Locating Biographical Information About an Artist
Library Catalog Search Western's Library Catalog: search for author, title, subject, or keyword.
Library of Congress Subject Headings (suggested): Keyword Searching: Expressionism - Art Matisse and painting Salon (exhibitions) Paris, France Germany and artist* Painting, modern - 17th-18th century painters and (China or Japan) Rembrandt, Harmenszoon Van Rijn
Artists Biographies Master Index / Ref. N.40.A78 1986 Biography and Genealogy Master Index [BGMI online] (Available on campus only)
The Dictionary of Art. / Ref. N6946 .G76 2000 34 volumes Full-text online version Oxford Art Online Encyclopedia of World Art / Ref. N31.E533 17 volumes
Index to Artistic Biography / N 40.H38 v.1-2 + suppl. Material on artists appearing in 64 biographical works in ten languages are found in this index. Entries give the artists' name, dates, nationality, media employed and a code to the work.
Modern Arts Criticism / Ref. N40 .M63 4 vols. "A biographical and critical guide to painters, sculptors, photographers, and architects from the beginning of the modern era to the present."
Oxford Art Online Includes full-text of Grove Art Online with linked images, The Oxford Companion to Western Art, the Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, and The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms.
Pronunciation Dictionary of Artists' Names / Ref. N40.K3 1993
Union List of Artists Names (Getty)
General Dictionnaire Critique et Documentaire des Peinters, Scuplteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs / Ref. N40.B47 8 vols. 1966. 1948-1955. This work, written in French, covers both Western and Eastern artists from the 5th century B.C. to the mid 20th century A.D.
Berman, Esme. Art and Artists of South Africa; An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary and Historical Survey of Painters and Graphic Artists Since 1875. Cape Town: A.A. Balkema, 1970. Ref. N 7392.B47
Browne, Turner, and Elaine Partnow. Macmillan Biographical Encyclopedia of Photographic Artists & Innovators. New York: Macmillan, 1983. Ref. TR139.B767 1983
Bryan, Michael. Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers. Bell: London, 1926-34. 5 vols. Ref. N40.B94 First published in 1816 and revised several times, this older dictionary is still considered an authority on painters and engravers.
Contemporary Architects. New York, MI.: St. James Press, 1994. Ref. NA680.C625 1994
Contemporary Artists. Detroit, MI.: St. James Press, 2002. Ref. N6490.C6567 2002
Contemporary Designers. Detroit, MI.: St. James Press, 1997. Ref. NK 1390.C655 1997
Contemporary Photographers. New York: St. James Press, 1995. Ref. TR 139.C664 1995
Cummings, Paul. Dictionary of Contemporary American Artists. New York: St. Martin’s Press 1994. Ref. N 6512.C854 1994 Nine hundred entries of artists with an extensive bibliography.
Dictionary of Artists' Models. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn. 2001. Ref. N7574.D53 2001 Identifies and documents the contribution made to the history of art. Includes biographical information for each model, as well as additional reading and associated works.
Durham, Jennifer L. World Cultural Leaders of the Twentieth Century. Santa Barbara, Calif. : ABC-CLIO, 2000. Ref. NX456 .D885 2000. 2 vols,
Falk, Peter Hastings, and Audrey Lewis, eds. Who Was Who in American Art, 1564-1975: 400 Years of Artists in America. Madison, CT.: Sound View Press, 1996. Ref. N6536.W56 1999
Fuchs, Rudi, and Jan Hoet, eds. Flemish and Dutch Painting: From Van Gogh, Ensor, Magritte, and Mondrian to Contemporary Artists. New York: Rizzoli, 1997. Oversize N6937.F64 1997 Includes critical anthologies, biographies of the Artists, Bibliographies, Index of Names, Index of the Artists and Works.
Gaze, Delia, ed. Dictionary of Women Artists. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1997. Ref. N8354.D53 1997 Provides biographical essays and includes a bibliography for each entry. Also discusses issues effecting women artists from the Middle Ages to the present, such as conditions for work, adequate training opportunities, and recognition.
