Research Guide : Artist Biographies

Follow these steps to successfully find information
to complete your Art 1010 assignment:

Choose an Artist
Begin Your Research
Other Reference Sources
Find Books on Your Artist
Even More Books
Locate Articles on Your Artist
Retrieve Articles
Internet Sites on Your Artist
Look at Online Images of Works of Art
Write Correct Citations

Printable checklist of this research guide.

Choose an Artist

To select an artist if you have not already chosen one:

Gardner's Art Through the Ages Reference N 5300 .G25 2001

This is an art "survey" book that includes the history of art for all times periods and many geographic regions. It includes examples of artwork.

Begin Your Research

The best place to begin your research on a particular artist:

Dictionary of Art Reference N 31 .D5 1996

This is the most current and comprehensive encyclopedia of art. Use the index volume to find your artist since names are not always filed where you think (Leonardo da Vinci is under "L"; Vincent van Gogh is under "G"). These books do not check out but you may make photocopies.

What to look for in the Dictionary of Art:

• Name
• Dates
• Period of time
• Geographic region or country
• Genre (Cubist, Modernist, etc.)
• Formats (painting, sculpture, etc.)
• Names of important works
• Other resources listed in the bibliography

Other Reference Sources

Other reference books that might be helpful:

• The Prestel Dictionary of Art and Artists in the 20th Century Reference N 33 .P74 2000
• A Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Art
  Reference N 6490 .C5317 1999
• Dictionary of Contemporary American Artists
  Reference N 6512 .C854 1994
• Dictionary of Women Artists
  Reference N 8354 .D53 1997
• Biographical Dictionary of Artists
  Reference N 40 .B53 1995
• Lives of the Great 20^th Century Artists
  Reference N 6489 .L83 1999 
• World Artists
  Reference N 6489 .M37 1984
• Contemporary Western Artists
  Reference N 6525 .S25 1985
• Penguin Concise Dictionary of Art History
  Reference N 5300 .F64 2000
• North American Women Artists
  Reference N 6503 .N67 1995

Find Books on Your Artist

To find biographies of artists and books of artworks, use the library catalog:

Library Home Page > Books & More > Library Catalog.

Search by:

• Name of artist (e.g. Claude Monet)
• Format (e.g. sculptures, paintings, etc.)
• Genre (e.g. Impressionist)
• Geographic area (e.g. art and Italy)
• Time period (e.g. art and twentieth century)

Look carefully at the call number and location of books you find.
Many art books are in the Oversize section located on the main level.

Would you like to find more books on your artist?

Look in the bibliography of the encyclopedia article or check the
online catalogs of other libraries.

We can get almost any book for you through our free Interlibrary Loan service. All you need to know is the title, author, publisher, place and date of publication.

To register for Interlibrary Loan and place requests online, go to:

Library Home Page > Books & More > Interlibrary Loan.

It usually takes 3-5 days for Interlibrary Loan books to arrive.

Locate Articles on Your Artist

The library has several article databases that can help you find information about your artist.

Biographies Plus Illustrated :: Great source of full-text articles on
110,000 famous people -- your artist is probably included!

SIRS Renaissance :: Full-text articles of a variety of subjects. 

Art FullText :: Comprehensive, contains some full-text articles. An excellent source for articles of art criticism.

EBSCOhost Academic Search Elite :: Articles of a variety of subjects, some full text. Search by artist's name in quotes (e.g. "Edgar Degas").

If you find an article that is not full-text in that database,

1. Look for the journal title in our Full-text Electronic Periodicals list to see if it is full-text in another database.
   
   
2. Search journal title in the library catalog to check if we have the periodical in our library collection.
   
   
3. If the journal is not full-text in any database or in the Browning library, order it from the Utah Article Delivery Service, UTAD. It's free and your article usually arrives in two days or less.
   

Internet Sites on Your Artist

Some wonderful art history resources are available on the Internet.

Here are some Web sites you may find helpful:

ArtCyclopedia :: Search by artist name, title or work, movement, subject, nationality, or browse 7,500 artists.

Art History Resources on the Web :: Comprehensive directory of images, biographical and background information, museum links, and more.

WebMuseum, Paris :: Organized by period. Includes more than 150 artists with biographical information and images of their work.

Google :: Enter your artist's name in quotes (e.g. "Marc Chagall").

Look at Online Images of Artworks

To find images of artworks on the World Wide Web:

Art Resources Archive :: Over 3 million images by 10,000 artists.

World Art Treasures :: Over 100,000 images searchable by artist, country, or period.

Web Gallery of Art :: Searchable database of 10,000 images of European painting and sculture from 1150 to 1800.

World Wide Arts Resources :: Includes brief biographical information and links to images of works by a variety of masters.

Art Images for College Teaching :: "A free-use image resource for the educational community" based on popular art survey textbooks.

Orazio Centario's Art Images on the Web :: Links to over 13,000
art images.

Google Image Search :: The most comprehensive image search on the Web. Enter your artist's name in quotes (e.g. "Paul Cezanne").

Corbis :: Commercial image database with free viewing access.

After you gather your sources, it is important to format them correctly in your Works Cited list.

We have created a guide to assist you in creating correct citations (Library Home Page > Help (upper right) > MLA Style Guide).

If you need additional assistance, there is also an online
MLA Style Tutorial.

Remember, for help with citations or any other research,
there are librarians available to assist you!

Printable checklist of this research guide.

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Created by: Martha Talman Instruction Librarian

Questions or corrections? Contact: talman@dixie.edu

Date Created: 08/01/02 Last Updated: 06/10/03