This research guide introduces selected academic publications in the field of art history. Use the menu on the left to navigate and feel free to contact me if you have questions. Use the book now button on the right to schedule a meeting with me.
Encyclopedias, Handbooks, Companions
The Library has a variety of subject-specific encyclopedias, handbooks, and companions with exhaustive and well-researched articles written by subject experts. These essays are great introductions and helpful in defining and focusing a topic. Articles generally include references to recommended literature.
Oxford Bibliographies (Oxford University Press) Tutorial
Presents peer-reviewed, annotated bibliographies and expert commentary on current scholarship in selected disciplines. Includes bibliographies in the field of art history.
Encyclopedia of Aesthetics (2nd ed.)
Features articles on major concepts, thinkers, and debates about the meaning, uses, and value of all the arts written by subject experts.
Grove Encyclopedia of American Art
Includes articles on all subject areas in American fine art including biographies of major artists, architects and patrons, architecture, painting, new media, photography, sculpture, installation art, performance art, new media art, art education, and more.
WikiArt: A Visual Art Encyclopedia
Features artworks by 3,000 artists grouped by movement, school, genre, medium, time period, nationality, and more. Includes related Wikipedia articles.
American National Biography Online (Oxford University Press)
Presents authoritative biographies of influential people who lived in what is now the United States. Covers only deceased subjects. Includes portraits, if available, and bibliographies with citations to works by and about featured individuals.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press)
Presents authoritative biographies of influential people who lived in Britain. Covers only deceased subjects. Includes portraits, if available, and bibliographies with citations to works by and about featured individuals.
Oxford Bibliographies (Oxford University Press) Tutorial
Presents peer-reviewed, annotated bibliographies and expert commentary on current scholarship in selected disciplines. Includes bibliographies in the field of art history.
Encyclopedia of Aesthetics (2nd ed.)
Features articles on major concepts, thinkers, and debates about the meaning, uses, and value of all the arts written by subject experts.
Grove Encyclopedia of American Art
Includes articles on all subject areas in American fine art including biographies of major artists, architects and patrons, architecture, painting, new media, photography, sculpture, installation art, performance art, new media art, art education, and more.
WikiArt: A Visual Art Encyclopedia
Features artworks by 3,000 artists grouped by movement, school, genre, medium, time period, nationality, and more. Includes related Wikipedia articles.
American National Biography Online (Oxford University Press)
Presents authoritative biographies of influential people who lived in what is now the United States. Covers only deceased subjects. Includes portraits, if available, and bibliographies with citations to works by and about featured individuals.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press)
Presents authoritative biographies of influential people who lived in Britain. Covers only deceased subjects. Includes portraits, if available, and bibliographies with citations to works by and about featured individuals.
Books & Book Chapters
Much of the scholarly literature in the field is published in books which are often referred to as monographs. Find books in the Library’s collection with a Books & Media search. Start with keywords that describe your topic and use the hyperlinked subjects in the book records to reduce and focus search results. Notice facets such as topic and language which will further narrow results. Subject searches can significantly increase or decrease the number of results. For a more comprehensive review of the literature consult WorldCat and use the integrated Borrow from other libraries feature to request books which are not locally available.
Books & Media
Includes records of all print and e-books owned by the Library. Use the Online collection facet to limit results to ebooks.
JSTOR
Provides a full text archive of academic journals and books in the humanities, social sciences, and mathematics.
WorldCat (FirstSearch)
Presents a combined catalog of the catalogs of more than 10,000 libraries worldwide. WorldCat highlights publications available at Villanova University. Other items can be requested via an inter-library loan request form.
EZBorrow and Interlibrary Loan
Use the Articles form to request digital scans of book chapters. Check the Library website for availability of interlibrary borrowing for print books.
Books & Media
Includes records of all print and e-books owned by the Library. Use the Online collection facet to limit results to ebooks.
JSTOR
Provides a full text archive of academic journals and books in the humanities, social sciences, and mathematics.
WorldCat (FirstSearch)
Presents a combined catalog of the catalogs of more than 10,000 libraries worldwide. WorldCat highlights publications available at Villanova University. Other items can be requested via an inter-library loan request form.
EZBorrow and Interlibrary Loan
Use the Articles form to request digital scans of book chapters. Check the Library website for availability of interlibrary borrowing for print books.
Library of Congress Subjects
Experiment with keyword and subject searches for better results. Keywords are pulled from anywhere in the catalog record including the table of contents while subject terms are limited to the Library of Congress (LC) subject thesaurus. LC subjects can help with the discovery of books missed with a keyword search. For example, a simple keyword search for portraits in Falvey's Books & Media catalog uncovers over 1,600 matching publications. A closer look at the record for West's Portraiture leads to the hyperlinked LC subject “Portraits” which will uncover a much shorter and more focused book list on this topic. Related LC subjects include "Self-portraits," and "Identity (Psychology) in art."