Hillstrom, Laurie Collier, and Kevin Hillstrom, eds. Contemporary Women Artists. Detroit: St. James, 1999. Ref. N8354.C66 1999
Julier, Guy. The Thames and Hudson Encyclopaedia of 20th Century Design and Designers. New York, N.Y. : Thames and Hudson, 1993. Ref. NK1390.J85 1993
Langmuir, Erika and Norbert Lynton. Yale Dictionary of Art and Artists. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000. Ref. N33.L353 2000
Marks, Claude. World Artists, 1950-l980. NY: H.W. Wilson Company, 1984. Ref. N 6489.M37 1984
. World Artists 1980-1990. NY: H.W. Wilson Company, 1991. Ref. N6489.W67 1991
Murray, Peter. The Penguin Dictionary of Art and Artists. New York: Pengiun Books. 1997. N31 .M8 1997
Prestel Dictionary of Art and Artists of the 20th Century. New York: Prestel, 2000. Ref. N33.P74 2000
Rosenblum, Naomi. A History of Women Photographers. New York: Abbeville Press, 2000. Oversize TR139.R67 2000
Slatkin, Wendy. Women Artists in History: From Antiquity to the 20th Century. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1990. N 43.S57 1990
Thieme, Ulrich and Felix Becker. Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Kunstler. Leipzig: Seemann 1907-50. 37 vols. Ref. N40.T4 This is the most complete and authoritative dictionary of painters, sculptors, engravers, etchers, and architects. Bibliographies and locations of works of art are frequently given. Kunststlerlexikon des XX. Jaharhunderts Ref. N 40.T41 continues Thieme into the 20th century. Both are in German.
Vaughan, William, ed. Encyclopedia of Artists. New York: Oxford UP, 2000. Ref. N31.E53 2000 6 vols.
Vinson, James. International Directory of Art and Artists. Chicago: St. James Press, 1990. 2 vols. Ref. N40.I55 1990 Vol. 1 is Biographical Dictionary of Artists, Vol. 2, Dictionary of Art.
Who’s Who in Art. London. Art Trade Press, 1927- . Ref. N40.W6 Biennial Biographies of leading men and women in the world of art from the 1927 edition to the present are issued biennially.
World Design: The Best in Classic and Contemporary Furniture, Fashion, Graphics and More. Uta Abendroth ... [et al.] ; Bernd Polster, editor. San Francisco : Chronicle Books, 2000. Ref. NK1166. W67 2000
Wright, Christopher. The World’s Master Paintings. London: Routledge, 1992. Ref. ND40.W75 1992 A comprehensive listing of works by 1,300 painters from the early Renaissance to the present day. Volume 1 consists of an index of painters with biography, bibliography, important collections and complete list of paintings. Volume 2 lists locations and institutions and an index of painting titles.
Genre / Movements / Regional African American Art & Artists
American Indian Art & Artists
Asian American Art & Artists
Hispanic American Art & Artists
Artists of the American West: A Biographical Dictionary Ref. N6536.D38 3 vols.
A Dictionary of the Avant-Gardes. Ref. NX456.K67 2001
An Encyclopedia of Women Artists of the America West. Ref. N8214.5.U6 K68 1998
Encyclopedia of Italian Renaissance & Mannerist Art. Ref. N6370.E53 1999
Encyclopedia of Latin American & Caribbean Art. Ref. N6502.E53 2000
The Grove Dictionary of Art. From Rembrandt to Vermeer: 17th-century Dutch Artists. Ref. N6946.G76 2000
Gumbo Ya Ya: An Anthology of Contemporary African-American Women Artists. Ref. N6538.N5 G85 1995
Museum of American Folk Art - Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century American Folk Art and Artists. Ref. NK808.R6 1990
St. James Guide to Hispanic Artists: Profiles of Latino and Latin American Artists. Ref. N6538.H58 S7 2002
The Thames and Hudson Encyclopaedia of Graphic Design and Designers. Ref. NC997.L54 2003
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Art Index 1984- . Art Index provides international indexing for contemporary art, art history, architecture, archaeology, computers in art, crafts, folk art, graphic arts, industrial design, interior design, landscape architecture, motion pictures, museology, photography, textiles, and related fields. Coverage includes English-language periodicals, yearbooks, and museum bulletins, as well as a selection of periodicals published in French, Italian, German, Japanese, Spanish, Dutch, and Swedish. Reproductions of works of art appearing in periodicals are also indexed. The print version of Art Index provides coverage back to 1929.
