Handbooks, encyclopaedias, dictionaries for Art History
Handbooks,
encyclopaedias and dictionaries for Art History and Theories
Specialised handbooks, subject dictionaries and
encyclopaedias
are useful starting points for an introduction to a topic.
Basic concepts, explanations of terminology, biographical details for
notable artists, information on specific topics, and illustrations of
works
of art will be found in these sources.
The articles often include a short list of references, from which you
may find books, articles or web sites with further information on a
topic.
Most of the titles listed below are in the Reference
Collection, Level 3, South. Specific
handbooks,
subject dictionaries and encyclopaedias for the Nineteenth
and Twentieth Centuries are listed separately, as
are
Chronologies,
Art
terminology and encyclopaedias providing information on the Philosophical
ideas and Social Movements of an era.
Two useful sources covering all aspects of art are -
Dictionary of art. 1996. 34 volumes.
Reference collection
703 T948d
Aims to provide a
"comprehensive coverage of the history of all the visual arts
worldwide,
from prehistory to the present". Includes biographies, arts of
specific
peoples and places, forms, themes and subject matter of arts.
Black-and-white
illustrations.
The Dictionary
of art has been in preparation for some years, so the text is not
as
up-to-date as the publication date suggests.
A number of entries
from the Dictionary of art are available electronically via the Artnet
web site. The site includes artists
bibliographies, with links to illustrations of the works; some 130
articles on materials
and techniques, and more than 1000 articles on styles
and movements in art.
Encyclopedia of world art. 15 volumes. 1958.
Reference collection
703 E56
Covers all aspects
of art and remains a valuable source of information. Each article
has a bibliography and there are copious colour and black-and-white
illustrations
in each volume. The index entry gives volume and page numbers for
the article, and in italics, for the illustrations.
Other sources in alphabetical order and with a few notes are -
Art & civilization. 1992.
Reference collection
700.9 L937a
Artists: from Michaelangelo to Maya Lin. 2
volumes.
1995.
Reference collection
709.22 E67a
Atlas of western art history: artists, sites, and movements from
ancient Greece to the modern age. 1994.
Reference collection
709 S814a
Biographical dictionary of artists. 1983.
Reference collection
709.2203 B615
Complete dictionary of symbols in myth, art
and literature. 2004.
Reference collection
704.94603 T798c
Concise history of painting from Giotto to Cézanne.
1962.
Reference collection
759 L668
Dictionnaire universal de la peinture. 6 volumes.
1975.
Reference collection
750.3 D554
Although the text
is in French this work is useful for its extensive colour
illustrations.
The articles cover individual painters and movements.
Dictionary of art and artists. 1965.
Reference collection
703 M983
Arranged in three
sections: alphabetical listing for art terms, movements and
biographies
of artists; reproductions, in colour, to illustrate the
major
techniques; monochrome illustrations providing a visual history
of
art, arranged by country and period.
Supplemented by
the
updated text in -
Penguin dictionary of art and artists. 6th ed. 1989.
Reference collection
703 M983p.6
Dictionary of modern painting. 3rd ed. 1984.
Reference collection
759 L19.3
Dictionary of Russian and Soviet artists 1420-1970.
1993.
Reference collection
709.47 M659d
Dictionary of subjects and symbols in art. 1974.
Reference collection
704.94 H177d
Dictionary of symbols in art: the illustrated key to Western
painting
and sculpture. 2000.
Reference collection
704.94603 C312d
Dictionary of the avant-gardes. 2nd ed. 2000.
Reference collection
700.90403 K86d
Dictionary of women artists. 2 volumes. 1997.
Reference collection
709.2203 G289d
A series of
descriptive
essays on women as artists in history, followed by 600
biographies.
Provides an alphabetical and chronological list of the artists.
Has
an extensive bibliography.
Dictionary of women artists: an international dictionary of women
artists born before 1900. 1985.
Reference collection
709.2203 P499d
Entries include
biographical
details, major work, bibliographical references.
Encyclopedia of Australian art. 3rd ed. 1994
Reference collection
709.94 M133.3
Arranged by period.
