Art 253: Art Since 1950
A Guide to Library Resources

Fall 2007

 

REFERENCE WORKS

ART ENCYCLOPEDIAS AND DICTIONARIES

The Dictionary of Art (34 v.) [R.R. N31 .D5 1996]
The most comprehensive art reference work around, even though it treats Western art more extensively. Vol. 34 is an index to the entire set.

Benezit Dictionary of Artists [R.R. N40 .D5213 2006] (14v)
Phaidon Encyclopedia of Art and Artists [R.R. N31 .P48]
Yale Dictionary of Art and Artists [R.R. N33 .L353 2000]
International Dictionary of Art and Artists [R.R. N33 .I57 1990] (2v)
Dictionary of Women Artists [R.R. N8354 .D53 1997] (2v)
St. James Guide to Black Artists [R.R. N40 .S78 1997]

TWENTIETH CENTURY

Oxford Companion to 20th Century Art [R.R. N6490 .O94]
The Prestel Dictionary of Art and Artists in the 20th Century [R.R. N6490 .P72 2000]
Phaidon Dictionary of 20th Century Art [R.R. N6490 .P46]
World Artists 1950-1980 [R.R. N6489 .M37]
World Artists 1980-1990 [R.R. N6489 .M372 1991]
Contemporary Artists [R.R. N6490 .C6567 2002]
Lives of the Great 20th Century Artists [R.R. N6489 .L83 1999]
Contemporary Women Artists [R.R. N8354 .C66 1999]
Twentieth Century Artists on Art: An Index to Artists' Writings, Statements, and Interviews [R.R. NX456 .R59 1985]
Dictionary of the Avant-Gardes [R.R. NX456 .K67 2000]

SYMBOLS & ICONOGRAPHY

The Continuum Encyclopedia of Animal Symbolism in Art [R.R. GR705 .W47 2004]
Dictionary of Symbols: An Illustrated Guide to Traditional Images, Icons, and Emblems [R.R. GR931 .T74 1998]
Illustrated Dictionary of Symbols in Eastern and Western Art [R.R. N7740 .H35 1994]
1000 Symbols [R.R. N7740 .S54 2002]

THEMES

Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography: Themes Depicted in Works of Art [R. R. N7560 .E53 1998]
Approaches artistic works from a large thematic perspective, e.g. birth, crucifixion, devotion, fortune, laughter, night, vanity, etc.

SCULPTURE

Encyclopedia of Sculpture [R.R. NB198 .E53 2004] (2v)

DECORATIVE ARTS

The Oxford Companion to the Decorative Arts [R.R. NK30 .098]
Illustrated Dictionary of Ceramics [R.R. NK3770 .S38]

VIDEO

Video Art [R.R. N6494 .V53 R87 2003]

Putting it all in context:

Timelines of the Arts and Literature [R.R. NX447.5 .B76 1994]
An excellent source for information in arts and literature during the time-period of your topic. Highlights in literature, film, broadcasting, visual arts, theater, music, dance, and world events are listed chronologically through 1992.

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Bridge, the online catalog of St. Olaf and Carleton is most often searched using TITLE, AUTHOR, KEYWORD, and/or SUBJECT. Subject searching refers to a search using Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). Subject headings are particularly powerful in that they yield a more thorough search and can ensure that you have found all relevant materials. You can either use the hardbound volume ("Big Red") located near the Rolvaag reference desk or use the SUBJECT search and try a term that you think is reasonable. BRIDGE will indicate if this is an accepted term and will quite frequently point you to the correct LCSH subject term.

Some examples of relevant Subject Headings:

Art -- Dictionaries	Arts, Modern -- 20th century
Art, Japanese	Prints -- 20th century -- Exhibitions
Human Figure in Art	Modernism (Art) -- Germany
Face in Art	Surrealism
Painting, Abstract	Martin, Agnes, 1912
Dadaism	Dali, Salvador, 1904-1989 -- criticism and interpretation

You can also do a KEYWORD search and then look at the subject headings for records that look particularly promising. Then, do an additional search by clicking on the subject terms you find.

Browsing is another way to search for materials, once you know the Library of Congress call number ranges for the materials you want. Art materials are organized as follows:

N - NX - Fine Arts

N	Visual Arts (General)     N400-N4042: Art museums, galleries (Country, city)     N5300-N7418: History of Art     N7475-N7483: Art criticism
NA	Architecture
NB	Sculpture
NC	Drawing, Design, Illustration
ND	Painting
NE	Print media
NK	Decorative Arts
NX	Arts in general (works dealing with more than one art form)

—All books beginning with the letter N are stored on the 4th level of Rolvaag except for those in reference. The numbering scheme plays out twice - first the regular sized books, then a second OVERSIZE section. If you don't find your book in one section, check the other.

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CULTURAL CONTEXT

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ELECTRONIC RESEARCH TOOLS

Academic Search Premier
This database provides access to over 8040 multi-disciplinary publications, many in full text. Covers 1975 to the present.

ARTbibliographies Modern
Modern and contemporary art, photography and design. Covers 1974 - present.

Art Index
"Indexes English-language art periodicals, plus museum bulletins, bibliographies, film reviews, and conference reports. Covers 1984 to the present.

Art Index Retrospective
Covers 1929-1984.

DAAI - Design and Applied Arts Index
Design, crafts, and applied arts. Covers 1973 - present.

Biography and Genealogy Master Index
An index to biographical encyclopedias and dictionaries.

Historical Abstracts
An index to history journals, books, and dissertations. Excludes articles on North America (see its companion America History & Life). Covers material published from 1955 to the present, written about the time period 1450 to the present.

Jstor
An index to and full text of select, academic journals.

Project Muse
An index to and full text of journals published by Johns Hopkins University Press and other scholarly publishers.

Newspaper Articles can be located through the following indexes:

ProQuest Newstand Complete
Full-text and abstracted newspapers.

New York Times (1851 - )
Offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue.

Electronic resources for finding images of art:

ARTstor (St. Olaf subscribes to this resource)
A "repository of hundreds of thousands of digital images and related data." Covers architecture, painting, sculpture, photography, decorative arts, and design from many cultures. ARTstor also features an Offline Image Viewer (OIV) that you can use to create presentations. It can be easily downloaded form the ARTstor site.

MoMA - Museum of Modern Art (New York City)

Walker Art Center (Minneapolis)

ArtSource
A web site of collected images submitted by librarians, artists and art historians.

Timeline of Art History
Well researched site sponsored by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

COMPASS (Collections Multimedia Public Access System)
Access to 5000 objects housed in the British Museum.

Google Image Search
Search the Internet for art images.

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Librarians are here to help - please stop by the reference desk if you need us!

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Contact Information:	Page Information:
Ken Johnson Rolvaag Library 305 507-646-3793 johnsonk@stolaf.edu	Created by: Ken Johnson | 9/2006 Created for: Christine O'Malley Updated by: |