78 1979
- The Hutchinson dictionary of world history REF D20. H87 1993b
- Encyclopedia of American cultural & intellectual history REF E169.1 E624 2001
- Worldmark chronology of the nations (4 vol.) REF G133. W93 1999
Journals
Below is a list of prominent art journals to which Hewes Library provides access. Many of these titles are available in both print and electronic formats. For more details about our holdings, please click here for our online Periodical Holdings List.
- African arts
- American art
- American artist
- American journal of art therapy
- Art bulletin
- Art education
- ArtForum
- Art gallery
- Art history
- Art in America
- Art international
- Art journal
- ARTNews
- Ceramics, art and perception
- Ceramics monthly
- College art journal
- Graphic arts monthly
- Journal of aesthetics and art criticism
- Magazine of art
- Oriental art
- PAJ: journal of performance and art
- Progressive architecture
- Southwest art
- Studies in art education
Online resources
- ArtAbstracts
Indexes and abstracts 596,000+ articles from 400+ periodicals in the visual and creative arts. Coverage: since 1984 (abstracts since 1994). Updated monthly. Title list. - Arts & Humanities Search
Indexes 1,300 leading arts and humanities journals. Coverage: since 1980. Updated weekly. Title list. - Grove Art Online
Online version of Grove's 34-volume Dictionary of Art, with the addition of extensive internal links, and links to images from art collections around the world. Off-campus access. - Saskia Digital Art Images
Contains 30,000 digital images of paintings, sculpture and architecture, from collections worldwide.
Print indexes
Even with online databases dripping from every discipline, the old print indexes are still worth investigating: they often extend coverage far beyond online coverage, and may provide abstracts where current online products offer only citations. One print index is directly applicable to art studies:
- Art index v.1 - 67 (1929 - 1996)
Human resources: your local librarians
Hopefully, the ideas and resources above will help you to get started in your research. If you have any questions, comments or difficulties, please contact a librarian at the Reference Desk: (309) 457-2301.
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