Encyclopedia of comparative iconography: themes depicted in works
of art. 1998.
Reference collection
704.903 R644e
Encyclopaedia of themes and subjects in painting. 1971.
Reference collection
750.3 D184
Essential art history. 1992.
Reference collection
709 G829e
Covers the
terminology
of art history, with an emphasis on Western art, and provides
biographies
of influential writers on art.
Illustrated dictionary of symbols in Eastern and Western
art. 1994.
Reference collection
704.94603 H177i
International dictionary of art and artists. 2
volumes.
1990.
Reference collection
703 V788i
Each entry provides
a short biography, a list of collections of the artist’s work, a list
of
references and a signed critical essay.
Larousse dictionary of painters. 1981.
Reference collection
759.03 L332
Provides brief
biographies
of painters, and an illustration of their work.
Larousse encyclopedia of modern art. 1965.
Reference collection
709 L332m
Mainly
black-and-white
illustrations.
Owen Jones' The Grammar of Ornament. 1998.
Multimedia Oversize
745.4 J78g.D
Includes
disc and pictorial guide.
Oxford companion to art. 1970.
Reference collection
703 O98
A non-specialist
introduction
to the fine arts, excluding the practical arts and crafts. The
bibliography
includes general works and books on individual artists or topics.
Oxford companion to western art. 2001.
Reference collection
703 B856o
Oxford dictionary of art. 2nd ed. 1997.
Reference collection
703 C538o.2
An historical survey of Western art forms and
individual
artists.
Oxford illustrated encyclopedia of the arts. 1990.
Reference collection
703 N892o
Thames and Hudson encyclopaedia of the arts. 1966.
Reference collection
703 T366
Women artists in history. 2nd ed. 1990.
Reference collection
704.042 S631w
Arranged by period.
The world's master paintings: from the early Renaissance to the
present
day. 2 volumes. 1991.
Reference collection
750.74 M948w
Lists publically available paintings. Arranged
alphabetically by painters within schools and periods, with indexes by
title of paintings and by location.
Nineteenth Century
Dictionary of Impressionism. 1973.
Reference collection
759.4 D5538
Colour and black-and-white illustrations.
Encyclopedie du symbolisme: peinture, gravure et sculpture,
litterature,
musique. 1979.
Reference collection
700.3 C345e
Copiously illustrated in colour and black-and-white.
L'Impressionnisme et son epoque. 1978.
Reference collection
703 M748l
Useful source of colour reproductions, with an index
by artist.
Nineteenth century painters and painting: a dictionary.
1977.
Reference collection
759.03 N842n
Women impressionists: a sourcebook. 2000.
Reference collection
759.4016 C626w
Includes, Mary Cassatt, Berthe Morisot, Berthe, Marie
Bracquemond, Eva Gonzales.
Twentieth Century
<>Art of our century: the story of Western art 1900 to the
present.
1990.
Reference collection
709.04 F391a
A chronological presentation, one chapter per
year.
Selected movements are discussed, with biographies provided for major
artists;
together with indexes by name and subject, and a list of the artworks
discussed.
Artfile: a source book of Australian contemporary artists.
1992
Reference collection
709.94 L187a
Art20: the Thames and Hudson multimedia dictionary of modern art.
1998.
Multimedia
collection Non networked databases Machine 334
Includes
disc and booklet.
Contemporary artists. 4th ed. 1996.
Reference collection
709.22 C761.4
Provides details of the life and work of artists
currently
working. Each entry includes a biography, gives a list of the artist’s
works, a list of the artist’s writings and a list of books and articles
about the artist's work, and an evaluative essay.
Some entries from the 2nd and 3rd editions have been
deleted from the 4th edition so the earlier works, also in the
Reference
collection, remain useful.
Contemporary masterworks. 1991.
Reference collection
709.04 N333c
Features 450 individual works which have made a
significant
contribution to 20th Century culture. The main focus is on works
produced since 1945.
Contemporary women artists. 1999.
