Art Resources Available through the TexShare Databases
While none of the TexShare databases are devoted exclusively to Art or Art History there are several that have art resources included in their overall subject matter. This pathfinder attempts to answer art-related questions that TexShare users may have.
I am interested in finding out about the art of the Paleolithic period, specifically cave painting – where can I find information on this?
Academic Search Premier is a good place to start. By entering in your search term of ‘cave painting’ and specifying it as a ‘SU Subject Term’ in the drop down menu you will find many full-text articles as well as book reviews and the option to search your library for resources. Related search terms are also given as a way to broaden or tighten your search strategy.
Student Resource Center Gold is also a good source. Search for ‘cave painting’ as a Keyword and you will find many full-text articles from magazines and journals.
Where can I find pictures of artists? I am particularly interested in finding images of Pablo Picasso.
MasterFile Premier is an excellent resource for finding images of modern and contemporary artists and their works. The database has a special ‘Images’ section which has several excellent images of Picasso at different phases in his life. To performa an image search, click the word "images" in the green bar directly above the search box.
Student Resource Center Gold is also a great source for images of art and artists. Go to their ‘Multimedia Gallery’ and input the artist’s name. Results will contain available images and audio or video files.
What about resources on the new trend of digital art?
See TexShare's pathfinder on this topic at http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~bridge/digital_art_content.html.
Is there a database that can provide me with reference information on the arts in general?
The NetLibrary.ebook Collection has a special ‘Reference Center’ which you can access from their home page. You can then browse the Reference Center and limit your browsing to ‘Arts’ resources. There are searchable reference books on acting, music, and art. Particularly useful is the resource entitled World Cultural Leaders of the Twentieth Century which covers influential world leaders in art, music, dance, theater and film.
My library doesn’t own E.H. Gombrich’s The Story of Art. Is there a database which can tell me what other libraries near me own it?
The Library of Texas was designed with just this purpose in mind. Using the LoT, you can search multiple Texas library catalogs simultaneously. Simply visit the Library of Texas database, and then click on "Build a Group of Favorites" on the left and then click in the checkbox next to each library you want to include in your search. Give your search a name and then click "save." You're now ready to search your customized group of local library catalogs. You can then enter "the story of art" and "gombrich" in the search box and find out if any libraries near you have a copy available for checkout.
If you are unable to find the book using the Library of Texas, then WorldCat will enable you to search libraries around the world for your item. Just enter your title into the search box, select ‘Title’ or ‘Title Phrase’ from the drop-down menu and click on ‘Search’. When your book title appears, click on the ‘Libraries Worldwide’ link and it will display all the libraries who are owners of the book, starting with those in Texas.
Where can I find artist’s biographies?
Student Resource Center Gold has a ‘Person Search’ feature which allows you to search for biographies on prominent artists. You can limit your search by occupation, nationality, ethnicity, gender, birth/death year and birth/death place. A list of occupations is made available to browse as well.
I need to find newspaper articles on the looting of art in Iraq since the war began there, where should I look?
Go to InfoTrac Custom Newspapers, type in ‘Iraq and art and looting’. Articles will be listed in full text and can be either emailed or printed out.
Additional Internet Resources
Time Line of Art History
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/
This free reference site from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art offers an interactive timeline which traverses the world and time from 20,000 BC to the present day. Travel through time to examine the art of ancient lands or examine a modern artist in her studio with just the click of a mouse button.
Artcyclopedia.com
http://www.artcyclopedia.com
This free reference site wants to be a definitive and effective guide to museum-quality fine art on the Internet. It has a comprehensive index of every artist represented at hundreds of museum sites, image archives, and other online resources. It offers an index to 2,100 art sites, over 75,000 links to an estimated 180,000 artworks by 8,200 renowned artists. It also has information on art history and art movements and now provides free access to full-text Encyclopedia Brittanica articles.
The Louvre
http://www.louvre.fr/llv/musee/(click on "English" at the top right)
Take 360-degree virtual tours of one of the world's great museums and see its collections as it could not be seen even in person. Learn more about the works housed there on this comprehensive and free site. Although Leonardo di Vinci's "Mona Lisa" may be it best known work of art, the Louvre offers a collection that spans time, art and national borders. Use the pull-down menu under the "Museum" headings to find virtual tours.
The Atlas database system (found under "Collection" and "Databases") allows users to access over 35,000 works of art from the collection.
The Smithsonian
http://www.si.edu/art_and_design
America's "national museum" provides a look at most of it's vast collections on this web site including individual sections on African American art and Native American art.
The Getty
http://www.getty.edu/art
Founded on what was once one of the United States's largest private collections, The Getty Museum and its web site provides a complex and comprehensive examination of art and art history.
The Vatican Museums
http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/MV_Home.html
America's "national museum" provides a look at most of it's vast collections on this web site including individual sections on African American art and Native American art.
There are also several dozen 3D tours of rooms within the museum.
The Tate
http://www.tate.org.uk
The Tate museum houses what is arguably Great Britan's finest art collection. The museum hosts over 65,000 works of art online, and their website is an excellent resource. They provide an alphabetical listing of every artist in the collection, and digital images and information about their work where available. The museum also hosts the Tate Learning site which provides more detailed information about a variety of subjects of interest to all ages. Of special interest is their Tate Research section, which provides information on the types of research services provided by the museum and what projects they are currently undertaking.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
http://www.metmuseum.org
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (the "Met") is one of the largest art museums in the world with a collection of over 2 million works. The Met's website provides "collection highlights" for each of it's 22 permanent collections with hundreds of images available for online viewing.
If you need further assistance, please don’t hesitate to ask your local reference librarian.
This page was written by Renata Caldwell in spring 2005, and revised by Ray James in spring 2006 with additional revisions in spring 2007 by Kathleen Houlihan.
INF 382S: Library Instruction and Information Literacy, taught by Dr. Loriene Roy
School of Information,
The University of Texas at Austin