Research Guide : Artist Biographies

This guide is available online:

Library Home Page > Information Literacy > Research Guides > Art

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

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

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

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

Dictionary of Art Reference N 31 .D5 1996

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 books:

• 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
• 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

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

Library Home Page > Books & More > Online 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)

4. Article databases that can help you find information about your artist:

Library Home Page > Article Databases > Alphabetical List

• Biographies Plus Illustrated : Great source of full-text articles on
  110,000 famous people -- your artist is probably included!
  
  
• Art FullText : Comprehensive, contains some full-text articles.
  An excellent source for articles of art criticism.

5. Some Web sites you may find helpful:

• ArtCyclopedia : Search by artist name, title or work, movement, subject,
  nationality, or browse 7,500 artists. http://artcyclopedia.com/
  
  
• WebMuseum, Paris : Organized by period. Includes more than 150 artists with
  biographical information and images of their work. http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/
  
  
• Art History Resources on the Web : Comprehensive directory of images,
  biographical and background information, museum links, and more.
  http://witcombe.sbc.edu/ARTHLinks.html
  
  
• Google : Enter your artist's name in quotes (e.g. "Marc Chagall").
  http://www.google.com

6. To find images of artworks on the World Wide Web:

• Art Resources Archive : Over 3 million images by 10,000 artists.
  http://www.artres.com/collpage.htm
  
  
• World Art Treasures : Over 100,000 images searchable by artist,
  country, or period. http://www.bergerfoundation.ch/
  
  
• Web Gallery of Art : Searchable database of 10,000 images of European
  painting and sculture from 1150 to 1800. http://gallery.euroweb.hu/
  
  
• World Wide Arts Resources : Includes brief biographical information and
  links to images of works by a variety of masters.
  http://wwar.com/categories/Artists/Masters/
  
  
• Art Images for College Teaching : "A free-use image resource for the
  educational community." http://arthist.cla.umn.edu/aict/html/
  
  
• Orazio Centario's Art Images on the Web : Links to over 13,000 art images.
  http://www.ocaiw.com/indexing.htm
  
  
• Google Image Search : The most comprehensive image search on the Web.
  Enter your artist's name in quotes (e.g. "Paul Cezanne").
  http://images.google.com/
  
  
• Corbis : Commercial image database with free viewing access.
  http://www.corbis.com/
  

7. Citation Help:

Library Home Page > Help (upper right) > MLA Style Guide

Remember librarians are available to assist you!