Reference collection
709.2203 H655c
Dictionary of Expressionism. 1973.
Reference collection
759.9 M958d.E
Colour and black-and-white illustrations.
Dictionnaire abrege du Surrealisme. 1938.
Reference collection
709 D555
Black-and-white photographs of the work of 31
contemporary
artists.
Dictionnaire general du Surrealisme et de ses environs.
1982.
Reference collection
700.3 D554
Mainly black-and-white illustrations.
Dictionary of the avant-gardes. 2nd ed. 2000.
Reference collection
700.90403 K86d
Dictionary of twentieth century art. 1998.
Reference collection
709.04 C538d
Dictionary of 20th century design. 1994.
Reference collection
709.04 P637d
Dictionary of Surrealism. 1974.
Reference collection
709 P622d.E
Colour and black-and-white illustrations.
Encyclopedie du symbolisme: peinture, gravure et sculpture,
litterature,
musique. 1979.
Reference collection
700.3 C345e
Glossary of art, architecture and design since 1945.
3rd
ed. 1992.
Reference collection
703 W181g.3
"terms and labels describing movements, styles and
groups
derived from the vocabulary of artists and critics". Mainly
black-and-white
illustrations.
Oxford companion to twentieth-century art. 1981.
Reference collection
709.04 O98
Colour and black-and-white plates.
Penguin companion to the arts in the twentieth century.
1985.
Reference collection
700.90403 M163p
Phaidon dictionary of twentieth-century art.
1973.
Reference collection
703 P532
For information on the philosophical ideas and social movements
of an era see:
Cambridge companion to Modernism. 1999.
Reference collection
700.4112 L657c
Dictionary of the history of ideas. 5 volumes.
1973.
Reference collection
901.03 D554
Encyclopedia of philosophy. 8 volumes. 1967.
Reference collection
103 E56
International encyclopedia of the social sciences. 19
volumes.
1968-1979.
Reference collection
303 I61
For explanations of art terminology use:
Artwords: a glossary of contemporary art theory. 1997.
Reference collection
703 P298a
Artspeak: a guide to contemporary ideas, movements, and
buzzwords,
1945 to the present. 2nd ed. 1997.
Reference collection
709.04 A874a
Critical terms for art history. 1996.
Reference collection
701.18 N429c
Dictionary of art terms and techniques. 1969.
Reference collection
703 M468
ArtLex: art dictionary for
artists,
collectors, students and educators in art production, criticism,
history,
aesthetics, and education. 1998-
Includes graphics and
links
to other sites providing illustrations. Access by clicking on the
appropriate letter of the alphabet or selecting from SHORTCUTS to
the
longer articles for movements, themes, etc.
Concise Oxford dictionary of art terms. 1984.
Reference collection
703 L937t
Thames and Hudson dictionary of art terms. 2001.
Reference collection
703 C559c
Chronologies
These books provide a comparison of events and achievements at a
particular
time, presented usually in tabular form.
Calendar of creative man. 1979.
Reference collection
700.9 P342
Records creative achievements, up to 1970, in
literature,
dance & drama, music, architecture, three dimensional art, and
visual
arts, compared with contemporary historical events, inventions and
discoveries.
Chronology of twentieth-century history: arts and culture.
2 volumes. 1998.
Reference collection
700.103 M194c
"Addresses issues in 20th century culture by examining
important historical incidents in cultural and artistic life".
The
essays are arranged chronologically, with indexes by keyword, category
of art, and persons.
New York Times guide to the arts of the 20th century. 4
volumes.
2002.
Reference collection
700.904 N532g
Timetables of history. 1975.
Reference collection
902 G888t
Who was when. 1976.
Reference collection
902 D315w
Chronologies are provided also in the following:
Art of our century: the story of Western art 1900 to the present.
1990.
Reference collection
709.04 F391a
Biographical dictionary of artists. 1983.
Reference collection
709.2203 B615
L'Impressionnisme et son epoque. 1978.
Reference collection
703 M748l
If you have any queries, please contact me, Kay
Leverett, Architecture Librarian.
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