This list of resources is designed as an initial guide for doing research in Art History at Portland State. For information about the art program at Portland State University, see the Department of Art web site at http://www.art.pdx.edu/. For help with research, contact John Burchard, Humanities and Fine Arts Librarian, at burcharj@pdx.edu or 503-725-4192.
Topic Summary | Finding articles | Finding books | Finding images online | Additional web resources
Topic summary
Reference sources (such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, indexes, etc.) provide background/overview information on a topic. They typically contain articles written by experts for a general audience. They are often a shrewd place to begin your research because they can acquaint you with key concepts and terminology associated with a topic, as well as provide initial bibliographies that point to more specialized scholarly resources.
Contemporary artists
N6490 .C6567 2002. 2 volumes | 2nd Floor Reference
Contemporary women artists
N8354 .C66 1999 | 2nd Floor Reference
[Grove's] Dictionary of Art
N31 .D5 1996. 34 volumes. | 2nd Floor Reference. Also available as online database.
Encyclopedia of ancient Egyptian architecture
NA215 .A74 2003 | 2nd Floor Reference
Encyclopedia of Latin American and Caribbean art
N6502 .E53 1999 | 2nd Floor Reference
Encyclopedia of Sculpture
NB198 .E53 2004. 3 volumes. | 2nd Floor Reference
Encyclopedia of World Art
N31 .E533. 17 volumes. | 2nd Floor Reference
Guide to Research in Classical Art and Mythology
N7760 .V3 1991 | 2nd Floor Reference
Historical Art Index, A.D. 400-1650
N8210 .R6 1989 | 2nd Floor Reference
Islamic art and architecture 650-1250
N6260 .E79 2001 | 2nd Floor Reference & 3rd floor shelves
Mythological and Classical World Art Index
N7760 .R63 1991 | 2nd Floor Reference
Oxford Companion to the photograph
TR9 .O94 2005 | 2nd Floor Reference
Oxford Dictionary of Art
N33 .O93 2004 | 2nd Floor Reference. Also available through Oxford Reference Online.
World Painting Index
ND45 .H38. 2 volumes | 2nd Floor Reference.
Finding articles
To find articles in journals, magazines, or newspapers, you will need to use one of the Library's print indexes or online article databases. The online databases are especially useful for searching by title, by author, by subject, or by a few keywords that describe your topic. Some of the databases access books, exhibition catalogs, essays, and other formats as well as journal articles. When full text for a document is not provided by the database, one can click on the PSU Links button to find out whether the Portland State Library offers full text access in a print volume or through an electronic link. The online databases that are generally most useful for research in the visual arts (including architecture) are:
Art Full Text Art Full Text provides indexing and abstracting of art periodicals published throughout the world. Full-text coverage for selected periodicals is also included. In addition to articles, Art Full Text indexes reproductions of works of art that appear in indexed periodicals. Coverage:
Indexing - 1984- present
Abstracts - 1994 - present
Full Text - 1997 present
Art Index Retrospective Comprehensive, retrospective indexing from Art Index from 1932-1984. All personal names, uniform titles, organization names, topical terms, and geographic names have been reconciled with current Art Index headings. The file size is currently over 400,000 records, citing articles and reproductions from 420 periodicals. Coverage: 1929 -- 1984.
ARTbibliographies Modern Provides abstracts for journal articles, books, essays, exhibition catalogs, PhD dissertations, and exhibition reviews on all forms of modern and contemporary art. Subject coverage includes modern and contemporary arts dating from the late 19th century onwards, and including photography since its invention.
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals The Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals indexes more than 1,000 periodicals published worldwide on archeology, city planning, interior design, and historic preservation, as well as architecture. Coverage reaches from the 1930s (with selective coverage dating back to the 1860s) to the present. The Avery Index, with more than 229,000 records, is updated daily.
Bibliography of the History of Art The Bibliography of the History of Art indexes and abstracts articles, art-related books, conference proceedings, dissertations, and art exhibition and dealer's catalogs. The database covers European and American art from late antiquity to the present.
