RESEARCHING AN ARTWORK

Art 236

(works best for "high" art, paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints)

1. Artist oeuvre catalog (first need to i.d. artist)

Locate via:

a. Socrates

b. Freitag, Art books (2nd ed., 1997)

c. Riggs, Print Council index to oeuvre catalogues (1983)

d. RLIN/Worldcat

2. Collection catalog (first need to i.d. collection)

Locate via:

a. Socrates

b. RLIN/Worldcat

c. Art books, 1950-79, including an int,l directory of museum permanent collection catalogs (1979)

d. web search engine

3. Exhibition catalog (would have to be a reasonable probability

that work had appeared in a given show and that a catalog had been

published)

Locate via:

a. Socrates

b. RLIN/Worldcat

c. Bibliography on the artist, separately published, or

in a monograph, encyclopedia article, website, etc.

d. Reference work that displays exhibition records alphabetically by artist (see last week,s handout)

4. Periodical article

Locate via:

a. Index such as Art Index, BHA, AHCI, etc.

b. Bibliography on the artist (as above)

5. Artist monograph

Locate via:

a. Socrates

b. RLIN/Worldcat

c. Bibliography on the artist (as above)

6. Art auction catalog

Locate via:

a. SCIPIO (online art auction catalog database)

b. Printed bibliography or index to art auction catalogs such as Lugt or the WCA (see this week,s handouts)

7. Essay in a collection

Locate via:

a. Index such as BHA/RILA/RAA (online or paper) if post-1976

b. Index to articles in Festschriften such as Lincoln or Rave

c. Essay and general literature index (1900- ; AI3.E752 Gen Ref)

8. Coverage or mention in an encyclopedic reference work

Locate via:

a. Last week,s handout on art encyclopedias

b. Socrates

9. Monograph devoted to the work itself

Locate via:

a. Socrates

b. RLIN/Worldcat

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10. Appearance as an annotated illustration in an iconographical

collection

11. Incidental appearance as an illustration in a publication

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