Journal Articles
The Library subscribes to many art history journals including The Oxford Art Journal, the Burlington Magazine, Art History, the October, and the Woman's Art Journal. Use the Journal and Article Finder or the Articles & more search on the Library’s website to look up known references. Request articles from journals that are not part of the Library's collections through interlibrary loan.
The journal databases listed here index the contents of most if not all art and art history journals and are by far the best tools to discover articles published in these journals.
Art Full Text (EBSCO)
Indexes the contents of academic journals and magazines in the fields of fine and decorative arts, architecture, and photography. Includes citations for dissertations, book reviews, and art reproductions published in indexed journals. Abstracts are available back to 1984 with selective full text available back to 1995.
Art Index Retrospective: 1929-1984 (EBSCO)
Indexes the contents of academic journals and magazines in the fields of fine and decorative arts, architecture, and photography. Includes citations for dissertations, book reviews, and art reproductions published in indexed journals.
JSTOR
Provides a full text archive of academic journals and books in the humanities, social sciences, and mathematics. The most recent three to five years of a journal are usually not included.
Articles & More Search
This page enables you to search millions of full text articles and other electronic resources available through the Falvey Library. While it doesn't provide access to everything the library has to offer, it is an excellent starting point for your searches. Check Limit to articles from peer-reviewed journals to focus on scholarly journal articles.
Art Full Text (EBSCO)
Indexes the contents of academic journals and magazines in the fields of fine and decorative arts, architecture, and photography. Includes citations for dissertations, book reviews, and art reproductions published in indexed journals. Abstracts are available back to 1984 with selective full text available back to 1995.
Art Index Retrospective: 1929-1984 (EBSCO)
Indexes the contents of academic journals and magazines in the fields of fine and decorative arts, architecture, and photography. Includes citations for dissertations, book reviews, and art reproductions published in indexed journals.
JSTOR
Provides a full text archive of academic journals and books in the humanities, social sciences, and mathematics. The most recent three to five years of a journal are usually not included.
Articles & More Search
This page enables you to search millions of full text articles and other electronic resources available through the Falvey Library. While it doesn't provide access to everything the library has to offer, it is an excellent starting point for your searches. Check Limit to articles from peer-reviewed journals to focus on scholarly journal articles.
Art Collections
The collections listed here include high-quality and, in some cases, high-definition digital images for educational use. Search by artist or art movement.
Artstor (ITHAKA) Tutorial Access Instructions
Provides access to a large library of high-resolution digital images from museums and archives. The multi-disciplinary collection includes digital copies of fashion plates, cartoons, posters, post cards, book illustrations, botanical and wildlife illustrations, technical illustrations, museum objects, and photo journalism, besides the expected artwork.
WikiArt: A Visual Art Encyclopedia
Features artworks by 3,000 artists grouped by movement, school, genre, medium, time period, nationality, and more. Includes related Wikipedia articles.
Arts & Culture (Google)
Features online access to the world’s art and culture in collaboration with cultural institutions and artist from around the world. Explores individual artists, art movements, and much more.
Getty Open Content Program
Features over 100,000 digital images from the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Getty Research Institute.
Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA)
Houses a world-renowned art collection. Features an online collection database with images of artwork from the collection.
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA)
Founded in 1805, the Academy is America's first school and museum of fine arts with a world-class collection of American art. A catalog of the collection with images of selected artwork is available online.
Artstor (ITHAKA) Tutorial Access Instructions
Provides access to a large library of high-resolution digital images from museums and archives. The multi-disciplinary collection includes digital copies of fashion plates, cartoons, posters, post cards, book illustrations, botanical and wildlife illustrations, technical illustrations, museum objects, and photo journalism, besides the expected artwork.
WikiArt: A Visual Art Encyclopedia
Features artworks by 3,000 artists grouped by movement, school, genre, medium, time period, nationality, and more. Includes related Wikipedia articles.
Arts & Culture (Google)
Features online access to the world’s art and culture in collaboration with cultural institutions and artist from around the world. Explores individual artists, art movements, and much more.
Getty Open Content Program
Features over 100,000 digital images from the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Getty Research Institute.
Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA)
Houses a world-renowned art collection. Features an online collection database with images of artwork from the collection.
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA)
Founded in 1805, the Academy is America's first school and museum of fine arts with a world-class collection of American art. A catalog of the collection with images of selected artwork is available online.