ARTstor ARTstor is a digital library of approximately 550,000 images in the areas of art, architecture, the humanities, and social sciences with a set of tools to view, present, and manage images for research and pedagogical purposes.
Art 20c: The Thames & Hudson Multimedia Dictionary of Modern Art (CD-ROM) Reference N6490.A7163 1998 Features over 3,500 images, audios of artists' voices, and videos of kinetic and video art, plus more than 2,500 entries including artist biographies, movements, galleries, collectors, and critics.
Artbibliographies Modern (1969-1982) Wilson 1E Periodicals (index) N6480.A794 Provides abstracts of books, exhibition catalogs and periodical articles dealing with art and design throughout the world from 1800 to the present.
Arts and Humanities Citation Index (1976-2000 ) Reference AI3.A77; also Online via Web of Science 1995 - .A multidisciplinary index to literature of the arts and humanities searched in a variety of ways through the subject, source, and citation indexes.
Bibliography of the History of Art online (1973 - ) The Bibliography of the History of Art covers European and American art from late antiquity to the present, indexing and abstracting art-related books, conference proceedings and dissertations, exhibition and dealer's catalogs, and articles from more than 2,500 periodicals. The Bibliography of the History of Art includes and extends the coverage of its two predecessor art indexes: RAA (Repertoire d'Art et d'Archeologie) and RILA (International Repertory of the Literature of Art). Updated quarterly.
Biography and Genealogy Master Index Online (BGMI) This is a comprehensive index to current and retrospective biographical dictionaries. Indexes over 900 biographical reference sources. Includes call numbers for sources in our collection.
Poole’s Index (1802-1906) Reference AI3.P7 19th century periodicals indexed alphabetically by subject, author, and title.
Reader's Guide - Nineteenth Century (1890-1899) Reference AI3.R4 Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature (1905- present) Reference AI3.R4 Readers' Guide Retrospective online (1890 through 1982) Indexes and abstracts contains comprehensive indexing of the most popular general-interest periodicals published in the United States and reflects the history of 20th century America.
Repertoire d’art et d’archeologie, depouilleent des periodiques et des catalogues de ventes, bibliographie des ouvrages d’art francais et etrangers. (v.1 1965-v.25 1989) Wilson 5E periodicals N7425.3.R45 A bibliography of periodical articles classified by subject, with an index to authors and artists.
RILA. Repertoire international de la litterature d’art. International repertory of the literature of art. v.1 1975-v.15 1989 Periodicals Wilson 5E N7425.3.R46 This semi-annual bibliography and abstract service is issued in two parts. It covers books, museum publications, exhibition catalogs and periodical articles, arranged by broad subject headings.
World Biographical Dictionary of Artists (CD-ROM) Reference N40.I59 1995 International Kunstlerdatenbank is based on the material compiled for the Thieme-Becker. Data is accessible starting from five main levels - name, profession, time, geographic, and source.
New York Times Index 1851- Wilson 2W Microform Index AI21.N48 The newspaper [microfilm] AN2 .N44, and print index are located in Media Collections.
Global NewsBank (1996 - ) online
ProQuest onlineIndexes over 20 U.S. papers, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Seattle Times and the Post Intelligencer, as well as selected coverage of several other Washington State newspapers. Covers contemporary artists and exhibitions.
The Times Index Wilson 2W Microform Index AI21.T35 “The Times of London” newspaper from 1784 to the present AN4.T54 and its index are located in Media Collections.
Search any Web Search Engine by the name of the artist; most will result in multiple sites containing biographical information, images of their works, etc.
Voice of the Shuttle A very comprehensive site with images, lectures, & discussion of works by period & individual artist.
Page updated 2008 by Robyn Adcox