These and other art reference books are available on the first floor of Sterne Library. Browse the reference shelves at the given call numbers to find other encyclopedias and dictionaries in these subject areas.
Artwords: A Glossary of Contemporary Art Theory
Guide to the specialized language of theory and criticism of visual arts and culture. Defines over 400 terms including those related to cultural studies, literary theory, psychoanalytic theory, and criticism.
Benezit Dictionary of Artists
Nearly 170,000 entries on artists from antiquity to the present day in 14 volumes. Contains auction records, museum holdings, and bibliographies. Alsoc includes coverage of obscure artists and images of artists’ signatures, monograms, and stamps. English translation of _Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs_.
Encyclopedia of Architecture: Design, Engineering, & Construction
Includes information about architects, firms, types of buildings, and materials. Covers historical and philosophical aspects of architecture as well as processes and technical elements.
Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography: Themes Depicted in Works of Art
The Encyclopedia of Sculpture
"With an international scope, this fully illustrated reference spans the entire history of sculpture, from prehistoric times to the twenty-first century. While devoting significant attention to individual artists and their works, the Encyclopedia also explores sculpture from the vantage points of history, criticism, theory, aesthetics, production, training, and presentation, making this the most comprehensive, in-depth source on the subject ever published."
The Oxford Companion to the Photograph
"Encapsulates in concise and readily accessible form the mass of recent scholarship on photography as a social and artistic practice, organized both thematically and geographically. There are over 800 biographical entries, both on photographers and on other individuals who have significantly influenced photographic culture from the early 19th century to the present. The book's scope is worldwide. The book is extensively illustrated and includes many pictures never before published. Includes an extensive bibliography, a chronology of photographic history, a list of important websites, and an index of people."
The Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists
Covers Western art from the ancient Greeks to the present day, including styles and movements, materials and techniques, and museums and galleries. Includes biographical entries for artists, critics, collectors, dealers, and patrons.
The Thames and Hudson Dictionary of Graphic Design and Designers
"Contains around 750 entries offering detailed information on every important graphic designer, movement, agency, practice and publication from 1840 up to the present day. The dictionary gives clear and accessible definitions, from technical minutiae of typography to computer-aided design and printing. The endmatter contains a handy bibliography of key texts and recommended reading, as well as a timeline that puts the most influential individuals, developments and movements in chronological order."
The following art reference websites and metasites are from reputable museums, libraries, and other institutions. Before using these sources for class assignments, find out if your instructor will accept open websites and/or information from non-library databases as sources in assignments.
Getty Vocabularies (Getty Research Institute)
Art Overviews