Researching art and artists can be tricky and require you to delve into multiple databases and employ multiple search techniques. Below are a number of options you may choose.
Before visiting any academic databases I would first recommend you identify an artist, by either choosing one you have worked on in class or using google to identify an artist that interests you.
Newspapers
When using newspaper databases:
- Look carefully at their descriptions to help you identify coverage date ranges.
- When searching in the databases it helps to specify date ranges, especially if you are searching a historical newspaper.
- Do specific searches
- Artist's name
- Title of artwork, series, collection, film, etc.
- Name of gallery or any other location specific information.
Current:
ProQuest U.S. Newsstream
Provides access to national, regional, and local newspapers as well as newswires, blogs, and news sites. Includes current access to The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post.
Ethnic NewsWatch (ProQuest)
Offers access to the full text of articles from newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic, minority, and native press. While most of the content is in English, some content in non-English languages is included. Coverage for most newspapers and magazines goes back to the early 1990s, but earlier content is also available.
Lexis Nexis Academic
Now Nexis Uni. Provides full-text access to national and international newspaper and magazine articles and news transcripts, business, company, and industry information in the U.S. and abroad, and legal documents, including U.S. Federal and State court cases, and law reviews. Coverage varies.
Historical:
New York Times: 1851- (ProQuest Historical Newspapers)
Provides full text access to the complete New York Times archive except for the most current three years. Use Nexis Uni or ABI/INFORM for access to current content.
Times (London) Digital Archive, 1785-2012 (Gale)
Provides a fully searchable facsimile of the Times of London from its inception through about five years ago. The Times is the world's oldest daily newspaper in continuous publication.
Exhibition Catalogs
Exhibition catalogs (or catalogues) are a printed list of exhibits at an art exhibition, and may be a useful resource for locating secondary source information about your artist or their work.
To find Exhibition Catalogues you will need to use WorldCat (Linked Below).
When searching enter your artist's name in the first search box and select "Author" in the drop down menure to the right.
In the second search box enter "Exhibition catalogs" and select Genrea/Form in the drop down menue, then Search.
If there is an exhibition catalog for your artist you should get it in the results. Most of the time exhibition catalogs are not available digitally, so you will have to place a request for it through interlibrary loan.
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.
WorldCat Step-by-Step is a self-paced interactive tutorial for students new to this resource.
Scholarly Articles
In addition to databases listed below a full list of databases available through the library are listed in Databases A to Z and other subject specific databaes can be found under Subject Guides.
You can also search the library by entering search terms in the search bar located on any page of the library's website, hitting find, and selecting the center column for Article and More.
Some entries have full text via the database.
For others, click on 
to determine
After clicking on the "Find it" button one of 3 things will happen
- You will be linked directly to the article
- There will be a blue button "Full text online" that you can click to access the article
- There will be a blue button "Request scan" which will allow you to request the article through interlibary loan.
For Art:
Art Full Text (EBSCO)
Art Full Text is a bibliographic database that indexes and abstracts articles from periodicals published throughout the world. Full-text coverage for selected periodicals is also included.
Art Index Retrospective: 1929-1984 (EBSCO)
Art Index Retrospective 1929-1984 indexes art, art history and architecture journals published between 1929 and 1984.
For Film & Television:
Film & Television Literature Index (EBSCO)
Indexes academic journals, popular magazines, and books in the fields of film and television. Includes abstracts for scholarly journal articles. Topics range from film & television theory to preservation & restoration, writing, production, cinematography, and technical aspects. Coverage goes back to the early 20th century and includes foreign language publications.
For Literature:
Literature Online (ProQuest)
Features a digital library of English and American poetry, drama, and prose. Provides access to literary criticism indexed in ABELL and MLA International Bibliography and includes selective access to the full text of academic journals. Also includes full text access to a collection of dictionaries, encyclopedias, and biographical dictionaries.
All Topics:
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.
Project Muse
Provides full-text access to books and journals in the arts, humanities, and social sciences.
Dialnet (Universidad de La Rioja)
Indexes journal articles, conference papers, book chapters, dissertations, and other documents in the social sciences and the humanities published mostly in Spain and to a lesser extent in Latin America. Much of the content in available in full text.
The year's work in critical and cultural theory
The Year's Work in Critical & Cultural Theory provides a narrative bibliography of work in the field of critical and cultural theory, recording significant debates and issues of interest in a broad field of research in the humanities and social sciences. As the field of critical and cultural studies expands, so the range and scope of the volume grow, and volumes now include chapters on Queer theories and cultures and Film Studies.
Encyclopedias
Encyclopedia of Aesthetics (2nd ed.)
Oxford Companion to Art
Visual Arts Research: A Handbook
Dictionary of Art
Art Museums of the World
Encyclopedia of Sculpture
Encyclopedia of Architecture: Design, Engineering & Construction.
Images
Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons is a media file repository making available public domain and freely-licensed images, sound and video clips.
Artstor
ARTstor is a non-profit digital image library with high quality image files.
Web Gallery of Art
The Web Gallery of Art is a virtual museum and searchable database of European painting and sculpture of the Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque periods (1100-1850), currently containing over 15.400 reproductions. Commentaries on pictures, biographies of artists are available. It can be searched by country, period, and/or profession.
Art Project (by Google)
Explore museums from around the world, discover and view hundreds of artworks at incredible zoom levels, and even create and share your own collection of masterpieces.
Olga's Gallery
10,000 works of art on line searchable by artist or country.