Research Guides: Art & Art History Research: Researching Works of Art

Online Collections

Art Institute of Chicago -- The Collection
Explore thousands of artworks in the museum's collection as well as books, writings and reference materials.
Google Arts and Culture
Google Arts and Culture provides an intimate virtual look at a plethora of great museums.
The J. Paul Getty Museum Collection
Search the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum comprised of Greek, Roman, and Etruscan art from the Neolithic to Late Antiquity; European art—including illuminated manuscripts, paintings, drawings, sculpture, and decorative arts—from the Middle Ages to the early twentieth century; and international photography from its inception to the present day.
Louvre Collections
he Collections database consists of entries for more than 480,000 works in the Musée du Louvre and Musée National Eugène-Delacroix. Updated on a daily basis, it is the result of the continuous research and documentation efforts carried out by teams of experts from both museums.
The Met Collection -- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Search the Met Collection, filter on object type material, geographic location, date/era and more.
MoMA Exhibition History
Searchable database with past and present exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art.
The National Gallery -- United Kingdom
Search or browse the collection of more than 2,600 paintings at the National Gallery.
RiJKs Studio
The Rijksmuseum is the national museum of the Netherlands. Search their collections in this online gallery.
Van Gogh Museum
Search artworks and artists at the Van Gogh Museum.
Whitney Museum of American Art
Explore the Whitney's collection of over 25,000 works, created by more than 3,600 American artists during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Find Books on Works of Art!

Search the Library Catalog to find books on works of art.

For Best Results... try these search strategies:

Do an AUTHOR search for the artist's name (Last Name, First Name) and look for the specific work in the index
Do a SUBJECT search for the artist's name (Last Name, First Name) and click on the appropriate subject(s) to view books
Do a KEYWORD search for the time period or style of art and check the index to find mention of the specific work

Exhibition Catalogs...

If you are looking for a specific exhibition catalog, try KEYWORD searching for the gallery name or exhibition title
Or do a SUBJECT search for the artist's name (Last Name, First Name) and look for the subject heading that says "Exhibitions" at the end.

Online Exhibition History

Museum of Modern Art -- MoMA Exhibition History-- https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/history/?locale=en
Search by topic, genre, artist or keyword

Finding Articles on Works of Art

Search these Art & Design Databases to find articles:

Academic Search Complete

Search for artist’s name. Find the database’s specific subject for the artist. Click on it and then scroll through the articles.
Search by artist’s name (as subject or keyword) and the name of the work (in quotations)
For topical searches, search by artist's name (as subject or keyword) and your topic (or "criticism")

Arts & Humanities Database

Search for artist’s name. Find the database’s specific subject for the artist. Click on it and then scroll through the articles.
Search by artist’s name (as subject or keyword) and the name of the work (in quotations)
For topical searches, search by artist's name (as subject or keyword) and your topic (or "criticism")

JSTOR

Search artist’s name in quotes and view the most relevant results
Try combining artist's name with a topic (such as "degas AND women")
Try adding the title of the work to the search box (in quotes)
Try “Advanced Search” features (just searching abstract, for example)

ProQuest Dissertations and Theses (for dissertations & theses by scholars)

Search artist’s name in quotations
If there are too many results, go to “Advanced Search” and search artist’s name in quotations (or perhaps just last name) and change to “All fields (no full text) – ALL”
When you find an article, click the “Citation/Abstract” link to read the abstract instead of clicking on the title

The Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism

Browse Subjects, Movements and Places
Search on the artists name using the advanced search to limit it to Visual Arts
Use the advanced search to find a contributor to an article

What if you don't know the artist?

If you do not know the artist of your object, you will have to research characteristics of the work.

Where was it created?
When was it made?
What style is it? How can you tell?
What are the materials used?
What are some similar works?