Grove's Dictionary of Art Online The Grove Dictionary of Art contains 45,000 articles on every aspect of the visual arts - painting, sculpture, graphic arts, architecture, decorative arts and photography - from prehistory to the present day. Compiled over a period of 15 years, it represents the work of more than 6,800 scholars from around the world, each writing on his or her own specialist field of study."
A number of other databases which are not focused primarily on art history research may also prove useful for certain topics. Among these databases are:
Finding books
Vikat catalog: Search Portland State Library's Vikat catalog for information about books, journals (not individual articles), videos, government documents, and other materials owned by the Library. You may search by keywords, author, title or subject headings.
Browsing: One can search the library shelves by call number in order to locate information on a topic; call numbers can help get you to the "right neighborhood" in the library stacks. Most art materials which circulate (Location = "Portland State Shelves") will be found in the "N's" on the 3rd floor. All Reference books (Location = "Portland State Reference") will be found on the 2nd floor. The "N's" can be subdivided as follows:
N Visual Arts. General
NA Architecture
NB Sculpture
NC Graphic arts: drawing, design, illustration
ND Painting
NE Print Media: printmaking, engraving, woodcuts, lithography, etc.
NK Decorative Arts. Applied Arts. Decoration and Ornament.
NX Arts in general, including works dealing with two or more arts (for example, the performing arts and the visual arts)
Photography (TR) and Crafts (TT) are located on the 5th floor.
Worldwide Art Catalog Collection
The Millar Library subscribes to a service that provides hundreds of exhibition catalogs every year. They are shelved under the general call number N405.W6. When you have searched Vikat and retrieved a book cataloged under this call number, you will know that it is an exhibition catalog. You need to write down the 5-digit number that appears at the end of the call number: for example, N405 .W6 no. 17569. Books with N405 .W6 call numbers are shelved on the third floor, in numerical order according to these final, 5-digit numbers.
Finding images online
One of the best places to search for a wide range of images online is our Images Research Guide -- especially the section devoted to "Art History" databases and Web links. Here are excerpts from this Research Guide's summary of ways to find images in Grove's Dictionary of Art Online:
The best place to start your art historical image search. In addition to journal articles, Grove's is an excellent resource for locating online art historical images, as it contains over 40,000 links to important art images in galleries and museums around the world .... Click on "Art image collections" to choose from the online collections of Illustrated Articles, Art Resource, The Bridgeman Art Library, and Art Image Links.
The Google Advanced Image Finder can also be useful -- although broad topic searches will generally yield a high percentage of commercial, popular, personal, or otherwise non-"academic" images.
Museum Links can lead one to online reproductions of paintings, sculptures, photographs, drawings, ceramics, etc. The following museums provide at least partial online access to their exhibits and/or permanent collections:
Virtual Library Museums Pages
- A distributed directory of online museums, including over 1400 in the U.S.A.Art Institute of Chicago
- Chicago, IllinoisGeorge Eastman House
- Photography collections onlineKunsthistorisches Museum Wien
- Vienna, AustriaThe Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
- Los Angeles, CaliforniaLouvre Museum Official Website
- Paris, FranceThe Metropolitan Museum of Art
- New York, New YorkMOMA, The Museum of Modern Art
- New York, New YorkNational Gallery of Art
- Washington D. CMuseo del Prado
- Madrid, SpainPortland Art Museum
- Portland, Oregon
- To access the art library of P.A.M., click on http://library.pam.org;
enter library name: Rex; check box for "Access Library as Guest"; Login;
then click on Search buttonSan Francisco Museum of Modern Art
- San Francisco, CaliforniaSeattle Art Museum
- Seattle, WashingtonThe State Hermitage Museum
- St. Petersburg, Russia
Additional web resources
Art History: Resources on the Web
Chris Whitcombe, Sweet Briar College
Covers current links to authoritative sites about world art history. An award-winning site for research, learning, and innovation.
Artsjournal.com:
The Daily Digest of Arts and Cultural Journalism.
Provocative, entertaining, constantly updated news stories about what's going on in the arts.
Art Source
This selective site is a a gathering point for networked resources on Art and Architecture. Includes pointers to resources around the net as well as original materials submitted by librarians, artists, and art historians.
Artcyclopedia:
The Guide to Museum-Quality Art on the Internet
Explores works by over 8,000 famous artists in art museums and image archives worldwide.